Does Herceptin slow hair growth?

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  • rozem
    rozem Member Posts: 1,375
    edited July 2012

    hi ladies

    my hair is super slow aswell - maybe 1/2 in per month or so , i had it colored about 6mos after my last chemo

    my hair is also growing longer in the back then the front - so my hairdresser put in a few extensions on the front and shaped them with the rest of my hair - so now i have "frangs" - fake bangs!  they look pretty good

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  • jittersmom
    jittersmom Member Posts: 165
    edited August 2012

    my last chemo was march 20th and I am on Herceptin/Tamoxifen...I have very minimum hair on my head. The heat was killing me so i ditched the wig. My family assures me that it looks good. Lots of gray and really dark in some spots, but still not enough to tell if it going to be curly or straight! When my son was home on leave his military haircut was longer than mine lol!

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  • kathleen1966
    kathleen1966 Member Posts: 793
    edited September 2012

    Here I am again talking about the hair.  Well I am now one year out from having Herceptin and my hair is still growing very, very slowly.  Since April, it has grown maybe 1.5 inches. I know this because I dyed my hair in April and I can see the new growth. I would have had hair down to my shoulders by that time normally.  But it is finally growing in straight on the top and I am not waking up with an unwanted afro. 

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  • stellina
    stellina Member Posts: 69
    edited January 2014

    Hello all,

    Serene 2014 to you, may it be a year full of love, strength, courage and beautiful and happy days!

    And hats off for your kind sharing and inspiration.

    Since my first herceptin session will be this Monday, I was wondering what exactly does  "slow" mean for each?

    Because if I read for instance "2 inches" in six months, well, to me that seems to be very close to the normal hair growth rate. 

    What factors are to be taken into account ?

    Does age matter? Does the ER status count, since impact on the hormones and eventual menopause play a role - but how decisive is this role?

    I had my last chemo on December 23rd, 2013. I was on epirubicine and cytoxane.

    Hair was already growing, in fact the first sprouts were there already two weeks after the second treatment, and the next week, tiny hairs were there... And they remained, in fact they kept growing. Now my head has lots of short hairs all over, but it still has to fill in, which actually seems to happen more every day.

    I had no idea how this was happening, since I always had long hair and never noticed the changes much. So this experience allowed me to learn something about how hair grows and I must admit it's rather fascinating.

    I'm curious: if my hair grew during chemo, will it grew less during herceptin? 

    Then again, just because it grows slower it doesn't mean it stops growing. Am I too optimistic to expect to have a minimal pixie look by April? Like, one inch length, is that too optimistic?

    Well, complete coverage would be just fine. :-) 

    Thank you and may force and courage be with all of us. :-) 

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  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Member Posts: 99
    edited March 2014

    Well I don't think Herceptin makes much difference to hair growth - I didn't see much change when I finished it. There is lots of variation between individuals anyway - sometimes hair takes a while to get going and then grows strongly, sometimes it seems to stop and start.  

    I was probably lucky - mine just grew fuzzily but steadily once I finished the last chemo session.  I took pictures for my blog if anyone is interested: http://iameclectica.blogspot.co.uk/p/chemo-hair-regrowth_16.html

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  • Shondi
    Shondi Member Posts: 6
    edited April 2014

    Sydney,

    I realize this is an old post but I am having this issue. I would,love to hear how your hair is progressing now. I am a year out of Taxotere and carboplatin and just finished herceptin in December (3 months ago) my hair has been so slow to grow in that I kept buzzing it last year. I buzzed it with clippers dec 2, right before my last herceptin. I have let it grow since but I still have to wear a scarf or hat. I have huge bald spots and my hair is very thin and brittle. I am very concerned!

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  • LizA17
    LizA17 Member Posts: 159
    edited April 2014

    Shondi..I will be a year out of taxotere/carboplatin on May 7. I finished my last Herceptin on Dec. 26, so sounds like I'm on a close schedule with you. I have the same issue. My hair is patchy. Bald in spots. You can still see more scalp than hair. I'm very concerned and starting to get a little depressed.

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  • jessica13
    jessica13 Member Posts: 22
    edited August 2014

    I have also experienced really slow hair growth. The hair on my head is very patchy and not filling in 6 months PFC. Eyelashes fell out a second time and are also slower coming back. What's even weirder is that my body hair has stopped growing altogether. I haven't shaved in 2 weeks and nothing!

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  • Deblc
    Deblc Member Posts: 479
    edited August 2014

    I am on herceptin and was worried about the hair growth. It took about 8 weeks PFC (taxol) to really start growing, but it's coming in faster now.

    Shondi, Liza and Jessica, I see you had taxotere. I read on another thread that that might affect hair growth. It seems that this is a fairly common se from taxotere that the doctors are not informing patients about. I don't know how to link the thread but it's in the Chemo forum entitled "a random unofficial poll about chemo and hair"

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  • Joychaser
    Joychaser Member Posts: 1
    edited December 2018

    I’ve been on Herceptin for 3 years and I have definitely noticed hair growth issues. Over the course of 2 years my hair has only grown about 2 inches! It is really hard to grow hair out when it is barely growing! Guess I have to be grateful that Herceptin kept me alive this long. Now with Kadcyla replacing Herceptin, I just need to pray that the cancer responds and I’ll just have to put up with the shorter hair:

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited December 2018

    Joychaser, we are sorry to hear that your hair growth is really affected by your treatments. Indeed, most important is hat the treatments are helping to get rid of the cancer. That said, do look into different vitamins and minerals that may help nourish your hair.

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