Hair Regrowth Timing/Expectations POLL
I've had some back and forth with moderators about the topic of hair regrowth. There is an article on the breastcancer.org pages titled When Will Your Hair Grow Back? It says
"If you had chemotherapy, here's a typical timetable:
- two to three weeks after chemotherapy ends: soft fuzz
- one month after: real hair starts to grow at its normal rate
- two months after: an inch of hair
How long it takes to grow back a full head of hair (and pubic hair, lashes, and brows if you lost them too) varies from person to person."
Even though it says it varies, I've been getting impatient. Why am I now at 5 weeks past final chemo and still seeing no regrowth? Am I a freak? Will I be bald forever? I looked at a lot of other sources of a lot of different types, cancer organizations, clinics, academic journals, and NO ONE ELSE suggested two to three weeks. This was the only place I saw.
I asked moderators what was the source of the information and they answered that it came from the book written by the founder of the breastcancer.org site. I looked for the book and the page reference. It is page 234 in Living Well Beyond Breast Cancer by Marissa C. Weiss. You can find the reference to "fuzz" here
https://books.google.com/books?id=99M0Klo3CpgC&q=fuzz#v=snippet&q=fuzz&f=false
And if you can't get the link for some reason, here is a screen shot of what it says:
It says "A few weeks after chemotherapy..." NOT two to three weeks. And it says by "a few months" you may have an inch of growth, not two months after. BIG DIFFERENCE.
In case your expectations were shaped by the shorter time frame, like mine were, here is what the author and site found actually said. And this lines up more with what I saw in other sources.
I also asked moderators if there was a way to do a poll here on the forum so those of us who experience chemo hair loss could answer, and maybe we'd have some better data. But the platform doesn't support numeric polling. They suggested I could put up a new thread for people to answer the question all in comments, including what their chemo regime was and whether or not they are using hormonal or other treatment that might affect regrowth.
If you are willing to share, please give the following information:
- What chemo did you have?
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth?
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth?
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair?
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair?
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long?
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different?
Comments
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Carboplatin + Taxotere. No Hormones. No head rads.
I did use a homegrown version of cold capping... migraine caps that can be frozen... not nearly as high tech, and I did not do it until #2 so most of my hair did fall out. But I used it to minimize damage to my hair follicles and consequently perhaps I had re-growth just prior to my last chemo... Which would be apx 14 weeks after the no-cap chemo when it all fell out.
By 2 months after my final chemo (so, 10 weeks from first appearance of re-growth) it was about an inch long.
My old hair was mousey brown with some grey strands, fine, thin, and straight.
My new hair is darker, a little greyer but more like an iron grey. TONS of body. Totally untameable. Looks like I am in for a "bad hair year"... But very glad it came back because a small number of women on Taxotere do not get their hair back.
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- What chemo did you have? Weekly Taxol for 6 months.
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Started Arimidex when Taxol was complete
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? About four weeks later Completely white.
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? About 12 weeks later it felt like real hair but still very short - like a buzz cut
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? It has grown in very unevenly. Even now 14 months after stopping Taxol, the front patch and along my hairline is about one inch long. The back an sides are 3 to 5inches long. I need to get a haircut but haven't because I continued with wigs. Gonna estimate parts of the back and sides were at one inch in six months
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different? Before diagnosis I was about 80% grey and dyed my hair. When my hair first came in after chemo it was pure white. Only in the past few months have some darker strands grown in. Grey, not brown. My hair was curly...now it's straight but frizzy and fly away. I wake up with the hair on top of my head standing straight up! I put conditioner and mousse in to hold it down if I'm not putting a wig on. Usually a hair band too to make it stay down.
They say hair grows about six inches a year but you can't prove that by me. I always felt my hair grew kind of slow though, even before
Editing to add my eyebrow and eyelash info — My eyebrows are patchy, not fully back to what they were. I use pencil plus a brow cream from elf or WunderBrow if I need it to be waterproof. I have only tiny stubs of lashes now...they were not long before, but I can’t even use mascara on what I have now! This is 14 months after stopping Taxol 😢 The upside — hardly any pubic or underarm hair grew back in..although the dark hair that shows up on my thigh around the bathing suit came back, wouldn’t you know it.
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I had dd ACx4, dd Taxol x4, no antihormonals and lost literally every hair on my entire body. 5 weeks post last Taxol and nothing on my head or elsewhere,but I notice an eyebrow hair or two sprouting.
