Hair Hair Hair - Another question

HomeMom

lbrewer - shhhh we're not old enough for that!

Notbuyingit

i think i will go back in a week or so & have her shorten up the back again till the top grows more - specially those bangs...saw some hairs in the sink this morning - they better not be mine!!

Deblc

11 weeks PFC and my hair is really coming in now...finally!  Original colour, dark brown, on my head. But I notice I now have lots of fine white hair on my face too! What's up with that ?? And does it go away or will I be shaving for the rest of my life?

Annie54

I had the peach fuzz on my face also...down along the sides from ear to chin. Very weird looking!  It eventually went away though after a few months. I know some women shave it with the slender electrical razors you can buy for $10 at Target etc. I just waited it out until it faded away. I'm 11 months pfc and have about 3 inches of hair on my head but haven't seen the face fuzz for about 6 months!

Annie

Notbuyingit

i did use the Sally Hansen wax strips - hoping it just doesn't come back...will let you know

Deblc

Annie so glad to hear it goes away. We go through so much worse, pain wise, disfiguration wise, but I feel that one of these strange "superficial" things is going to be the last straw that makes me have a meltdown lol. 

Notbuyingit....I think I will just wait and see if it goes away unless someone else notices my strange facial hair

MomMom

Homemom,  Great question about shaving your head to help the "real hair" grow back.  I have a friend who did that 2 weeks PFC, which is the point I'm at now, and now about 6 weeks later, she has a nice, soft beginning growth of her normal dark hair.  It looks great!  What she shaved was the pale, baby chick fuzz stuff which is what I've got now.  Anyone else out there shave the chick fuzz so soon PFC?

MsPharoah

MomMom, we are all so different, that it is hard to say if that will be best for you.  But really, if you don't like the chick fuzz you have, shaving it off won't be a great loss and you might get a nice surprise like your friend when it grows out?  I didn't cut my hair until I needed a 'shape up" type cut...my choice and maybe I would have done better to cut off the first growth.   I didn't like the texture or color of my hair when it grew out, but that was mostly because it comes in thinner at first and I had been coloring my hair for so many years.  I think sometimes we don't realize what our real hair looks like until chemo forces us to stop trying to change it.

MsP

islandmom

The rate of growth is not affected by whether you get it cut or not.  However, it will make it look nicer, since you would be getting rid of the baby chick hair and getting more normal hair.  The tradeoff is that you would be cutting it at the time when you want to see some hair, because you waited long enough.  

Some ladies just want their texture back, while others like me just want it to be long.   However, even if you plan to let it grow, it is important to trim the ends periodically.   

MinusTwo

Everything I've read says that it takes up to a year PFC for "normal" hair to return.  Up to then the hair (or fur like mine) is chemo damaged.  And of course - like everything else about this darn disease - everyone is different.  Some of us are luckier than others, but I'm going to go w/just the small trims until I see what the hair looks like at the end of the year.

annika12

Im 8 months since last chemo and have not cut my hair yet.....it feels so good to have hair !!! Mine came in super light then darker with less grey then before . I have been coloring back to my old hair color with all natural color and MAN is it ever curly , love it  My lashes are funky and my brows thin but I don't care.....I'm happy and healthy  

lago

BosumBlues it comes back from Arimidex loss once you stop. I  wrote you a PM. Don't give up on Arimidex yet. Try Minoxadil. 

islandmom

BosumBlues, that is so discouraging.  It might be time for Monoxidil, that seems to work for many.

MomMom

Ladies,  Thanks for the feedback so far about cutting this baby chick fuzz or not.  Have to think about it.  Don't know if I was just successful in adding my avatar, but this is a pic of me just taken wearing my wig.  Wig is human hair and dyed to match my regular highlighted brown hair.  My own granddaughters did not know I was wearing a wig when I first began to wear it - looks just like my hair used to look. 

IamNancy

MomMom - love your wig... am sure no one knew it was a wig unless you told them.

Jules_NY

I'm 2 weeks PFC and there is no way I'm buzzing my head again! The first time was tolerable but if I did it again I think that it would set me over the edge!!

Here is a pic from today, not happy about the male pattern baldness thing I got going on!!!

