Did Herceptin slow your hair growth significantly?

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Letlet
Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
edited June 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

Okay there has been note of this in the hair thread but I wanted to ask on the HER2+ thread if Herceptin really significantly slowed your hair growth.

I am finishing chemo in two weeks and will take Herceptin every 3 weeks after that...I could really use some hair in two months Foot in mouth

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  • stlcardsfan
    stlcardsfan Member Posts: 466
    edited January 2011

    My hair grew while on Herceptin.

    My last chemo was 4/28, and last H was 12/15. My hair is about 3 to 3 1/2 inches on top.

    It started to become visibile about 5 to 6 weeks after last chemo. I also took biotin 10,000 mcg per day to kick start it. 

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited January 2011

    My avatar picture was taken almost exactly at the same time I finished my year of Herceptin. I had it trimmed and colored for my daughter's wedding.

    Good luck!

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  • TriciaK
    TriciaK Member Posts: 362
    edited January 2011

    I think mine grew back a little slower than my friends hair who had no herceptin and just chemo, I think it took about four months after chemo before I felt brave enough to go without my wig!

    It was still very short though even then...

    Tricia x

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  • sheila888
    sheila888 Member Posts: 25,634
    edited January 2011

    My hair grew during Herceptin.

    Herceptin is not a chemo its a maintenance drug.

    Good Luck.

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  • Sassa
    Sassa Member Posts: 1,588
    edited January 2011

    Yes, my hair grew very slowly while on Herceptin.  Growth didn't speed up until 4 months off the herceptin and only now, 3 years after finishing herceptin, is my growth speed approaching what it was before BC.

     This makes sense as studies show the effectiveness of herceptin is gone about 3 1/2 - 4 years after finishing treatment and given the mechanism by which herceptin works to disrupt the division of fast growing cells. 

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  • Pickles
    Pickles Member Posts: 80
    edited January 2011

    My hair is about 1 1/2 inches long and I'm almost 6 months post TCH, still on Herceptin.



    Don't be too freaked out by your first growth...mine was really grey for the first two months, but came in with more color and wave after that.



    My body hair went nuts for the first two months too! My face was fuzzy (almost gone now) my legs and armpits needed shaving twice a week, and everywhere else was a bit patchy.



    Things have slowed down conciderably since then.



    Congrats on the end of the TC!!

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  • Letlet
    Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
    edited January 2011

    Thank you ladies...suemed, you look lovely in your avatar picture.

    Pickles, I am having a lot of white fuzz on my armpits! Nothing on top though. I was pleasantly surprised but not quite sure what to make of it..since it is soft and white...

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  • mmm5
    mmm5 Member Posts: 1,470
    edited January 2011

    Hi I finished chemo 10-08 and Herceptin 5-09, I was no longer wearing a wig at my last Herceptin appt.

    I hated short hair so I had a few extensions put in just up front as my hair grew longer in back then it did in front.

    I have been done with Hercptin now for 1 1/2 years and my hair is in the middle of my back and I have had it cut many times. 

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  • Letlet
    Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
    edited January 2011

    mmm5, oooh thanks for the visual...saw an old pic of myself pre-chemo...missed my long locks...just because it looked like "me"

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited January 2011

    Thanks, Letlet. I still have a pre-chemo avatar on Facebook Smile but I've kept my hair short since chemo - just so darned easy!

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  • Rubyluby
    Rubyluby Member Posts: 74
    edited January 2011

    Hi Letlet,

    Im having my last Herceptin on 10th Feb, woohoo! While my hair regrowth has been noticeably slower (maybe about half the speed of normal) its also grown back very, very thick. Thicker than I remember it. 

    I also had long locks, like you, before chemo. I tried to be as creative as possible and just have fun with it all. When I was completely bald, I had a henna tattoo done on my head and people just thought I was very alternative!  No one thought I was a cancer patient.

    Now I play around with hair pieces when Im missing my long locks. I have a clip on ponytail which everyone says looks very glamorous. I also have a fake messy bun (one of those scrunchy things you use like a hair elastic) which looks fab. 

    Good luck with it all!

    Lucy  

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  • Letlet
    Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
    edited February 2011

    Hi Ruby...I'm hoping that my hair will grow back as thick as yours did! I think I will be on Herceptin till December of this year. My last chemo is tomorrow and I think I am starting to obsess about hair now since I've had some growth in the armpits.

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  • suemed8749
    suemed8749 Member Posts: 1,151
    edited February 2011

    Congratulations on finishing chemo!

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  • kathleen1966
    kathleen1966 Member Posts: 793
    edited February 2011

    I finished chemo four weeks ago, still no hair and no eyebrows.  Looking foreword to getting the hair back!

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  • Letlet
    Letlet Member Posts: 1,053
    edited February 2011

    Thanks Sue! I never thought the day would arrive :))

    Kathleen, no fuzz at all? Wow it really must be the herceptin.

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  • Jaimieh
    Jaimieh Member Posts: 2,373
    edited February 2011

    My hair did grow VERY slow while I was on herceptin.  About 4-6 months afterwards it really started growing quickly.  The top is still growing slowly but my bangs and the very back are growing like crazy and have to be trimmed frequently.  Now if just the top would catch up :)

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  • elmcity69
    elmcity69 Member Posts: 998
    edited February 2011

    my hair is growing nicely, but the bangs are sooo short, still, and i finished chemo in april!

    my hair did come back curly, and initially was blonde, the way it was at birth. pretty cool.

    j

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  • ishobie
    ishobie Member Posts: 96
    edited February 2011

    I stopped my TCH in september and am on herceptin only now, my hair has grown back quickly. i have a full head of healthy, wavy (which it wasn't b4) hair. its short but no shorter than i see on women every day. I don't feel like a cancer patient who's hair is growing back.  I have heard stories bout women that say their hair grew back slowly, but not in my case. i LOVE my new hair-feels great to no longer wear a wig!!!!

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  • farmfresh
    farmfresh Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2011

    My hair began growing back after chemo - even tho I remained on Herceptin for many months thereafter. It was wild and curly, then GORGEOUS, thick and straight and long for the first time in my life, then back to thin, straight and long. 

    My friend, who was never on Herceptin, is having a difficult time getting her hair longer than a few inches after over a year off of chemo.

    I believe my thinning hair and her lack of growth are more related to menopause, Tamoxifen, etc. Herceptin should not affect your hair regrowth. Good luck! 

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  • kathleen1966
    kathleen1966 Member Posts: 793
    edited March 2011

    ok, on week eight now.  I have some hair but not a lot.  Still have to wear a hat. Read on these boards somewhere that the use of taxotere in a small percentage of women results in permanent hair loss.  I seem to still be missing a lot of hair on the top of my head.  I hope I do not fall into this very small percentage.  My hair has always been my best feature. I anticipate that, at my current growth, I will have enough hair to not wear a hat in one to two months.  And I hope the thin area will fill out on top of my head.

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