new hair growth while on taxol

dmdudra

I have a quick question for you all.. Did or has anybody else experienced hair growth while on the taxol treatment. I know it is only peach fuzz but wow.. I am just happy it is hair since I had such beautiful long hair before my AC treatment. I even had to shave my legs last week and my eye lashes are coming back. Please let me know if anybody else has had this experience while on taxol and let me know about how long did or does it take before I can stop wearing my wig.. My doc says about 2 1/2 months..

kartiae

Taxol and its sister drug
Taxol and its sister drug Taxotere which is what I had do not stop your hair from growing back and don't make your hair on your head fall out. BUT they do make your eyebrows and facial hair fall out. The Adriamycin and Cytoxen are Chemo drugs that make your hair on your head and other places but your face fall out. SO your hair will start growing back while being on Taxol or Taxotere. Also 90% of people that lost their hair from chemo will have different hair grow back. Mine came back - thicker, about 2 shades darker and went form pin straight to curly.

seof

That sounds about right
I think your Dr. is right, though each individual is different. Many people have peach fuzz, then light, wispy grey hair, then it gets darker, and curly for many. For me it came in an UGLY dishwater color, but curly, so I dyed it. Then I wanted to see what the true color was when I noticed the roots were coming in darker than dishwater, so I cut it. Unfortunately the curl came off with the color. Now it is a brownish blonde (used to be kind of straw blonde, not platinum) and just a bit wavy. There are also "natural highlights" (silvery grey) showing through, but that me have more to do with turning 45 than chemo.

Take care, seof

Christmas Girl

Yeah, everybody's different...
My own "peach fuzz" began to show in early March. I think it was some time in May (because I recall "debuting" my head of hair at a graduation party) before I felt confident enough to go out in public without a hat/scarf on my head, although it was still very short. Before then, I certainly did have hair - it just resembled a man's "military buzz cut" (NOT very flattering!). Really had to stretch back on this, about 5 years ago for me now (darned "chemo brain"!).

I did get back my hair, same color (dark brown) & texture (wavy), as it was prior to chemo - just with more greys! More greys from the chemo? Or, the intense stress & anxiety of breast cancer itself? Who knows?!? It could've grown back green or blue, for all I cared. Because I was simply ecstatic to have hair again!!! (Gained a whole new appreciation for the men who lose their hair, which is forever for them...) I wore that extra grey for several years, as a personal badge in honor of my battle. About a year ago, for my big 5-0 birthday - I began to color my hair, for the first time in my life, just to cover the grey.

A friend who is a professional hair stylist reminded me that since our hair actually falls out, it needs to grow back in from the "root" (follicle)... Not like shaving, where the hair is cut off at the skin surface. The hair follicle is about a 1/2 inch below the surface of the skin, so it actually grows for quite a while before we can see & feel it. This knowledge helped to provide me with a bit more patience.

It was the holiday season - November, just before Thanksgiving - that I got my first hair cut & style. It was still fairly short; but, by that point, really needed a good shaping because it was all noticeably different lengths all over my head - looked lopsided!

I'm glad your hair's coming back!

Kind regards, Susan

Jadie

Hi dmdudra
I had taxotere which is a sister to taxol. My hair started growing back when I started it. I was going without my wig and hats before I was through rads. It was very short but hey it was hair. My eyebrows and eyelashes came and went while on taxotere. I would also say 2 to 2 1/2 months.

Jadie

tgf

Jadie said:

Hi dmdudra
I had taxotere which is a sister to taxol. My hair started growing back when I started it. I was going without my wig and hats before I was through rads. It was very short but hey it was hair. My eyebrows and eyelashes came and went while on taxotere. I would also say 2 to 2 1/2 months.

Jadie

The opposite ...
Well ... the opposite happened to me. I did not have to have the "A" or "C" chemo ... but what I am having is 12 weekly infusions of taxol and herceptin. When I started chemo the oncologist told my I would "most likely" NOT lose my hair ... although it would probably get thinner. Well ... in my ignorance I thought "thinning" meant a few hairs here and few hairs there. Well ... surprise, surprise! On day 15 of my treatments I ran my hand through my hair and ended up with a fist full of hair. I did it again ... and got another handful of hair. So ... by "thinning" my loss ended up being HUNKS here ... and HUNKS there. I knew I could go around with hair flying off my head so I called a friend who shaved it for me. I have treatment #8 this Friday and there are still changes going on up yonder. I have mostly gray hair ... and the stubble that is NOT gray still seems to be coming out ...but the parts that were gray seem to be growing a bit. It may be my imagination ... but it looks like a little growth... although I don't know what difference it makes if some hair is growing slowly ... while other hair is till falling out. Oh well. It is what it is ... and I've grown very attached to my little hat.

hugs.
teena

Eil4186

I had peach fuzz during
I had peach fuzz during Taxol but no leg hair, eyelashes etc.....

tasha_111

Eil4186 said:

I had peach fuzz during
I had peach fuzz during Taxol but no leg hair, eyelashes etc.....

Taxotare/FEC
Hi I lost all my Hair whilst on FEC..3 treatments, then I had 3 Taxotare, and my hair (Head, pubes) started growing back but I lost my eyelashes, eyebrows, leg and arm hair, but within a week of Tax ending it started growing back big style........Now I look almost normal except for the short hairdo
Hugs J

cats_toy

tasha_111 said:

Taxotare/FEC
Hi I lost all my Hair whilst on FEC..3 treatments, then I had 3 Taxotare, and my hair (Head, pubes) started growing back but I lost my eyelashes, eyebrows, leg and arm hair, but within a week of Tax ending it started growing back big style........Now I look almost normal except for the short hairdo
Hugs J

taxol
My hair started growing back during the taxol, all grey, but what could I expect? It was grey before I lost it, just no one noticed because I always died it, I was almost completely grey by 35. I never wore a wig, so everyone got to watch my hair growth with me, my favorite thing was everyone in the office would come by and rub my bald head, then my peach fuzz, and I really missed it when I had enough hair they stopped. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.
cat