NO HAIR

Ok you may think I am crazy but, actually it would be my 17 year old daughter due to the fact that, she suggested I use HORSE SHAMPOO!!!! Yes you read that right and I have to say it is working as I am still doing chemo 4 Taxols left and since I am using the stuff I have about 1/2 inch of hair in about a 2-4 week period.  Weird I know and the bad part is her boyfriend is now saying he has some sheep shampoo that will work better and I am seriously considering it LOL.  You can get this shampoo Mane and Tail at like a farm store or my DD said Walmart sometimes carries it. Hey its worth a try right??? or have I fell off the wagon of sanity??? Maybe I don't want an answer to the last question lol.  Hope this helps, as for the norm no clue sounds to me with everything I've read thus far it should start growing somewhat within a couple weeks after chemo is over but, mine is during chemo with the shampoo so I have no real clue everyone is different I guess.

Goodluck

Deb

Hi! I use Mane and Tail too and my hair has grown back pretty fast. I finished chemo in March, and boxed up the hats/caps in June. And I've had 2 trims since. Our local Walmart carries Mane and Tail in the pet supplies section of the store. You might want to try it. I don't think it can hurt anything! Good luck!!!!!

My hair grew very slowly when I was on herceptin.  It took about 6 months after the end of chemo (AC) to grow about an inch.

Hair growth remained very slow until about 4 months after I finished the herceptin (herceptin has a long half life and takes a while to clear the body).  After that, the speed of hair growth increased and, now 10 months after finishing herceptin, I have my normal growth pattern back.  I also have new hair in the few areas that were thin or didn't regrow.

So hang in there, the herceptin is probably affecting your growth pattern.

I rub and massage my scalp at night in bed after wig comes off (thinking it will stimulate the folicles?) and I also have Nioxin products - there is a "Hair Folicle Stimulator" or something, I've used that too. I am getting very FUZZY!!!

I had AC every 2 weeks. I noticed it starting to fall out in "handfulls" about day 17, so 2-3 days after my second AC. I got a wig early, and on day #17 I went to "Great Clips" and the manager there cut me a really short, sassy pixie. I then just let it fall out naturally, mostly in the shower. For me it was easier than "buzzing" it.

Shocked - @ two weeks is the average. Some start a little before, some start a little after. And depending on your chemo med, you may only thin out, not lose all.

I had TAC (Taxotere, Adriamycin, Cytoxan) and at least two of those cause hair loss. It started coming out in clumps @ day 15 after my first treatment. It wasn't painful...the hair just slipped out like it was stuck in butter. Very weird experience. I had already picked out and purchased a wig which was being held at the wig store. I went and they buzzed my hair very close and then trimmed and shaped the wig to my face (see my avatar...that's my wig).

I just stopped wearing my wig this week, about 16 weeks post chemo. My hair looks kind of pixish. Shorter than I've ever had it, but it's a headful.

shocked, my hair didn't start coming in until about 6 weeks or more after my last chemo (4 DD A/C, no taxols, etc.)  It will look pretty skimpy for a while.  I think I tossed the wig finally at about 3 months after chemo and even then it was very, very short, etc.  After a year, it was hugely thick and curly.  After 1.5 years it is hugely thick, wavy and very long.  Don't fret. 

Yes, the hair stood up before the chemo curls took over.

It took awhile for the hair on my legs and underarms to start growing.  The growth was also slow and skimpy.  Those areas also went back to normal the same time my hair did.

However, I  am still skimpy down below.

It took 16 weeks for my hair to grow back.  3 months post chemo and I was still bald.  One morning I woke up and rubbed my hand on my head and I felt fuzz.  The greatest feeling in the world.  Now my hair is 3 inches long.  In the beginning it also grew back more on one side of my head than another.

Mary

Hi All:

If there's one thing we know for sure from reading these posts, it's that everyone is DIFFERENT in the hair area!

My last tx was July 22 (3xFEC, 3xTAX) and I only have a little over an inch of growth, which is now starting to curl.  It seemed to take forever for it to fill in, and it's still a little sparse on the crown -- this despite the fact that I've been gobbling Biotin (2 grams) and silica.  But I had started Femara in mid-August and one of the s/e's listed is possible hair thinning.

I had very healthy shoulder-length hair, and a lot of it (as my hair stylist never tired of telling me!) and I really miss it.  I had purchased Nioxin, but then read the instructions carefully and discovered it is NOT any use at all for hair lost to chemotherapy. 

That 1/2 inch per month growth rate just doesn't seem to apply to chemo-induced hair loss either!  But, other than my head feeling cold, I'm getting used to very short hair and think maybe I'll just keep it short!!  Tossed the wig and head coverings about a month ago, by the way.

Happy holidays (or whichever holy (or non-holy) day you celebrate) everyone!  Let's all look forward to a 2009 filled with good health and great HAIR!!

Linda 

Maura, I am saying a prayer for your freind Lisa and her family.

I started using the horse shampoo 8 days ago.  Since I own horses, I did not find it strange at all.  Actually, Mane and Tail was a fad for humans back in the mid 90's which is why Walmart started stocking it.  I did not lose all of my hair, but I hsve lost 90% of it so I am basically bald.  After 8 days of Mane and Tail, my bald spots have a thin covering of pale fluff.  I still have 3 tx left (get #4 in the morning).  I sure hope my new fluff survives!

PS:  The horse shampoo is perfectly safe.  Mane and Tail is actually pretty cheap to buy but I have some horse shampoo that is more expensive than good salon human shampoo.

Lisa