Is it the Tamoxifen that's making my hair get thinner?

I was googling around on this today.  I have a theory: chemo is particularly hard on fine hair.  I have always had very fine hair but a lot of it, now I just have less of it, and where I had the fine stuff at the temples the TC just burned it out.  Same with eyebrows and lashes. Those who had course hair to begin with didn't seem to take the same hit.

I don't think Tamoxifen helps,  and I think my hair has actually thinned some more on it.  I used to have tons of body, now it hangs like a helmet. It's passable with a bob and some product, but I am with you, it is a constant reminder.  Like you, I've tried it all: Biosil, biotin, special shampoos, now Nioxin.  I don't suspect it will do any more than the rest.

I also get quite upset and depressed--now the recommendation is 10 years for Tamox.  Great. I probably won't have any hair left by then.  I try to go to the gym and take great care of myself otherwise.  You can get away with a lot more looks wise with a healthy mane, the rest of us have to constantly work it.

Sigh. It is all extremely depressing.  Not a day goes by I don't think about it.  I dream about it, and I wake up every morning feeling my weird hair. It's been almost 4 years since chemo.  It's cold comfort, but I wanted you to know you are not alone.

I've been on Tamoxifen for over 3 years now and don't notice any thinning of my hair (I did not do chemo).  However, I have wondered if my eyebrows have gotten thinner...also notice other body hair doesn't grow as thick/fast.  

LIke SelenawWolf said, could also be aging, menopause?  I had a complete hysterectomy last summer but am still on Tamoxifen (my choice).

I didn't have chemo, but have noticed some mild thinning of my hair on tamoxifen - no bald patches or anything like that, just overall thinning so that my hair looked like it had a lot less volume than it used to.   Kind of reminded me of the kind of thinning lots of women get about 4 months after giving birth.   It started about 4-6 months in, and now at just over a year on Tami seems to have stopped and perhaps even reversed slightly.

I also have thinning on Tamox.  I noticed it at the beginning for a couple of weeks, and then it stopped and I went off tamox for a couple of weeks before surgery.  When I went back on, it started again and then stopped.  Then a couple of months later, it started again and it was a stronger impact.  I get a little handful in the shower, another handful when I brush my hair, and another bunch in my brush in the morning.  I'm afraid to touch my hair the rest of the day:) 

The most frustrating part is that there is hair everywhere -- I'm constantly picking it off my winter coat and the throw I use for my sofa -- drives me crazy.  I started taking biotin a few weeks ago -- I haven't noticed any impact yet.  I did read a reply from a doctor on a website (so who know who really wrote it), which said he had seen some results with biotin if taken twice a day -- 2,500mcg each time (so 5,000 mcg per day.)  I'm going to see what my hairdresser has to say when I see her in a couple of weeks.

I've now been on tamox for almost 6 months, and am hoping that my hormones even out and the hair loss stops (Annette -- your post gave me some hope!).  I don't feel like I'll be able to stop taking it because its my only systemic therapy that is fighting against distant recurrence (didn't have chemo because of my oncotype score.)

Ridley  

I asked my hair stylist about this. She said she's seen hair change when her clients go through hormonal changes: teenagers going through puberty, women going through menopause; she's seen women's change changing during pregnancy and then back again after pregnancy. She's seen it all: straight hair go curlier, curly hair get straighter, etc., but it's impossible for her to predict who it will happen to. I was curious and googled "estrogen receptors hair" and sure enough, we have hormone receptors on our hair follicles. (probably why some men lose hair at middle age). In my case, I've always had super thin unmanageable #@!?*& hair, and when I was on tamox that it became slightly less thin. i.e. moved towards the normal range. But maybe my hair was so thin, there was no place to go but up.(I also did not have chemo). FWIW, my 73 old mother (no BC) is noticing thinning, so some of this is age and the natural loss of hormones too. I've heard there are natural solutions (rubbing oils into the scalp) that might help.

Boy can I relate to you guys. I think my thinning eyebrows is genetic as much as anything else and menopause of course. Tamoxifen has caused me grief too but not hair loss. I have fine hair but its pretty thick except around the crown area. I have to use the curling iron to give it height. I wear it in a bob now and color it too. We all know its more important that it does its job but it still gets a bit depressing sometimes dealing with the SEs. Diane 

I have been on the big T now since Jan 2010.  I know hair thinning can be a side effect.  I had very fine hair to begin with so I started to use Pantene thickening shampoo when I started Tamox and it does seem to help.  I can tell I've lost some but not too bad.  Since there are coupons all the time in the paper it isn't as expensive.

my mom had chemo for her cancer. Her hair remained thinner than before. Her Onc said it was primarily a result of chemo, not the meds,although the hormones and HRT did have a small effect of thinner hair. He also said the stress her body and gone thru was hell on the hair regrowth. IT would take time.