Where or where is my hair

I am 5 weeks out from AC chemo.  I still have NO hair Frown.  The oncologis said since I was older, I am 58, it would take longer.  Before chemo I had fairly thick hair that grew really, really fast.  I would be interested to hear your experiences.  I didn't mind loosing my hair, but now I want it back.

Comments

  • junie
    junie Member Posts: 1,216
    edited June 2009

    hang in there--you should soon be sporting a nice buzz!   I had A/C, then rads, and it wasn't until end of rads that I started getting some hair back.   Prior to, I had very thick, mostly salt with some pepper very straight hair--I ended up with the "chemo curls"--dark brown, no gray, thick, but very fine texture.   After the shock wore off, I LOVED the curly look!   After 5 yrs on Tamoxifen, my hair is still very fine, no curls, and not as thick as it once was--but still very little gray (I'll be 62--was 53 when dx).  

  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited June 2009

    knowledge ~  You might try Biotin, one of the B vitamins.  It's one of the ingredients in many, if not all, of the supplements formulated for hair & nails, and I thought it made a big difference in how fast my hair came back compared to some women.  Like junie, my fairly straight hair has come in extremely curly.    Deanna

  • labpsb
    labpsb Member Posts: 40
    edited June 2009

    Lynne lost her hair for the third time and in reality will never grow it again, her fingernails went, and toenails are going.

    Oncologist says this chemo will be it till it stops working, and then we look for another.

    I arranged for her to get nails at home (to hell with the cancer protocols).

    Do we push for more surgery or settle with chemo?

    Sorry when I get down this site gets the brunt

    Paul

  • otter
    otter Member Posts: 6,099
    edited June 2009

    knowledgeforpower, how's the hair doing? (You posted on June 4, so you've had almost 2 weeks to grow hair.)  BTW, 5 weeks post-chemo is way too soon to be worrying about hair growth.  Think about it:  three of those weeks were spent dealing with the immediate post-treatment effects of that last dose of chemo.  Those weeks don't even count (as my dh kept reminding me).  If you'd had hair, it would have been falling out during those three weeks.

    I was 56 last year, when I had 4 rounds of Taxotere & Cytoxan.  I saw no signs of hair growth until around 7 weeks post-chemo.  In fact, during the first few weeks after the last dose of chemo, I lost the remaining scraggly strands of hair that had held on for so long.

    By 8 weeks, though, I clearly had a 5-o'clock shadow on my head.  I thought it was dirt at first (heh heh), but it didn't wash off.  The first new hair was very fine and almost colorless.  That fine (duck fuzz) stuff became the tips of the new, healthy hair as it grew back.  There is a thread on the Chemo forum called "Hair Hair Hair"--if you haven't stopped by there, check it out.  You will read lots of stories and even see some post-chemo pics.

    My hair grew back super, super curly.  I had never had curly hair in my life, so that has been an adventure.  Now, a year past chemo, it is beginning to straighten; but I'm thinking of keeping it way shorter than I used to wear it.

    [Paul, I don't know the answer to your question.  Perhaps if you post it on the Stage IV forum, someone there can give you some advice.]  

    Hugs...

    otter 

  • knowledgeforpower
    knowledgeforpower Member Posts: 184
    edited June 2009

    I finally have a some fuzz coming in.  Not quite sure what color it's going to beUndecided...  I may try the biotin when I finish with radiation.  I had bone straight hair prior to chemo and I wouldn't mind having curly hair for a while when it comes in.

  • crazy4carrots
    crazy4carrots Member Posts: 5,324
    edited June 2009

    Knowledge:  I started taking biotin following chemo.  It comes in micrograms so I take a total of 10,000 mcg (which equals 1 gram) and purchase it from the healthfood store in 5,000 mcg size.

    I'm not sure that it has helped my hair grow, although even though my hair is thinner because of Femara, I don't seem to lose what I have!  What Biotin really, really helped was strengthening my nails, which were in pretty bad shape following taxotere.  I continue to take it for that reason -- just this weekend I banged both index fingernails (at different times) and thought for sure I had broken the nails.  Nope -- still strong!!!

    And yes, your hair will no doubt be curly, or at least wavy, when it grows in.  I don't like myself in short hair (am used to wearing it shoulderlength), so the saving grace is that it is wavy -- for a few more months at least!!

    Hugs, Linda

  • GramE
    GramE Member Posts: 5,056
    edited June 2009

    I had very thick, naturally curly hair before chemo.  It was all gone 12 days after my first dose dense A/C June 2008 and It did not start to grow back until a good 2 months after I was done with the weekly Paclitaxol and Herceptin.

    The first strands were very fine, soft, and snow white in color.  Previous was salt and pepper, dark gray with hints of lighter gray and some brown left over from original color.   Once the parts on my neck and around the ears were sticking straight out, I got a trim and my hair dresser did not even charge me because she was so glad to see me back.   My new hair is even curlier than I had before, very soft and getting thicker each day.  I am about due to another trim.  The top is slower growing and it will be quite a while before it hangs in my eyes.  

    About a month ago I noticed I had arm hairs again.   Struck me as very funny because Ididn't know I had lost them...   But the hair EVERYWHERE else had gone.   When my eyebrows came back I thought I was going to be Groucho Mark look a like, but they have tamed down a lot now.  

    Mascara was never a part of my make up routine, so I am not sure about that sequence of events - they appear normal now.   Nose hairs --- had NONE for the longest time and they are back.   I was told if you take biotin the hair and nails grow better, but if you stop, they go  back to the former thickness, texture, so I did not take it.  

    The good part of being bald last summer was it was a lot cooler than with hair and NO shaving pits or legs was wonderful.    

  • Leah_S
    Leah_S Member Posts: 8,458
    edited June 2009

    I'm 7 1/2 weeks post chemo (DD a/c 4 treatments then  DD taxol 4 treatments) and I'm just starting to get a very fine fuzz on my head.

    It's blond - very very pale PALE blond. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

    Leah

  • crazy4carrots
    crazy4carrots Member Posts: 5,324
    edited June 2009

    Right, Leah, blonde it is!!!

  • Dolores81035
    Dolores81035 Member Posts: 82
    edited August 2009

    My hair started to grow back 5 weeks post chemo. I want to know when it is safe to color it again?

  • kane744
    kane744 Member Posts: 461
    edited August 2009

    My last chemo was Jan. 29. When it started coming in it was very wavy/curly in back, wavy on the sides, straight as an arrow on top.  I had my first "hair cut" (more a shaping) in July.  Then in August I got sick of the whole mess and went back to my stylist, telling her to make it short.  She just laughed because, really, it was quite short.  She tried trimming it dry, but it's not much of an improvement except that the wavy/curly thing in back went away but it's still not growing on top--at all.  I liked myself better bald!!  When I first lost my hair, I swore I'd never complain about a bad hair day ever again, but what I have now is beyond bad.  Any suggestions?

  • noni1
    noni1 Member Posts: 39
    edited September 2009

    I'm with you all,  I had hair that was very fine, straight before BC and treatment.  I was 55 when dx.  Now, I have much more hair and it is very wavy and curly all over.  I am trying to be patient with it, but after having straight hair, I have no idea what the heck to do with it.  It is like it has a mind of it's own.  It is very frustrating.  Some days I wish I could just wash my bald head and go to work.  But, I guess we should be happy.  Any idea's.

    Bless you all,

    Cindy 

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