Hair Hair Hair - Another question

tiff2008

Dean,

 How many weeks are you out from your last treatment?  I've been wodering the same thing, how much longer before I can color my hair again??? I'm 9 wks out.  I've got more salt then pepper in my hair and I can't stand it.  I'm only 43 and I'm not ready to be grey yet  

Speaking of rock concerts, I went to Bruce Springsteen last night, GREAT concert!  I wore my wig and the people in our row said I looked like Katie Holmes, they obviously didn't know it was a wig   I just smiled.  I'll be so glad when I can take that thing off!

abbadoodles

tiff, I started to use Loving Care a couple of months post chemo.  Nothing bad happened.  

LorenaB

Tiff, if you weren't that gray before, you might want to wait a while before you decide to color it.  I'm 41 and only had a few gray hairs before chemo.  When my hair started coming in it was white, gray and brown, but it gradually has been getting darker.  Now at 3 1/2 months out from chemo, it looks mostly brown and with some blond (which is weird because I've never been blond before!), and the gray is much less noticeable.  I'm going to give it another month or two to see how prominent the gray is, before I decide whether or not to color it.

How's the regrowth going, everyone?  Any pics to share?

tiff2008

Abbadoodles-I'll try it.  I'm worried though since my sides are pretty thin and won't the color stick to my scalp?

LorenaB-Before chemo I was probably 40% gray, now it looks like more...you're right, it's hard to tell right now (white, gray & brown) lovely

As far as regrowth, I'm 9 weeks out and it's only about 1/8 inch long and thinner on the sides  and in back.  The top is thicker...i think ;l                   So slowwwwwwwwwww

Lucy47

Hi Ladies,

I finished my last chemo Apr. 3rd '08....and by the end of June was no longer wearing my wig and actually went out to dinner with my dh. I must have had about 1/4 inch growth, but to my surprise no on gave me a 2nd look. I also coloured my hair two weeks later with a hair dye (28 shampoos) it worked great. I have now since coloured it 2 more times and it is about 1 inch in length. (coming in slightly curly). It feels good to have hair again....I didn't realize how much I missed it.

good luck to you all still on chemo

Deen

Hi All,

Tiff, I'm 14 weeks out now.  It seems to have slowed down a bit now though.  Maybe I'm imagining it or just getting more impatient.

I'll post another pic this week.

 Lauren, will you too - and others?

D.

sandym

Hello to everyone,

tiff and abbadoodles, thanks for the hair color discussion.  Just today I saw my oncologist and asked about color.  She said it was ok but use something gentle. I'm  pretty much all white - not a huge surprise but still a little shocking as I've had my hair colored for years. I stopped at the hairdresser hoping they'd recommend something OTC so I could do it at home.  The girls said the only products they could safely recommend are the ones they use.  I really would like to have it done but it seems such a waste at this point. I have a few 3/4 to 1 inch patches 9 weeks post TX  but, like you tiff, the sides are only 1/8 inch.  Abbadoodles, Loving Care should be gentle I would think but I have the same concern as tiff - won't I be coloring my scalp too? 

The hairdresser did recommend keeping the hair all one length and tidying up the hair line. I did some trimming where the white started peeking out from under my darker wig.  She said their clippers can go as long as 3 inches.  I do look a little shaggy which is kind of funny considering how sparse the regrowth still is.

TennesseeMichele

Has anybody tried using hair powder to cover the scalp while hair is growing in?  I'm curious about it.  My hair is 1/2" long (I'm about 9 weeks out from chemo) but I don't like how much of the scalp can be seen.

Michele

tiff2008

I've never heard of hair powder. I'm going to go ahead and try Loving Care this weekend.  I'm not even sure that it will stick to these short hairs..we'll see. I'll let you guys know how it turns out.  I think I'd rather try it myself as apposed to the salon, at least at this point in the game

I've already had to shave the little wild hairs on my neck.  I think some of the bare spots may actually be white hair???

Tiff

artsee

If you read back on this thread your questions will be answered Katie.....

TexanCupig

Hi y'all!  Well, my hair has grown maybe 1/2 inch now?  I just wish it would get a little bit longer so I could wear hair clips and look a little bit girly again?   I really hope my hair will be curlier, but as far as the grey's concerned...I'll be happy with a FULL head of hair!!!   As far as the REST of my body hair...I noticed my arm and leg hairs are growing, also my nether region as well.  Needless to say, where I live at now, I don't really worry about shaving my legs or armpits.