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- What chemo did you have? Taxotere, Carboplatin, Herceptin and Perjeta
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? No
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? About 2 months later, but it was only about 1/4 inch and was translucent.
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? About 3 months later it was about 1/2 inch. But it had color (black) so I could actually see the hair.
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? About 4-5 months.
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different? My hair grew back with it's normal color - black with scattered white hairs. It was a little curly/very wavy. The texture felt coarse/dry. 2 years PFC it was back to it's pre-BC form -- little thin with a slight wave. But I do not have as much hair (per square inch) as I did pre-BC. So I keep it short (chin length) and actually like this 'new' style.
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Taxol for 12 weeks.
Have been on Anastrozole for eight months.
No.
Hard to remember. Maybe 3-4 weeks.
I know I had about 1/2” of “real” hair at 12 weeks. That’s when I stopped wearing baseball caps/bandannas.
Probably four months.
Hell no. Darker with light color around the front and definite chemo curl. I’m one year PFC and <im>patiently waiting for more growth (and for it to straighten out).
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MountainMia..great topic!!
- What chemo did you have taxotere-cytoxan-abraxane
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Began Arimidex 5/19...not affecting regrowth
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? no
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? 3 weeks
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? 6 weeks
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? 5 months I have a full head of a lot of hair, but its taking its sweet time growing!!
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different? Very different. Before treatment, my hair was straight, very dark brown with some scattered grays. I am now almost 6 months PFC and I have a head of tight little curls. The color is shades of gray. It almost looks like brillo but is extremely soft. I just stopped wearing hats and/or wigs last week. It took me awhile to feel comfortable with my new look, but now I am feeling good
- Also, I lost all of my eyebrows and eyelashes. Lashes did come in nicely, but eyebrows came in more like peach fuzz. I use Benefit eyebrow powder and then they look fine.
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If you are willing to share, please give the following information:
- What chemo did you have? TCHP
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Just started Arimidex
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? About 4 weeks
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? About 9 weeks (just this past week)
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? Still waiting for this length (and for it to fill in)
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different? Right now it's mostly snow white. Original color was dark brown but I was pretty gray and colored my hair about every 4 weeks so not quite sure how gray. I am starting to see some brownish tint but still mostly white. I had very curly hair but right now I’m not sure how it will grow in, too short to see any curl
Hoping I have enough to not have to wear head coverings by next month, I'm going back to work and I work retail and deal with the public, I don't want to to have to explain to everyone why I'm wearing a scarf on my head
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I had AC y T
Not tamoxifen yet
No radiation to head.
I've noticed fuzz 3 weeks after my last AC. I shaved it
Real hair was growing up since first taxol (eyelashes and hairbrows got a bit thinner)
About a month after chemo it was one inch long.
My hair came back more grey, dull, thicker and curly. It always was pretty straight. I will go to de hairdresser soon to give it a pixie style... I always hated pixies, and so far I have managed with hairbands, but already it is out of controll, and hairbands cause me headaches. ☹
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Thanks to those of you who've answered, and I'm throwing the question out there again for others.
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I had TCHP. My first three infusions were three weeks apart and my last three were four weeks apart. I cold capped with only partial success.
I had a large bald spot on the top of my head but it had started growing in by my 6th infusion in October while the hair in the back of my head was falling out. I ended up with a short "Roman" cut in December. It's about 2 inches long now.
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What chemo did you have? TC x 4
Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Femara for a little over 3 years now.
Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No.
How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? About 2 months PFC.
How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? About 3 or 4 months PFC
How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? About 6 months PFC.
Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different? My hair came back a little darker, a little less grey, and with some crazy chemo curls. I looked like my grandma the day after she had one of those serious perms from the 50s or 60s. I had one bad hair year (unmanageable curls), a second and third years with a mop of lovely loose curls, and it is starting to straighten out and just be wavy now. I still have less leg/underarm hair now. A small silver lining
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<LimnoGal--it was good for me to read your post. I've been whining on other threads about how much I hate my hair these days. I'm one year PFC and definitely looking like a Mama's Family grandmother. I'm hearing that maybe about a year from now I'll see looser curls. I think some length will help too--I kept buzzing it until about 8 months PFC because it was even tighter curls than I have now, so I only have about 3" but am committed to gritting my teeth and letting it grow. I *really* want my old hair back, though. Never realized how much I liked it until I lost it.
