Looking for Paxman reviews

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nipab
nipab Member Posts: 48
edited August 2022 in Chemotherapy - Before, During, and After

I am starting chemotherapy (Taxotere + Cyclophosphamide) next week. I will have 4 cycles at three weeks interval. Infusion center I will go to, they have Paxman scalp cooling system. So I don't need to keep changing cold caps every 20 minutes. I am looking for reviews, anyone used it before? Any pros/cons, tips greatly appreciated.

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  • jey22
    jey22 Member Posts: 1
    edited March 2022

    I am also about to start chemo treatment and using the Paxman cold caps - my first treatment is this Thursday. Following to see what others input will be. Thanks

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  • Crystal15
    Crystal15 Member Posts: 8
    edited March 2022

    You can go to coldcap.com and join their Facebook group. There are lots of Paxman cold cap users sharing their experiences, tips etc. There are many successful stories as well as not so successful ones. Right size of cap and appropriate wearing of the cap is very important. I just completed 12 Taxol weekly treatments using the Paxman cold cap, I kept some hair but have bald spots which I think are because of not good contact of the cap with my scalp. I wish I joined the Facebook group earlier.

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  • nipab
    nipab Member Posts: 48
    edited March 2022

    Thank you so much crystal15, I just asked to be a member of the group. I looked for it yesterday and there were 4-5 groups for Paxman, so was not sure which one would be good. But looking at their website, figured out which one to use. I did hear about bald spots and I was thinking that could be due to fitting. I have to be vigilant about it.

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  • Calinana4
    Calinana4 Member Posts: 16
    edited March 2022

    Hello. I used Paxman and retained about 40% of my hair. Similar story as others - bald spots likely caused by cap not being tight enough. It was fairly new at Kaiser when I started so hopefully they are more experienced now.

    Good luck

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited March 2022

    nipab:

    I used Dignicap which works the same way as Paxman. With both Dignicap and Paxman, you wear the same cap for the duration of the chemo infusion. A machine pumps refrigerant through tubes in the cap to cool the scalp. Penguine cold caps are the ones that need to be switched out as they are not mechanically refrigerated but chilled before hand and warm during use.

    I lost most of my hair with Dignicaps. I started with thin long hair but it was naturally thin. During the first infusion, the cap did not make enough contact with my scalp in some areas and during treatment, I developed big bald patches on top and on the sides but I was never completely bald and new hair started growing between infusions. Here are some photos of my results. It's the post about 9 replies down. You will have to copy and paste because the links aren't working.

    https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topics/735873?page=1387#post_5329187


    At the end of treatment I was left with thin short hair with two "rat tails" on the side so I just cut them. My hair grew back without issue, which was my goal as taxotere can occasionally cause permanent hair loss and was the motivation for cold capping in my case.

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  • nipab
    nipab Member Posts: 48
    edited March 2022

    jey22, good luck tomorrow. Hope the cap works out.

    wc3, thank you for giving the link. I guess I need to make sure the fitting is very tight, otherwise definitely going to lose hair.

    Thanks calinana4, going for fitting today, hopefully there are cap size that fits me like a glove!

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited March 2022

    niqab:

    The cap needs to make good contact with your scalp. If need be, this can be achieved by placing maxi pads, believe it or not, between the outer cap and inner cooling cap. But if there is too much pressure, the pulling can also result in hair loss. That is how I developed a bald patch on my left side. We tried the smaller cap as my hair had thinned making the one I had been using less snug. But the smaller one was too tight where the left sensor was and I guess pulled on the hair.

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  • nipab
    nipab Member Posts: 48
    edited March 2022

    wc3, that is a good information to have. Thank you. I went for fitting yesterday and they were thinking small is good, but I could see my sides are not covered, then they put on medium and covered it with outer small cap which looked like working better. Waiting to get the items shipped to me, so I can try it few times before taking it to infusion center. Hoping for the best and ready for anything.

    Planning to go wig shopping in couple of weeks

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  • Nkb
    Nkb Member Posts: 1,436
    edited August 2022

    I am going to try Paxman at kaiser soon so find this discussion helpful- will look into the Facebook page as well.

    I didn't have this for my first chemo in 2012 and found going bald horrendous - wore wigs and baseball caps with hair- it was so traumatic though. this time I may be on the treatment for a long time so will see how it goes.

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