How have y'all done with radiation therapy?  I know...I could go and read at the radiation threads, but thought I'd ask here too...

NancyD

TC, the "rest of the hair" sometimes comes back in before the head and nether regions. My arm and leg hair are back to normal. My daughter gave me a pedicure this weekend and even had to trim my toe hairs, LOL. I guess that's because we accept a shorter standard on our arms, and legs, and toes.

My adjuvant chemo has done a number on my head hair again, so I'm almost back to square one. I thought I'd leave it alone to see just how much stayed attached, but it's so sparse now that the only smart thing to do is to buzz it down so it has an even start with the new regrowth. Otherwise it will look all wild and uneven. So I'm going to do that this weekend.

I'll let you guys know how radiation goes...I start the day after Labor Day.

PugMum

I know this issue has been covered before, but I'm too lazy to go back and find it. Shaved my head 2 weeks ago and got a fabulous wig. However, now I'm sprouting itchy, red splotches across my bald dome. I don't care how it looks, but trying to scratch through the wig or scarf is frustrating. Can you put hydrocortisone cream on your head? Has anyone found anything soothing with no medicine in it? Thanks for any info.

Kathy

collector

Kathy, my onc said to shampoo with Johnsons baby shampoo.  This helped but I broke out with new red bumps with each Taxotere infusion.  They did get to be fewer and less itchy with each tx.

collector

I am almost 6 weeks since my last T/C treatment.  I have sparse hair that is white or cellophane in color.  The long ones are maybe 3/4 inch long but those are leftovers from during chemo.  My question is if these eventually fall out, to be replaced by another new hair OR does the color of the shaft just start to change?  I colored my hair for years before cancer so I don't expect it to look like it did BUT colorless seems too strange.  I also wonder about the caps or scarves I wear being too hard on the new growth.  I go bald at home but at night my head gets chilled and the stubble is uncomfortable against the pillow.  Should I suck it up and go bareheaded whenever I can stand it?

NancyD

Collector, I don't think head covering matters. Your hair will grow whether you wear a nightcap or not.

As for color, I saw the shaft change color on many of my white hairs. And there were some that came in in color from the beginning. And other hairs looked like they would stay white. I was at the point you are (3/4") when I started chemo again, and they've dropped off for a second time in six months

I also colored my hair for many years, so didn't know what to expect. One thing I expected, though, was to see some of my orginal color, if only just a few hairs ( I was a redhead). But there wasn't any...all gone.

collector

Thanks, Nancy.  I'm sorry you are going through this twice but 2nd time around you will know more about what to expect.  I just can't believe how often during the day I stop everything and check on my so called hair.  It is insane!  I am thinking of upping my biotin dose from 1000mg.  The directions on the jar say 1000 mg per day but I've heard of people taking much more than that.  I'd ask my derm but with the shortage of derms around here she is probably booked up for the next 6 months with a waiting list on top of that.  Waiting for hair is sort of like waiting for Christmas when I was little.

gramadeb

Collector - I am 3 months out from chemo. The hair on the sides continued to grow through chemo. It is thin and wiry compared to the areas where I completely lost my hair and new stuff came in. I have had to trim it a few times because it was so much longer. I don't like the texture of it - thinking I may cut it shorter and see if nicer hair will come in. It was gray for awhile and now it is getting darker.The back and top of my head are very soft and the back has beautiful waves, the sides are straight and weird. My hair did come in gray initially, now the back and side are dark brown, some reddish brown (my original color) and the top is silver with dark color filling in. The top is the only area that has not changed color yet. I am 55 and OK with it - have had many people tell me what a beautiful color it is.

Deb

LorenaB

As promised, here are some recent hair photos.  I finished chemo on May 8th.

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/LorenaB_photos/August08005.jpg

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e153/LorenaB_photos/August08006.jpg

NancyD

O-o-o-o, nice curls! Looking good, Lauren.

I'm back to bald, even had some foliculitis. Glad I didn't get too attached to the interim growth. This next growth's for REAL and will be a keeper, so I will be more involved with trimming and keeping it neat. I've decided that the duck down was cute, but it made for messy, scraggly ends as it got longer.

otter

Hey, everybody, look what I found!