Lisaj514

Jules, but that's actually great for just 2 wks PFC. I didn't start growing until 4 wks. Keep taking pictures, you'll be amazed if the progress in a short time. Lots of women get more growth in the sides than the top. I think that's the norm. Mine was opposite. Top more than sides and still is

Just put this together of my hair progress. (Oops on the 6th pic, ?!) Seems like I'm obsessed with taking pics of my hair growth, especially now that it's finally growing. The first pic is about 4-5wks PFC and you can see no eyelashes and drawn on brows. I was and still am a slow grower lol. But loving having hair now! You'll get there girls!:-)

Jules_NY

TY  lisaj. Penciled eyebrows and no lashes for me right now. But they are growing in a bit. I'm def grateful for the growth I have on my melon!! It started about 8 weeks into my 12 week taxol. I'm obsessed with checking to see if there is more growth on top though!!!

jbokland

I'm using Latisse and it seems to be working well on on my eyelashes!

MinusTwo

I also used Latisse on both my lashes & brows during both chemos - taxotere & carboplatin and later adriamycin & cytoxan.  I had some thinning but never really lost lashes or brows.

naiviv

I finally plucked eyebrows to shape a bit today. I have a lighted mirror that magnifies. Was I shocked to see several  hairs about 1/2 -1 inch long under my chin and neck area. I couldn't see them( I wear glasses to read) now I will have to be monitoring. Never had facial hair like that before.  I hope it's just a crazy post chemo  thing. Will be off for a few days have surgery 8/6.

Vivian

MameMe

Lisa, Nice photos, its great to see the sequence. I am still hanging on to vastly thinned original hair, but am closer to buzzing it off, pending further thinning. 

Jbok and Minus,  Latisse sounds like a useful item right now, my lashes are almost gone, and the brows virtually gone. When Latisse first came out, I thought it was nuts, never having had issues with lashes or brows. I stand corrected!

HomeMom

I saw on here one time about putting chopped onion in your shampoo. Anyone try that and if so what type of shampoo and what was the outcome?

Allydp

Hi ladies, I'm so glad I found this thread. I finished AC + Taxol and dose dense Carbo on July 16. About half way through Taxol/Carbo I started to get the fuzz…but only on the back and sides. As of today, I have more fuzz on the back and sides and only a few stray hairs on the top. I've got the whole male patterned baldness thing going and it's really starting to worry me. Before chemo, my hair had been thinning on top for about 3 years, to the point where I could notice my part widening. I'm wondering if whatever was causing my thinning before is preventing the growth now. I know it's super early, as I'm only 3 weeks out from chemo, but is it normal to not have growth on top at first? When do you think the top will start filling in? 

Jules - hi! I'm so sorry you're also dealing with this, but I was a little relieved to see your photos as I'm hoping this is a normal growth pattern for some of us and it will eventually come in. My head looks pretty much the same as yours. Have you seen any growth on top yet? Like you, I'm obsessed with checking. Cancer has taken so much from me…my ability to have children, my peace of mind…I just can't imagine it taking my hair too. 

MameMe

Bosun, its one hell of a thing to deal with. I have days when I am deply affected by the losses, then kind of buoy back into my life as it is right now. The way cancer is suddenly there, and will do what it wants, and tx almost always involves barbaric side effects...that is just the pits. I have to acknowledge the really dark side of this in order to stay sane. Ironic. Hang in there, Bosun. 

jbokland

 Alicia - my hair did that as well. I think that is pretty typical.  Don't worry!  Its also the angle you see yourself in the mirror that makes it look thinner!  I did a selfie from the top and there was a lot more hair than I thought. 

I use  Nioxin scalp treatment.  I don't know if my hair would have grown just as well without, but I use it!  

Me, 8 weeks PFC

mcgis

What, Arimidex makes you lose your hair? I was on Tamox, switched to Arimidex after i was told i had gone through monopause and my hair was still growing in. Now I'm off it till I have my hysterectomy (my damn period just showed up out of the blue). 

Can someone tell me about Monoxidil?

Notbuyingit

homemom - i am the one using the onion shampoo - i added it to the Nioxin - and now have added it to my regular shampoo - i think it helped - especially with the thickness - but of course i can't say for sure. It smells a little in the shower - but never notice it after that. I am 6 months out - will try to post a pic with my daughter's help - don't own a smart phone

HomeMom

That would be great Notbuyingit - I have used Nioxin on and off for over 10 years. Love the stuff.

jbokland

Side effects for Arimidex:  Alopecia (hair loss) is not listed.  But geez look at the GI problems!

BTW, this is from Micromedex, not the drug manufacturer.  Micromedex provides evidenced based information.