Hair Loss and TCHP

NotVeryBrave

The never-ending discussion of hair loss! I find that it's brought up in so many threads. I feel like I've heard and read so many different things that it might be helpful to start a new conversation based on specific medications. Of course, everyone is different and your experience will vary ...

I started losing copious amounts of shoulder length hair about 2.5 weeks after my first round. It was hugely upsetting to me to see the hair piled up in the bed, across the bathroom, in the hairbrush, and all over my hands in the shower. I went and had my hair buzzed at a local salon that also sells wigs - they had a private room. I cried a lot ... but then my head felt better. No more soreness or tingling.

I continued losing hair until probably somewhere near round #3. I never lost all of my hair, probably around 75% of it fell out. So for a while it seemed like I had hair in three stages - gone, frozen in time, and growing - all at once. At least on my head. I also lost most (90%) of my pubic and underarm hair.

My eyebrows started thinning considerably around round #4 (I was told that I wouldn't lose eyebrows or eyelashes). The inside portions got very thin, but they are growing back in already and quickly! And my hair is growing a lot - the ones that stayed are long enough to be wavy/curly while the ones that are coming back are very, very short stubble. I think my eyelashes have stayed the same or perhaps gotten slightly longer or curlier.

I have one round left to go and am hoping for no further hair surprises! Good luck to those of you starting this sucky program.

BellasMomToo

That's great that your hair is already growing back. I lost about 1/2 of my eyebrows (I had thick eyebrows) and eyelashes after my 3rd round. They stayed the same until AFTER my 6th and final round -- then I lost half of what I had left. So now I barely have a quarter of my eyebrows and eye lashes. I'm almost 6 weeks PFC and I don't think they're growing back yet.

When I found out I had BC, I had my hair cut to chin length. As I started to lose the hair on my head, I wore nylon caps (that I purchased from the TLC catalog) so I didn't have hair falling all over the place. I also washed my hair leaning over the bathtub. It was too demoralizing to wash my hair in the shower and have all that hair fall out on my hands and body.

When I lost the hair on my head, it seemed to start with the very top -- then the hair above my neck was the last to go. I never lost all of my hair -- had just enough left to look like a radiation blast victim until I shaved the rest off with my electric razor. I think the hair on the back of my head is starting to grow back though. So perhaps the top will start to grow last since it was the first to go???? I sure hope it eventually grows back -- I hate seening the class action lawsuits commercials about Taxotere.

NotVeryBrave

Well - just goes to show that we really are all different! I was hoping I was done with any more hair loss. Guess I'd better not make any bets! ;-)

NotVeryBrave

Thought I'd update this to say that the eyebrows did in fact continue to fall out. They seem to grow back almost as fast as they leave, but they're so short that the overall effect is pretty sparse. Definitely filling in with eyebrow pencil.

And the eyelashes, while not completely gone, are much thinner as well. Applying mascara is challenging. My eyelashes were never thick, dark, or particularly long, but it's yet another adjustment in the mirror.

I ended up coloring my hair myself - couldn't stand the much darker color near my neck with almost white on top plus not a lot all around. Just seemed to make me look older and sicker. It seemed to take the color okay. I just hope it grows like crazy since I'm getting sick of the wig!

burner

Just to add another user story... my eyelashes and eyebrows thinned a bit starting with round 3 or 4 out of 6. But then FWOOM... all but 5 lashes on each eye came out about 3 weeks PFC, coinciding with my mastectomy. I used Latisse, and it made my lashes super long during treatment, but didn't prevent me from losing them.

It's about 8 week PFC now, and I see 2 lashes growing back on each eye, and more brow hairs and head hairs coming in - albeit stubby on the brows and cotton candyish on the head. The hair on my head is distressing since I did cold caps, and I'm still shedding at my chemo shed rate. Sigh.

