Hair Hair Hair - Another question

Shannie

I love reading about everyone's hair growth.  I always had thinning hair and I have it again.  (was so hoping for a mircle in having thick and curly hair).  I'm 16 weeks PFC and my hair is growing so SLOW and I can definitely see my scalp!  It's been furstrating but I'm just dealing with it.  I am taking biotin.  I don't know if it's helping.  Any other suggestions would be greatly helpful.  I just started Tamoxifen 2 weeks ago.

CAYH

LeeA - I'm not sure exactly how long it takes for the chemo drugs to leave our systems entirely, but you can tell that your cells are recuperating when your hair begins to grow well & your nails go back to looking normal.  It's quite a process, but try to persevere - so many of us have been where you are now, yet the memories will fade as you get on with your life.  I'm really thankful of that now!

kjiberty - you've amassed some serious length now even with all those gorgeous curls!  I'm 39 weeks now but have nowhere near that length & I know you've had several trims already too, right?  Sadly, my curls are almost entirely gone now  - lots of wave still & really thick, but I miss those temporary curls already!  Yours are fabulous, Karen!!!

mareluna

Thedevine, Great photos. Your wig looks a lot like your hair. That is so nice. My wigs don't look like my hair did. I rarely wear my wigs. I don't like wigs. I mainly did no hair or hats and scarves. It was hot this summer so I wore scarves out. In my neighborhood I'd skip them. Just loved keeping as cool as I could.

kjiberty

Carroll: Got the package on Sat.  Thank you!  

I used Bosley shampoo/conditioner even while I was bald as well as 5 mg biotin.  Don't use either now. I do like my hair--for now. We'll see what happens,  And yes, Ihave had it trimmed 4 times...Mainly on the sides to make it look like an actual hairdo.

herstrong

Every time I shower I squeeze out way too much shampoo and conditioner like my hair was a foot long. It's been a year since I lost my hair and I just can't change this old habit. Anyone else relate?

Love74

herstrong...I totally do the same thing. funny!!

AEM47

I can relate to that...I used to flip my hair out of my collar when I put a shirt or jacket on - I think it took about 6 months to break that habit and even now I will sometimes catch myself doing it. I still move my hair (or lack of) out of the way when I lay on my side!

lago

Herstrong I have to think about that every morning and I haven't had my old longer hair in over 3 years. Took me a while to stop looking for my tampons on sale too. My last period was 2 weeks before chemo also over 3 years ago.

I still look at the 34B bras and have to catch myself… now a 34D! (Note: never tell your male PS you want to go a little bigger/fuller. A man's idea of a little bigger and a woman's aren't the same )

Carrol2

LeeA my onc told me it should be out of the system in 3 weeks. Thats why the infusions are usually 3 weeks apart. But when it came time to have surgery they wanted me to wait at least a month to be sure my immunity was in good shape. I had some minor side effects left over from it all that started about a month after and ended about 2 months after that. Just some neuropathy in my hands. It went away completely.

DivineMrsM

lago, men & women's ideas of 'a little bigger'.......sounds SO true!!!!!!!  lol

dechi

Lago, I can relate.  I went in with an A-cup, asked for a B-cup and came out with a very full C-cup!

JoanQuilts

Three of us who met on the New Jersey group went out for lunch on Sunday.  The last time we were all together was in May and we were all wearing wigs.  Now we all sported full heads of hair!  Just wanted to share and give all you ladies some encouragement!

juneaubugg

Joan: what's the name of the nj thread. I'd like to join you ladies on it.

DivineMrsM

Many of you mention the Got2Be Hair Freeze, and I love it.  Yesterday I went to the store and they were out of the bright yellow can of freeze.  I'd just used up the last of the can at home, so I looked around to see if I could find something else to do in a pinch.  I found "Got2Be 2 Sexy" Hair Spray in a red can.  Just thought I'd mention it for those of you who like their products.