This is sort of the inverse of the "hat-with-hair" strategy.  They're called "FlairHair visors," and they come in 15 different hair/visor color combinations.  My dh found them in a gadget catalog, and I think he might buy me one.  Here's the main website: http://www.flair-hair.com/products.php

They're kind of pricey ($25) at the main website; but if you google "FlairHair" or "Flair Hair", you can find them for less than $20.

We've gotta have fun with this, right?

otter 

NancyD

Looks lilke the shag carpet my mother bought at a discount store in the 70's. LOL.

wishiwere

Nancy!  LOL  I was thinking it looked like the BATHROOM the guy who sold us the house 25 years ago had in here!  Oh my, that brown one.  JUST Like the carpet.  IT was ripped out as the very 1st thing we did after signing the mortgage papers!  Even before we popped the cork! UGH!

HeatherBLocklear

Otter-- I LOVE those caps! I can just see the expressions on my students' faces if I walk into class wearing one of those. Ohmygosh, too, too funny.

Will you post a photo of yourself wearing yours when you get it? I hope you do. I tried, by the way, to get a decent picture of myself with my buzz-cut hairdo, but the hair is so pale, it doesn't show up. Will keep trying, though.

Love to all,

Annie

tiff2008

Hi everyone.  Your hair looks great Lorena!  You are about 1.5 months ahead of me. 

Last week I colored my hair and it turned out great!  It looks longer now and more filled in.  I just used a semi perm color that will wash out in about 6 weeks.  The body hair thing is strange though, I  have these little colorless bumps all over my legs & arms, it must be where my hair is trying to come in?  I hope once the hair comes in the bumps go away.  It feels so good to see hair again, makes you start to feel human.

Miss_Lolli

Just wanted to come by with some encouragement. I feel for you girls...it seems to take FOREVER! And like someone said, I get lots of compliments on the short, but I'm a long-haired girl at heart. So, I'm greedy for more. lol

Anyway, I'm not good taking my own pic (obviously) but this is almost exactly 9 months out of chemo for me. I cut the bottom off, but the longest piece finally touches my shoulder! I'm waitin' on that ponytail!

I took biotin and used special shampoo (nioxin?), but my hair's always been thick, so not sure if it all helped.

I've always had stick-straight hair.  Don't know how long it will stay..it's for sure an adventure. I colored about six months post tx.... It's not really red, just a crappy camera phone.

I'ts a bit big and scary! This was taken before I used my smoothing gel. Am trying to get the nerve up for a shaping....keep chickening out. On the bright side, it add inches to my height. hehe

Happy sprouting everyone!

Lucy47

wow Lori,

Lots of hair....I'm 5 months out of last treatment and I have maybe 1/2 of what you have, but it feels good to have hair again. I just went Saturday to the hairdresser just to trim the back ( only a bit) I want to grow it long, long , long!!!!! I coloured my hair 2 months post last chemo (temp colour) and still am colouring and it's been working great. I too had bone straight hair and now its coming in curly. But what ever it's hair and I'll take it. Anyway you look GREAT!!!!!!!

Lucy

SQK

Lori, thanks for the encouragement.  Your hair looks great! 

I had my last T/C tx on June 5.  I now have about 1/2 inch of straight, fine, salt&pepper hair which, BTW, I am thrilled to have.    It's not coming in even.  It's thicker in the back, more sparse toward the front.  But what I'm wondering is...  if it's going to get curly, would I be seeing that yet?  Or do the curls come in later, after it gets a little longer?

Sue K.

artsee

Lori....I love your curls. I also had stick straight hair and I'm hoping it will be curly now. Someone told me on this thread that there hair turned curly somewhere between 4 and 5 month out from the last dx.I am 4 month out right now and I'm beginning to see the wave on the top of the head.It's growing as I can keep track of it from the color outgrowth.

Keep using that Nioxin.....Artsee

Miss_Lolli

Thanks very much girls! I'm just thrilled to have some, no matter what it looks like.

Lucy, it starts really speeding up after the six month mark, so you'll be caught up with me soon!

Sue, artsee is right, it took awhile to get curls. For some reason it started out straight.  I don't remember how long, but I know it was at least a few months. At first I just thought I had weird growth patterns. hehe  But good luck on the curls to you two.

I've been wishing my whole life that I didn't have straight hair, so my new motto is "be careful what you wish for". lol