Femara hair thinning

ohilly
ohilly Member Posts: 441
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I have been doing more and more research into the causes of my hair thinning, which was diagnosed as underlying female pattern baldness accelerated by the chemo by a dermatologist. The more I read, the more I think Femara is the culprit: I had STRONGLY estrogen positive bc, and of the three drugs (Aromasin, Femara, and Arimidex), Femara is the one that most completely suppresses your estrogen. Then I read online that extreme shifts in hormones can upset the balance between male and female hormones in your body (apparently hormonal hair loss is associated with other things like taking birth control pills, menopause, and pregnancy, so why wouldn't the drastic shift in my hormones from my bc treatment affect me, too?).

I have upcoming appts. with my dermatologist and oncologist, and am thinking about asking them if they think it would help me to see an endocrinologist.

Does anyone have any thoughts about questions I could ask them? Or has anyone else experienced hormonal related changes in their hair?

I am accepting my situation more: my hair actually looks pretty good with a new cut and style, and soon I will post pictures on the web. Now my concern is for the future: I don't want to lose more hair!

What do you all think about the hormone theory?

Ohilly

Comments

  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #2
    Sounds logical to me. I am
    Sounds logical to me. I am glad you are feeling a bit more at peace about it,but you are doing a good job of continuing to research it. You are educating the rest of us!

    Keep up the goodwork. seof
  • Derbygirl
    Derbygirl Member Posts: 198
    #3
    I'm taking Femara also, but
    I'm taking Femara also, but I don't have hair thinning. How about switching to Arimidex which is nearly the same as Femara (and both are non-steroidal) and hope for other results. That's what my Onc. is doing for relief of a few side effects from Femara.
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #4
    Hair Thinning
    I was on Femara for 8 mos then aromasin for 1 1/2 years . I've been off all meds since Oct. 2007. I began to notice hair thinning during the time I was taking meds. Don't know if it was from Femara or Aromasin but I definitely noticed overall thinning but mostly up front. I also went to the dermatoligist and she said there was noting medically that could be done other than using minoxidyl so I use the CVS generic and have found some improvement. At first I freaked out but have accepted this as long as it doesn't get worse. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. HUGS! Cathy
  • ohilly
    ohilly Member Posts: 441
    #5
    cruf said:

    Hair Thinning
    I was on Femara for 8 mos then aromasin for 1 1/2 years . I've been off all meds since Oct. 2007. I began to notice hair thinning during the time I was taking meds. Don't know if it was from Femara or Aromasin but I definitely noticed overall thinning but mostly up front. I also went to the dermatoligist and she said there was noting medically that could be done other than using minoxidyl so I use the CVS generic and have found some improvement. At first I freaked out but have accepted this as long as it doesn't get worse. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. HUGS! Cathy

    question
    did any dermatologist tell you if the hair thinning was likely to get worse or not? I'm thinking that maybe it will stabilize.

    Ohilly
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #6
    ohilly said:

    question
    did any dermatologist tell you if the hair thinning was likely to get worse or not? I'm thinking that maybe it will stabilize.

    Ohilly

    Thinning Hair
    The MD never said whether it would get worse or not and I didn't ask. I think if I knew it would I'd have trouble with that so I'll just wait and see. I do look at womans hair now and I have seen alot of older women with very thin hair.Menapause(loss of hormones) does affect hair so as we get older,the hair does tend to thin so I would think that maybe in time, it will thin somemore.At this point, there isn't much I can do so I'll keep using the Minoxidyl and hope this keeps things fairly full. Cathy
  • ohilly
    ohilly Member Posts: 441
    #7
    cruf said:

    Thinning Hair
    The MD never said whether it would get worse or not and I didn't ask. I think if I knew it would I'd have trouble with that so I'll just wait and see. I do look at womans hair now and I have seen alot of older women with very thin hair.Menapause(loss of hormones) does affect hair so as we get older,the hair does tend to thin so I would think that maybe in time, it will thin somemore.At this point, there isn't much I can do so I'll keep using the Minoxidyl and hope this keeps things fairly full. Cathy

    Monoxidil
    What strength monoxidil do you take? 2% or 5%? I am afraid to use this drug because you have to use it for the rest of your life, it can cause unwanted facial hair, and you are supposed to shed first before your hair grows back. It doesn't seem worth it, but can you share your experience with me about it?

    Ohilly
  • cruf
    cruf Member Posts: 908
    #8
    ohilly said:

    Monoxidil
    What strength monoxidil do you take? 2% or 5%? I am afraid to use this drug because you have to use it for the rest of your life, it can cause unwanted facial hair, and you are supposed to shed first before your hair grows back. It doesn't seem worth it, but can you share your experience with me about it?

    Ohilly

    Monoxidil
    I take 2% monodixil as per my MD. I already had facial hair which also came with Femara/aromasin./menapause. I use vaniqua 13.9% which is a prescription cream which you use 2 x /day on areas of unwanted hair on the face. This med doesn't get rid of the hairs but does slow down the growth. I find this has helped alot. I don't understand why we lose hair on our heads but gain hair on our faces!Doesn't seem fair! Hope this helps! Keep in touch. HUGS!! Cathy

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