Immdc

I am almost 2 years pfc and have less than half the hair I used to. Has anyone else experienced this? It seems like most people have thicker hair than they did before chemo. Mine is especially thin at the crown. I have to wear little clips to hide the thin areas. I take biotin and use rogaine. My onc recently switched me from tamoxifen to femara because I went through menopause (I'm 50) and now I'm afraid it will cause even more hair loss. Does anyone whose been through this have any suggestions or ideas?

JoanQuilts

Juneaubug it's called New Jersey / ny/eastern Pennsylvania /ct ladies in the Help me get through traetment category.

onvacation

Love all the hair pictures - we sure have some beautiful sisters!  

InTheWind

Knowing what chemo does to us would you elect to not have it if your cancer was currently only in your breasts? I have ILC and it's in both breast. The doctor doesn't know the stage yet but based on google I'm a stage IIa. The doctor wants to cut off both breast with no reconstruction, radiation, and "the most aggressive chemo treatment available"  So no boobs, no hair, eyelashed or eyebrows for about a year.  I'm searously leaning towards telling him NO because I don't want to be treated for something that could or could not happen (that the cancer shows up again in a diffrent part of my body) but I wonder if my vanity is causeing me to risk an early death.  To boot I got some kind of heart problem (left bundle branch block) and had to cancel my lymph node biopsy suregery and do a heart ultra sound. 

LeeA

Without reconstruction?  Has the surgeon given you a reason for that?

kjiberty

IntheWind:  Sounds like you don't have much confidence in what your doc is telling you, so you might consider getting a second opinion.  He/she may be saying no recon now, but does that mean not later?  A lot of people opt for recon later.  It's not unusual.  I had the "option" of not doing chemo due to my oncotype score (it was on the high side of intermediate distant recurrence), so I chose chemo.  I didn't want to live my life with "what if's".  If you have some kind of heart problem, I would also be having this discussion with your cardiologist.  

I went "topless" two months after my last treatment and I have a full head of hair 7 1/2 months PFC.  I lost my brows/eyelashes after 2 months PFC, but they grew back within 2 weeks.  You need to look at the big picture: Treatment is only temporary, are as most of the S/E's.  SOme may last longer, but would you rather be above the ground or below it with hair/boobs/eyelashes?

mareluna

Hi. I had my surgery on tuesday. I am home now it was rough,but am ok now.

lago

InTheWind I would do it again! My onc gave me stats for my age and diagnosis that said that out of 100 women who were my age with my diagnosis that only did the surgery… only 40 of them were alive and cancer free 10 years later. If I did the chemo and in my case hormone therapy my chance of being alive and cancer free went up to 86%.

There is no known cure but the chances of being cured are high if you treat it now. Once  you reach stage IV there is no cure. They just manage the disease with treatment (meaning off and on chemo for the rest of your life which could be months or 20 years). If you are on chemo the rest of your life you are not without side effects. So now is your best shot of a cure.

I would give up a year of my life (actually more when you include reconstruction) again to have this great opportunity to cancer free and possibly cured. My hair is back and looks great.

Also ask your oncologist to explain the risks of ILC. It's a sneaky one and I do believe it might have a higher risk of metastisis… but please check with your onc on that.

I had a bit 6.5cm tumor of IDC/DCIS in the left and a small amount of LCIS on the right. Had to get the MX but once the LCIS was found a BMX was recommended. I did have TEs places at BMX (start of reconstruction) PM me if you what to chat more.

herstrong

I have ILC and had a BMX without immediate recon. I had to have radiation and my surgeon really didn't even want me to have recon at all. When I insisted, he strongly recommended I wait two years after rads. But the PS says I only need to wait 6 months, so I will be checking back with the PS in a couple more months.