> -
I am 10 weeks out from chemo, my hair really thinned out and bald spots 5 weeks after chemo stop even though I used a cold cap and kept most of my hair until 5 weeks out. hence needed to wear the wig.. I finally got my eyebrows and lashes back. I actually had to pluck my brows..... which felt good. As for the hair, still thin but I have may 1 1/2 inch regrowth in the bald spots which is dark and gray... with the hair I kept, I am now able to at least part my hair and brush it so if you are looking at my face you can't tell about my hair until I turn around with the thin spots filling in.
I am hoping to get a little more growth quickly so I can color my hair to one color and I am hoping that will make me feel better and maybe at least go to the store without a hat or wig. Of course for my son's wedding I will be wearing the wig, I will not have enough hair regrowth to have a nice hair style. but I rather have a wig, be healthy and be able to go to my son's wedding.
Just frustrating and a little depressing when I kept about 50 - 60% of my hair during chemo then all went downhill after 5 weeks. When I look in the mirror, I am like seriously, keeps reminding me of what I went through.. just want to get my hair back to make me feel normal..
Yeah, I am 16 treatments in my radiation.. 17 more to go then I am done and I can start putting this behind me.. of course, need to keep my check up and doing what the doctors tell me so it does not come back.
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- What chemo did you have? TC x 4
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Not yet - will start the end of September
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? 5-6 weeks
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? 7 weeks (it is just really starting to grow - you can still see my scalp) - I am still wearing hats but hopeful that in a few weeks I won't have too. I just want to get enough hair that you can't see my scalp!
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? Not there yet
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different Right now it is very white with some dark patches coming and is too short to determine texture and what the final colour will be.
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when it is safe dye the hair after chemo if the white persists? Anyone heard that with natural products such Henna one can dye her hair sadly anytime after chemo
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Ingerp- I hear you. I think that losing my hair was the hardest part of this whole hot mess. It seems so trivial, but it wasn’t. That’s what screamed “I have cancer!”
Margun-there has been a lot of discussion about hair dying on the Hair, Hair, Hair thread. It’s a long thread..
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Tomorrow I'll be 6 weeks past final chemo with no sign of new hair. Sigh...
And then the ignorant comments. Here's one from a Facebook thread: "It's surprising how easy baldness is, a very quick wash and then a pat dry and you are done. A sun hat in summer for outside, a wooly pull on hat for warmth in winter. Easy." I don't know if the person who said this has personal knowledge or not. Maybe she's experienced baldness herself. I didn't ask. What I wanted to say in response, very sarcastically, was, "Yeah! Baldness is so great! I don't know why anyone chooses to have hair on their heads!"
Anyway, throwing this back out there for more to chime in on their regrowth timing. So far it looks like very very few took only 2-3 weeks before seeing new hair.
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Mountain Mia, just chiming in to say I am right there with you. I'm 5 weeks pfc, and see the existing follicles growing, but no real new growth. 5 spuds of new eyebrows and eyelashes, but it is slow growing. Blah. if I had enough seedlings on my head, I might entertain going without a wig, but not without a wig, but not with the shininess of this head.
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MountianMi and Notdefined,
I was in the same spot as you are when I was 5-6 weeks out from PFC and very frustrated! I am now 10 weeks out and have noticed my hair is getting a little thicker and the new growth is coming in darker. I started getting new growth around 8 weeks PFC so hang in there! I started taking.a Hair, Nail and Skin vitamin supplement. Not sure if it helps but I figured it couldn't hurt.
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Gonnabeatthis, good to hear you have some real hair growth now. Thanks for the encouragement!
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I had AC x 4 and 12 taxol
I cold capped w Paxman through all AC and first 3 taxol. I kept 30% of hair until between 3-4 taxol BUT as old hair left, I already had the soft fuzz coming in. So I was never completely bald. Hair continued to grow the rest of taxol. This is one of the reasons I cold capped. I knew AC results would prob not be great but I read that the capping kick starts the new growth, and that's exactly what happened for me.
No rads to head, no hormonal therapy yet.
I am one week PFC and I have 1/2 inch in some places, almost an inch in other places. It is mostly white with some darker mixed in 😞. I think it will be wavy as it grows longer, hard to tell now. It was soft at first but it's gotten more coarse as it has grown out.
