Slow Hair Growth

jjccaagg

received Taxatere and Cytoxin 4 times-May 11,2006,June 1 and June 22,2006 and the last treatment July 13,2006 for Breast Cancer. My hair did start to come back but the growth has been very slow. It has grown only about an inch, if that. It also seems to be very dry and a little darker and has a little more gray. Before receiving Chemotherapy my hair use to grow about 1/2 inch a month and I would have it trimmed so it would stay at about the same length and not get too long. I am not absolutely sure if it is more gray than it was before Chemotherapy because she would touch up any gray and perhaps I had developed more gray than I thought. However my biggest concern is how slow it is growing back-only about and inch, if that, since my last Chemotherapy treatment July 13,2006. Has anyone experienced this? And if you did experience this did it begin to improve and grow faster? My hair was about shoulder lenth before and at the rate it is growing it will take forever to get back to my original length. And as I said before it is also very dry and I am wondering if that will improve.

Susan956

My hair regrowth was also painfully slow. I finished my last chemo in Nov 2005 and in April 2006, I ditched my wig.. but boy was my hair painfully short. Now a little over a year from my last chemo, It is about 4 inches long. It now looks normal to me. My hair came back in very dark, I was always a natural blonde. It has lightened up some since (However, I colored it) Can tell by looking at the roots.

So I would say patience and your hair will be back to normal..... You will never have another bad hair day again in your life... It is so wonderful to have to take the time to fix it again... Only someone who has lived through this will understand never complaining about the time it takes to fix your hair.

Take Care....

(((((Hugs)))))

Susan

Mich1417

Hi! Yes, I remember having my hair grow back slower than I'm used to. I had my last treatment of Adriamycin, Cytoxin, and Taxotere on June 15th, 2004, and I had my first haircut, right before Christmas. It wasn't that I really needed one, but I was able to get one. I had short hair to begin with and I was keeping it trimmed. I'm pretty sure mine grew back darker. It was maybe a little dry at first, but it did get better. I don't remember when it started growing quicker, but I know that it did. I also have the same amount of gray than I had before chemo.
Good luck and hang in there.

inkblot

Hi there,

My hair came back in pretty quickly and grew well, then suddenly, the growth slowed for about 2 months and then began to grow faster again. It never slowed again as far as I could tell.

I certainly had more gray post chemo than pre chemo. Strangest thing was that while my hair wasn't dry, I realized that I had a dry patch. On the right side, and just on the top layer of hair.
This dry strip thing. Very weird. I got a really good conditioner and moisturizer which helped until it eventually returned to normal.

Try not to worry. All manner of different things happen to our hair after chemo. One lady told me that her hair came back with a combination of curly and straight patches. Many get curly hair, when their hair had always been straight prior to chemo, but after about 2 years, in most cases, it returns to what it was previously. What happens to our hair is very strange, isn't it? I was thrilled to just have hair again. LOL I lost practically every hair on my body with the exception of some eyebrows and eyelashes.

Just give it some time. Next time you see your doc, ask him/her about it as well. I'm sure it'll be just fine.

Love, light and laughter,
Ink

KathiM

I answered on the Adult Children board...should have know you would also post here...sigh...

Hugs, Kathi

amelia

Yes, mine was really, really slow. I was so scared it wasn't going to come back at all. It started coming in really white and stayed that way for a long time and the growth was really slow. Today, three years later, I'm trimming bangs every two weeks! Also it turned really dark, almost brown and I was a strawberry blond. I started using hair color, but that was a constant experiment that I didn't care for. One day I tried sun-in to lighten hair and it worked great. Now I just spray the roots and use the hair dryer to get perfect results and wonderful highlites. Like Susan said, never a bad hair day again!!! Hang in there and keep the faith, Amelia

jjccaagg

Susan956 said:

My hair regrowth was also painfully slow. I finished my last chemo in Nov 2005 and in April 2006, I ditched my wig.. but boy was my hair painfully short. Now a little over a year from my last chemo, It is about 4 inches long. It now looks normal to me. My hair came back in very dark, I was always a natural blonde. It has lightened up some since (However, I colored it) Can tell by looking at the roots.