I've been getting by with wearing heavy black eyeliner and false lashes (only for special nights out). Filling in with a brow pencil works alright for me. But even though I have a good wig, it's still highly uncomfortable for me to wear it, and I worry that it might inhibit the growth of new hair given how much I tend to sweat, etc.

mcmurry2015

I'm so scared mine won't grow back either due to the taxatere lawsuit information. I just took first treatment 3 weeks ago and lost most of my hair this last weekend. I've been undergoing chemo since November 2015 and this is the most hair loss experienced. I sure hope it grows ba

NotVeryBrave

I hate hearing those lawsuit ads! I was pretty scared that my hair wouldn't grow back. I know it's a really small percentage that have that happen, but it seems like anything and everything odd happens to me.

I'm happy to say that my hair is growing back at a pretty quick rate since finishing chemo in April. It had started to grow back around maybe round 4 - when my eyebrows were leaving. It's getting thick on top and I've colored it twice (May and June). It's still WAY too short to do anything with and the wig is too hot so I'm doing ball caps and bandanas.

The eyelashes all left, too - last ones about 2 weeks ago. The new ones are coming in pretty thick and kind of wavy, like my hair. They're only about 1/3 of a normal length. The mascara called "Lash Discovery" does a decent job with its tiny applicator brush.

Hang in there!

mattiej

Not Very Brave,

Your story sounds exactly like mine, diagnosis and all. I am now almost 7 wks post chemo, but really no sign of hair growth. There may be a few stubbles on the back. I wore wigs prior to my diagnosis because my hair was very thin to begin with, but I did pull the front bio hair out which made the wigs look so realistic. I kept enough eyebrows to not have to paint or draw them on, but my eye lashes are almost gone (I had long and thick lashes) and mascara is a bit of a challenge now. I also am now loosing my fingernails. None have actually fallen off yet, but two are lifted from the nail bed about 50%. This is worse than loosing my hair... I feel as though I am being dismantled, bit by bit. I have neuropathy in both my fingers and feet since the 3rd treatment. My Onc tells me all will get better with time...

What I was wondering is why you chose mastectomies as opposed to lumpectomy? I almost chose mastectomy, but my breast surgeon was very against it. She said that there was no difference in survival rate or recurrence rate. So I had a lumpectomy and sentinel node 8 days ago. My margins and biopsy is clean now. I am 64 yrs old and hoping I made the right decision with regard to surgery. I hate second guessing myself with this decision. It's something I have done every day since the surgery.

I just found and joined this forum, so I hope my questions are ok to be asking. TIA for any info. and help.

NotVeryBrave

mattiej - "dismantled, bit by bit" is such a perfect description! I'm so sorry.

My hair had started coming back about round 4 and it's continuing to grow. I still can't do anything with it and I obviously look like a cancer patient with it this short. The eyebrows kind of came in as they left so they mostly just looked very thin and I filled them in with pencil. The eyelashes all left well after chemo and have been much slower coming back. The lower ones look pretty normal now - the top ones are still stubby and kind of stick straight out.

I had some neuropathy in my hands and feet after each round, but the fingertips would never recover before the next round. I still have a tiny bit in the very tips. My MO thought it would probably resolve by 3 months out. That's now. It's liveable. My nails had a deep groove across each one that marked the start of chemo when my cuticles fell off. That has now grown out, but the nails are very thin and weak. Don't know if that's the Herceptin or not.

I chose mastectomy mostly because 1) they were watching some things in the other breast - some of which disappeared during the time I was getting chemo and one that didn't, and 2) I really didn't want to get radiation. Those are the most important reasons although there were others.My MO and BS were both against it. So I went with my second opinion BS who referred me to a PS who seconded the idea. Believe me - I've "second guessed" myself at every turn! I was very much wondering if I'd made a huge mistake after the surgery. But this was the right choice for me.

This is a great online network. I don't know how I would have made it through without them. If you enter your info in your profile and make it "public" then everyone can easily see what's going on with you.

mattiej

Not Very Brave,

I did fill out the profile. Not sure how to get back yet. I'm still learning to navigate this forum ;-). Thanks for the info. I will go back to the profile and make it public. I think I have it filled in - mostly.....