When to expect hair loss?

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JenB910
JenB910 Member Posts: 7
edited March 2014 in Ovarian Cancer #1
I am getting weekly treatments (once a week,every week for 8 wks). Tomorrow will be my 4th treatment and I still have my hair, but the Dr. told me I would definitely lose it all (because of the Etoposide I'm getting). I thought they told me it would start to go around 2 weeks after my 1st treatment. I think I'm starting to get my hopes up that I'll be some rare case and I think it will be even harder when it finally does happen. So when did it happen for you?

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  • nancy591
    nancy591 Member Posts: 1,027 Member
    #2
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    etoposide
    Hi Jen,
    I wasn't on Etoposide but I did lose my hair on the carbo/taxol regimen. I lost it within 3 wks. When it did start to come out it came out quickly, within a matter of 3 days.
  • JenB910
    JenB910 Member Posts: 7
    #3
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    nancy591 said:

    etoposide
    Hi Jen,
    I wasn't on Etoposide but I did lose my hair on the carbo/taxol regimen. I lost it within 3 wks. When it did start to come out it came out quickly, within a matter of 3 days.

    On the one hand I'm dreading
    On the one hand I'm dreading the moment it starts, but on the other I just kind of want to get it over with!
  • pjdreams
    pjdreams Member Posts: 77
    #4
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    3 weeks
    Jen,

    I was on carbo/taxol, and my sure enough, just like the nurses at the cancer center said, it fell out exactly 3 weeks after my first treatment. I got it cut very short in anticipation and even though it was quite shocking at first, I got over it quickly and got used to wearing turban style hats and caps. Losing my hair was small potatoes compared to everything else I was facing. best wishes to you.

    pj
  • nancy591
    nancy591 Member Posts: 1,027 Member
    #5
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    JenB910 said:

    On the one hand I'm dreading
    On the one hand I'm dreading the moment it starts, but on the other I just kind of want to get it over with!

    I understand
    I do understand! Is this your first treatment?
  • msfanciful
    msfanciful Member Posts: 559
    #6
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    Hello Jen,
    For me my hair
    Hello Jen,

    For me my hair fell out (the first time was carbo/taxol in 2007) about 3 weeks after I began my once every three weeks regimen.

    However; I just finished almost 2 months of the oral chemo "etopocide" and didn't work for me. In fact for me I stress (for me), my numbers went from 32 to 63 upon which my doctor took me off of them immediately.

    I am now @ week 11 of a weekly taxol maintenance regimen that brought my numbers down from 63 to 3 (at about 7 weeks) and by next Tuesday I will find out where I am. So even thought I was in remission by 7 weeks she wanted to give my cancer a good ole 1 2 punch for good measure.

    In anticipation of my hair coming out, I just took clippers and shaved my head. I just didn't want to deal with that patchy affect. I just felt I had to have SOME type of control of this crazy cancer.

    The etopocide did not really make my hair come out. However; I am now bald again due to my weekly taxol treatments. Oh well all in a day.

    Sharon
  • Tina Brown
    Tina Brown Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #7
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    Hi JenB910
    I am the same as the other ladies here. My hair started coming out, as I touched it, washed it and I found hair on my pillow in the morning. About week 3 my husband shaved my head. To begin with your scalp will feel sensitive because it is not used to "not having hair on it" but you will get used to it. I lost my hair in Dec so I found my head & ears were cold. I used to wear a hat in bed and sometimes I would sit watchinh the TV with a woolly hat on. However you will get used to it.

    My photo is 8 weeks after the end of chemo, so you can see how quickly it grows back. At the end of the day it is HAIR and the bonus is that you lose ALL of the hair on your body. So no more shaving or waxing for a while.

    Take Care Tina xx
  • JenB910
    JenB910 Member Posts: 7
    #8
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    nancy591 said:

    I understand
    I do understand! Is this your first treatment?

    Actually I just had my 4th
    Actually I just finished my 2nd cycle (4 treatments total, 1 per week) a few days ago. I have 4 more treatments left and the nurses and Dr. were very surprised to see me with hair still! My cycle is Etoposide/Methotrexate the first week and Etoposide/Cisplatin the next.
  • kikz
    kikz Member Posts: 1,345 Member
    #9
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    JenB910 said:

    Actually I just had my 4th
    Actually I just finished my 2nd cycle (4 treatments total, 1 per week) a few days ago. I have 4 more treatments left and the nurses and Dr. were very surprised to see me with hair still! My cycle is Etoposide/Methotrexate the first week and Etoposide/Cisplatin the next.

    Hair loss
    I began losing my hair 13 days after my first chemo. It looked like a dog slept on my pillow. I knew I couldn't tolerate the mess until it all came out and I could not maintain my hairstyle which was a spikey "do". My hairdresser had told me to call her if and when I wanted to take it off. She came and cut it down to the nubs. It took a little getting used to but I actually like it now. I do not wear any head covering when I go out of the house. I figure this is who I am right now. Kik
  • angiedryden
    angiedryden Member Posts: 58
    #10
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    Tina Brown said:

    Hi JenB910
    I am the same as the other ladies here. My hair started coming out, as I touched it, washed it and I found hair on my pillow in the morning. About week 3 my husband shaved my head. To begin with your scalp will feel sensitive because it is not used to "not having hair on it" but you will get used to it. I lost my hair in Dec so I found my head & ears were cold. I used to wear a hat in bed and sometimes I would sit watchinh the TV with a woolly hat on. However you will get used to it.

    My photo is 8 weeks after the end of chemo, so you can see how quickly it grows back. At the end of the day it is HAIR and the bonus is that you lose ALL of the hair on your body. So no more shaving or waxing for a while.

    Take Care Tina xx

    My mother started losing her
    My mother started losing her hair almost 3 weeks to the day after her first treatment of carbo/taxol. It was coming out in handfulls. Today she went and had it shaved.

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