It's not pretty, but at least I am having some growth. I agree it's one of the hardest parts about cancer. Every day I am reminded. But I'm here and hopefully the treatment worked and I am NED.
Thanks to all for sharing your hair stories. MM.
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- What chemo did you have? AC +Taxol 12
- Did you or do you use tamoxifen or other hormonal therapies that affect hair regrowth? Arimidex and pre-menopausal ovary removal
- Did you have radiation to the head that could affect hair regrowth? No
- How soon after chemo did you notice soft fuzz hair? I grew fuzz on Taxol about mid-cycle
- How soon after chemo did you notice "real" hair? One month
- How soon after chemo was your hair about an inch long? About 21/2 months
- Did your hair come in similar to your pre-chemo color and texture, or different The actual strands are same thickness but it came in darker and much thicker with wild curls that I still have 20 months PFC. I love chemo curls, but a real challenge to keep healthy. They may be loosening slightly but that could also be the length weighing it down now. I’d say my hair is over 12 inches long after 3 haircuts.
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This was one of my big unanswered questions too. Pre-Chemo I had long, shoulder length auburn colored curly hair. In June of 2018 was my first TC x4 treatment. I did 32 rounds of radiation beginning in August of 2018 but it was only to my chest area. I lost ALL my hair. Oddly enough, I didn't lose eyelashes or eyebrows until after radiation. I did about two months on Tamoxifen and felt like I was losing my mind so I quit. For me that risk decision boiled down to quality of life not quantity. I am 42 and chemo sent me into menopause and I still have both ovaries.
Last TC treatment was 8/10/18
I started getting a "fuzz" in October (two months post chemo). I had about an inch of very fine "real" hair by the end of December (four months post chemo). I called that my "baby bird" look. By February of 2019 (six months post chemo) I had maybe two inches. It started to actually look like I had hair at this point and my scalp was mostly covered. It was hard to tell length because I had curly hair before and it came back with a vengeance! It's now the end of August 2019 (one year post chemo) and I have ringlet tight curly hair that is about three inches long fully stretched. It came back a dark brown instead of the light red brown that I had before. I have eyebrows and eyelashes at this point but they are very blonde and so it looks like they are gone still. I have gotten decent at drawing them in with eyebrow pencils. I had horrible teary eyes for several months after chemo and so I never did go back to wearing mascara, I just do a little flair with my eyeliner instead.
I hope that helps. I have a picture one year post chemo if that helps too. Note, I didn't like the dark brown color so I found a stylist to recreate my pre-chemo auburn color once I was at my one year post chemo anniversary.
One year post treatment mark. August 2019
Pre diagnoses January 2018
Growth stages from top left moving right. (6 months post TC, 5 months post TC, 4 months post TC, and after I buzzed my hair when it started to fall out one month post TC treatment.
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emac you look fabulous! Thanks for sharing your hair growth and photos. It's another good reminder, whatever the docs tell us to expect, it will probably be different from that.
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Tomorrow I'll be 7 weeks past final chemo, and yesterday I finally was able to see new hair growth. So I call bullshit on the claim on bco of "two to three weeks after chemotherapy ends: soft fuzz." My hair is coming in very white and very fine, as far as I can tell. Pre-chemo I had naturally brown hair with few enough grey hairs I could pick most of them out individually.
Slightly better news on eyelashes and brows -- they are coming back in nicely. And I've learned how to use eyebrow powder to draw decent looking fakes.
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Tomorrow I'll be 11 weeks past final chemo. I have about a quarter inch of hair on my head. My eyebrows and lashes are very nice, almost completely filled in and nearly full length.
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As of today I am a month out from taxol. I have had some hair growth but still more scalp then hair. I am getting Herceptin every 3 weeks and I have read that it inhibits hair growth
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Now I'm more than 5 months past final chemo and not taking any hormonal or AI treatment.
My hair is about an inch long, certainly a lot shorter than I expected it to be. I've run the clippers over it to take the tops off some of the errant longer ones, but I don't consider that a hair cut!
The back is coming in noticeably wavy. Can't tell about the top and sides yet.
My eyelashes all came out a second time but it was at the same time as the new growth coming in, so just a matter of the timing. Eyebrows are a little sparse again, but I expect they will fill out soon, too. In the meantime (and maybe forever) I'll keep using the brow powder.
My fingernails have finally grown out all the chemo lines and spots, and they seem to be a bit better for texture, not as brittle. They actually look pretty good now.
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