Hair Hair Hair - Another question

BelaT

Elizabeth, u look awesome. I have no hair. 4 weeks pfc

schatzi14

Finally....9th week and all the white hair is being replaced with darker stuff.....thank goodness! Still too short in the front and on the top to go topless but hopefully in 2 or 3 more weeks.....

Momine

Bela, it seems like forever, but then suddenly you have hair after all. hang in there.

MizMarie

I came to the realization yesterday that I simply cannot wear my wig until my hair grows out to the length I want it to be.  It's already peeking out from the sides, and the wig comes loose pretty easily now.  I'm going to have to bite the bullet sooner than later, so this afternoon I am off in search of hair taming products and do some experimenting this weekend.  Maybe, MAYBE, next week I'll take the plunge....  Any suggestions for styling products to tame wild and wooly hair?

dragonfly1

Mizmarie I'm not sure how curly your hair is but I have tried everything imaginable on mine. I've used paste, wax, gel and straightening conditioners and honestly the best thing has seemed to be gel (without alcohol because it dries your hair even more). I basically just scrunch my hair with some gel when it's damp and try to leave it alone. The more you brush/comb or towel dry it the more frizzy it gets. Now that it's finally getting some length it seems to be relaxing and is less curly and I have enough length now that I can flat iron the top. I fought the curls/waves for months and even had my hair cut twice out of frustration and I now realize that you need to just go with the curls until you get some length. It gets more manageable over time (I'm 10 1/2 months PFC).

marjie

Mizmarie...I would (and still do) towel dry my hair, and use a paste to get the messy look.  Dragonfly is right, you just need to "go with it".  I'm too lazy to fight with it - I guess I got used to not worrying about my hair when I didn't have it, because I just don't want to be bothered, lol!

Anonymous

Hi all, I finished chemo almost three weeks ago and am using Latisse...trying it on the bare spots on my eyebrows too. My eyelashes thiinned so much on Taxol and my eyebrows did too but didn't completely fall out.  I think that the Latisse might be helping a bit on the lashes--the brows are still pretty bare in places but really bushy in others. Weird.

My hair is nearly 2 inches long--weird too, I thought that it would take longer to grow...and it's either white-blond or really silver. It used to be light brown and I highlighted it blonde...I don't know if I'm going to bother any more. It looks kind of cool right now.

But I start Tamoxifen tomorrow. I'm worried about thinning hair!!! My hair seems to be nice and thick so far.

shore1

Elizabeth - looking good!



Mizmarie - my fave product for my pre chemo curly hair was moroccon oil.

EmmaC

claireinaz.....I am on tamoxifen, my hair grew back thick, just like it was before.  I am taking biosil too, and tumeric for leg acheyness!

I get a haircut tomorrow to clean me up. My chemo curl is not making me happy.

Elizabeth1889

Thanks for the compliments, everyone.  All of you lift my spirits so much.

ksmatthews

I hate my chemo curl, the top is more relaxed and I can now flat iron it, the back is just unmanagable!  So I straighten the top and leave the back curly, what a look!  I had about 2 inches cut off the back and am now just going to let it grow out.

BelaT

Thanks Momine, I hope so.

EmmaC

I bought a hot iron, It isn't quite long enough on top to straighten out yet. It is growing like crazy now that I am 5wks out from my last herceptin treatment, I have also lost weight with out trying. Tomorrow I start full force exercising again!

If I could just get to a point where my hair style is by my choice I will be good. Does that make sense?

Sandlake

Bonseye ~ I am 4 days behind you  I hope to loose my wig by summer, I have more hair on my sides and back.  The top and front color is very silver/white, sides and back mousy brown.  I am going to go with the color for a while.

Elizabeth1889 ~ Looking good with all of your beautiful hair!