I want to live, so I have taken every treatment that has been recommended. I'm not going to lie, but loosing my hair has been by far the most difficult aspect of having breast cancer for me. And that's why I read this thread even after loosing my hair a year ago. These gals are my source of strength. It's not vain - we associate our femininity with girlish hair and breasts, so the thought of loosing those things are devestating. But I want to live, so I took the treatments. If I ever need to go through chemo again, I would definitely try harder to save my hair with cold caps. There is a great thread on here and many women have had different levels of success with them. This is your time to pull up your big girl panties and fight. And we'll be here for you.

zsterling

Immdc, I've also been losing quite a bit of hair on tamoxifen and very nervous about femara (I'm also 50 although not yet post-menopausal).  I've been using minoxidil and just started taking biotin, which may be helping a little.  I found this site hoping to build my confidence regarding wearing scarves and eventually my hair piece to cover the mostly frontal 'balding'.  Still struggling though and tolerating the superthin hair for now.  Sometimes I wonder if chemo might have helped me grow a even better head of hair post chemo (I chose the "no chemo" path due to my low oncotype).  I'm not sure if this is a real 'thing' or not, but judging from the gorgeous pictures of the post chemo folks here --seems like it might be! 

lago

zssterling after about 18 months to 2 years PFC your hair is the same as before. I always had thick straight hair and still do. Had receding prior to chemo, it's starting again even with biotin and Minoxidil but so far not as bad. Bottom line is we are still here. Trust me if you don't have to do chemo you don't want to. I still have a little neuropathy on my left heel that gets annoying numb when there's a big storm… not a big deal but who knows what else chemo might have done to our bodies. Hopefully, if anything it will be something benign and treatable and certainly much better than not being alive.

Nancy44

To you ladies taking Biotin (5mg); I just bought a bottle and it says 1000 on it.  Does that mean I would take five pills?  At one time?  I've never used supplements before so the dosages are throwing me off a bit.

Thanks for the help,

Nancy

TNNurse

IntheWind,

Well, that is quite a question.  From your photo, you appear pretty young and you have children.  I did not have  your type of cancer, I am 63 dx last year.  I do not have children.  I had a single mastectomy and had one positive lymph node.  After surgery, I had chemo.  I will not lie, it was awful.  I started in late May and finished the end of August.  I lost my hair, I had no appetite, no tastebuds and horrible diarrhea.  I did not vomit more than 2 or 3 times.  I lost weight which was OK, I had it to lose.  After that and six weeks of "rest", I had 33 radiation treatments.  They were Mon-Fri until done.  I had some skin "burn" but my doc gave me a couple of things that really helped.  Both chemo and radiation make you tired....very, very tired.  

I had beautiful white hair ( my favorite thing about myself), it was tough to lose.  I have a great wig and many people did not know it was a wig.  Today I went out into the world, well the grocery store, without the wig.

My hair is coming back, white and several shades or grey....never been grey before, but it is still pretty short.

I am alive.  I made it through.  I had a lot of support and amazing offers of help. If it reoccurs, I might not take chemo again, but I do not regret that I had it.  If your docs give you good chances, a year without hair or eyelashes or eyebrows is certainly worth it to me.

I wish you well and hope you make the decision that is best for you.

Kayak2

Hi Nancy,

Yes, your bottle of 1000 mcg, would mean that you would take 5 pills once a day to = 5000 mcg (same as 5 mg).  When you finish that bottle, you could buy a high potency bottle of 5000 mcg (5 mg) in one tablet.  I feel that some brands seemed to be less effective than others:  Care One - seemingly no effect, but things seemed to change when I started Nature's Bounty. 

Carol

lisa2012

Wow, in the wind, hang in there.....

mermaid_1010

I am just taking what the bottle says on the side, I wonder if I should be taking more.  It has helped... along with Horsetail which is natural silica which makes you sprout hair...  AND OF COURSE MY ICE CAPS...  I am so thankful for my ice caps.  Right now I have moth eaten eyelashes...  I've been using this stuff from Sephora that is supposed to make them grow.  I might try false ones...  my eyebrows are horrible.