So I would say patience and your hair will be back to normal..... You will never have another bad hair day again in your life... It is so wonderful to have to take the time to fix it again... Only someone who has lived through this will understand never complaining about the time it takes to fix your hair.

Take Care....

(((((Hugs)))))

Susan

Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for your reply. It was very helpful knowing that my slow hair growth situation
is not that unusual. If my hair growth continues to be slow like you said yours is I think it might be several years before it would get back to shoulder length. However, there definitely could be worse problems! In fact one of my other concerns is waiting for the results of the cancer marker tests when they are done. I have had 4 already since May 11,2006 when I had my first Chemotherapy treatment(my last treatment was July 13) I am currently in the normal range for the CEA and #27.29 cancer marker tests. And I thank God for that! However, it is hard not to worry and wonder if they will remain in the normal range. Does your oncologist do these tests and do you get anxious waiting for the results?
Thanks again for your information about your hair! If you can, let me know if your oncologist does these tests and if you find it hard not to worry about the results.
Fondly,jjccaagg

jjccaagg

Susan956 said:

My hair regrowth was also painfully slow. I finished my last chemo in Nov 2005 and in April 2006, I ditched my wig.. but boy was my hair painfully short. Now a little over a year from my last chemo, It is about 4 inches long. It now looks normal to me. My hair came back in very dark, I was always a natural blonde. It has lightened up some since (However, I colored it) Can tell by looking at the roots.

So I would say patience and your hair will be back to normal..... You will never have another bad hair day again in your life... It is so wonderful to have to take the time to fix it again... Only someone who has lived through this will understand never complaining about the time it takes to fix your hair.

Take Care....

(((((Hugs)))))

Susan

Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for you reply. It was very helpful knowing that my slow hair situation is not that unusual. If my hair growth continues to be slow like you said yours is I think it might be several years before it would get back to shoulder length. However, there definitely could be worse problems! In fact one of my other concerns is waiting for the results of the cancer marker tests when they are done. I have had 4 cancer marker tests already since May 11,2006 when I had my first Chemotherapy treatment ( my final treatment was Julyl 13). I am currently in the normal range for the CEA and #27.29 cancer marker tests. And I thank God for that! However, it is hard not to worry and wonder if they will remain in the normal range. Does your oncologist
do these tests and do you get anxious waiting for the results?
Thanks again for your information about your hair! If you can,let me know if your oncologist does these tests and if you find it hard not to worry about the results.
Fondly,jjccaagg

Susan956

jjccaagg said:

Dear Susan,
Thanks so much for you reply. It was very helpful knowing that my slow hair situation is not that unusual. If my hair growth continues to be slow like you said yours is I think it might be several years before it would get back to shoulder length. However, there definitely could be worse problems! In fact one of my other concerns is waiting for the results of the cancer marker tests when they are done. I have had 4 cancer marker tests already since May 11,2006 when I had my first Chemotherapy treatment ( my final treatment was Julyl 13). I am currently in the normal range for the CEA and #27.29 cancer marker tests. And I thank God for that! However, it is hard not to worry and wonder if they will remain in the normal range. Does your oncologist
do these tests and do you get anxious waiting for the results?
Thanks again for your information about your hair! If you can,let me know if your oncologist does these tests and if you find it hard not to worry about the results.
Fondly,jjccaagg

My Onc doesn't do that test. My retest are done my doing Mammograms and by doing Breast Exams.... Luckily for me when they do the Mammograms.. they give those of us who have had to fight the beast immediate results.... I asked when I was there would they please read it before I left and they said that it was their common practice... I don't think I could have slept for days if they hadn't. Typically, for the 4-5 days before a recheck... I get real antsy... So I do understand the anxiety... I don't know if you could request your Onc to expedite the results.... and always make your appt on Monday's that way hopefully you won't have to wait over a weekend...when they won't be anyone working on the results....

Take Care...

Susan