My natural pre-chemo hair was very curly.  My favorite hair product for curly hair is by CatWalk, Curls Amplify Creme.  My hair is too short to tell if it has curl yet. 

peachy-pie

peachy-pie

That's me,  5 months out from my last chemo.     Finally ditched my wig 5 days ago,  I feel free once again!  

onvacation

Beautiful!

borntosurvive

I just finished my DD ACT on April 5th.  I still have my eyebrows although they thinned a bit.  I have about 6 eyelashes on my right eye and 12 on the left.  My bottom lashes are pretty well gone.  Sometimes when I blink my eyelids stick together.  My hair is prickly and my head actually hurts a bit - feels like a tight pony tail.  Did anyone experience this when their hair started to grow back?  Anything that helped it out?

slak

Hi Ladies, I'm new to this topic so I haven't read the entire 483 pages of it, but I did look up clinical trials on hair regrowth after chemo in the PubMed database. There isn't much in the way of clinical trials, but I did find a review paper from Duke (Dermatologic Therapy Vol 24, 2011, pp. 432-442 'Treatment of chemotherapy-induced alopecia') that indicated the only thing that has strong data right now is Minoxidil.  In the trial for Minoxidil (which was a double-blind randomized controlled trial - the best kind of trial) they used 1 ml of 2% minoxidil solution twice daily to the entire scalp throughout chemo and up to 4 months post-chemo.  The minoxidil users shortened the time from maximum hair loss to first regrowth by 50 days.  Patients in the placebo group waited an average of 137 days between maximal hair loss and first regrowth, while the patients on monoxidil group waited only 87 days.  Unfortunately, the study did not test whether using it just post-chemo had the same effect, so I don't know whether it will have the same effect starting it after chemo has begun.  Also, I haven't read the original paper so I don't know if they examined what happened long-term and whether hair growth (e.g. thickness) was the same or different.   I know others on this thread have used it, but thought you might want to know some of the data behind it's use for chemotherapy-induced alopecia.  I was wondering if anyone's MO told them they could not use minoxidil during chemo??

shore1

Peachy-pie, your hair looks great.



Borntosurvive, I got that prickly feeling when my hair started growing back and it scared me because it was the same feeling I got when it first fell out. But it didn't fall out again and the prickly feeling didn't last long. I massaged head with extra virgin olive oil and it helped it feel better, and im sure it's what has made it grow so fast.

MizMarie

Peachy-pie, you look gorgeous! 

I also had the tender-achy scalp feeling not long ago, and it does seem like there was a bit of a growth spurt afterwards.  I have enough hair now that my wig no longer fits as well as it did just a couple of weeks ago.  I bought very small diameter round brushes today, along with a couple of products to help tame the curl and frizz.  Seriously thinking about going topless soon.

Elizabeth1889

peachy-pie, Your look great! It really is a good feeling to ditch the wig.

Momine

Looking mighty peachy, Peachy Congrats on ditching the wig.

By the way, even more than the hair, I love the huge smiles that go with the new hair. 

WaveWhisperer

Slak, thanks for that info about the clinical trial and Monoxidil. I'm interested in trying something to boost my hair growth. I'm 7 weeks PFC and have only stubble. I'm sure it's been addressed here many times, but what have others used to speed up hair growth?

BelaT

Peacy pie _ you look awesome

JoanQuilts

Can someone tell me how to use oil olive - does it make hair grow back faster?  Can you use it with any effectiveness DURING chemo?

LuvRVing

Peachypie - you look gorgeous!

dlm217

Hi, I've been following this while going through chemo.  Today is 1 week since my last chemo.  I have  had the white peach fuzz for about 2 weeks now and it seems to have stopped growing.  How long did you ladies have the white fuzz?  I still have most of my eyebrows and eyelashes.  I have been filling my lashes in since I have a bald patch in each.  the lashes seem to be thinning.  Dr. told me last week at last chemo that they will probably start to fall out now.  I can't wait for my hair to grow.  I hate wearing a wig.

All of you ladies look great. 

MamaV

Congrats on everyone going topless! 

Just a quick note - "Got To Be Glued" is a GREAT paste for taming crazy hair!  (My daughter uses it to tame her curls for dance competitions).  I stole it and it helped when my hair was super short and wanted to stick up all over the place!  It's in a bright yellow tube and really glues your hair down!

Good luck all - my hair is down about 3 1/2 inches and lays flat on the top of my head and curls a little in the back (enough to keep it from looking like a mullet I guess) - still not used to nor do I like my short hair.  But, it's all I've got!  Gotta be thankful for that!

borntosurvive

I have a lot more "white fuzz" at the back then on the top.  I think I will end up with a mullet.  I know that won't be a good look for me .  I am an "instant results person" so waiting is not my strong point.  I know I just finished my chemo but I would have been happy to wake up the next day with a full head of hair LOL!!  I wish there were some kind of seeds that I could spread on my head and then sit in the sun like a Chia Pet and watch my hair grow.  I'm sure my kids would love to "water" my head.