Question

AMomNETN

Ladies this is not about BC but chemo in general. A lady at work has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Here is the question Have any of you heard about a low dose of chemo that does not cause your hair to fall out? I was just wondering it seemed strange to me.

Janie

BlownAway60

Not sure if I recall a chemo
Not sure if I recall a chemo that does not cause your hair to fall out. I took 3 different kinds of chemo because I had so many issues with them. My hair fell out with the first TCH(C= carboplatin not cytoxin). The second was FEC 100 and that one does not require a nuelasta shot. I cannot recall the name of the third I only had to take one session of it but it was supposed to be low dose and you take it weekly. If I think of it I will post back.

Hugs

Donna

TraciInLA

Not all chemo regimens cause hair loss
It's my understanding and experience that the chemo cocktails used for breast cancer nearly always cause hair loss, but those used for other forms of cancer (often completely different drugs than those used for breast cancer) may or may not.

During radiation, I shared the waiting room with a woman undergoing chemo and radiation (at the same time!) for esophageal cancer. I don't know what specific drugs she was on, but she had to carry her chemo around with her 24/7 for 5 days every 3 or 4 weeks. She had had 2 5-day cycles by the time I stopped seeing her, and she had not had any hair loss at all.

Traci

jackiejhm

TraciInLA said:

Not all chemo regimens cause hair loss
It's my understanding and experience that the chemo cocktails used for breast cancer nearly always cause hair loss, but those used for other forms of cancer (often completely different drugs than those used for breast cancer) may or may not.

During radiation, I shared the waiting room with a woman undergoing chemo and radiation (at the same time!) for esophageal cancer. I don't know what specific drugs she was on, but she had to carry her chemo around with her 24/7 for 5 days every 3 or 4 weeks. She had had 2 5-day cycles by the time I stopped seeing her, and she had not had any hair loss at all.

Traci

OMG
Traci, My Mom was right, someone ALWAYS is "worse off" than you. Bless her heart! xoxo, Jackie

Lighthouse_7

Yes Janie, I was in chemo
Yes Janie, I was in chemo with several people who had hair. They had different types of cancer. I think chemo cocktail for b/c does always cause hair loss.

TraciInLA

jackiejhm said:

OMG
Traci, My Mom was right, someone ALWAYS is "worse off" than you. Bless her heart! xoxo, Jackie

Jackie,
Yes, rads was the first opportunity I had to talk with fellow patients with other types of cancer, and to come to my own personal feeling that, if I had to get cancer, I'm sort of grateful it was breast cancer, because treatment just isn't as brutal compared with what some other cancer patients go through.

Linda, the woman with esophageal cancer I saw every day at rads, had only been diagnosed 2 weeks ago when I met her -- I just can't imagine, only 2 weeks after finding out you have cancer, to have a port installed, be carrying chemo around with you 24 hours a day, AND have daily radiation treatments. She had NO time to get her head around any of it. By about 5 or 6 weeks into it, the radiation was causing serious problems with her swallowing -- she was barely eating, and losing so much weight.

On my last day of rads, I asked about her, and they told me she had been hospitalized. I was burned to a crisp at that point, using several different burn medications, and in so much pain I couldn't lift my arms over my head -- but at least I knew I would recover.

I wonder all the time what happened to her.

Traci

jo jo

They were going to give me the low dose chemo
Yes before my lumpectomy they were telling me about this and that i would probably have this chemo...i was so excited cuz i wasnt going to loose my hair thru it...then after cutting me open they changed their tune and i was getting the full treatment.
I never did get so far as to what the chemo was called.

carkris

Lighthouse_7 said:

Yes Janie, I was in chemo
Yes Janie, I was in chemo with several people who had hair. They had different types of cancer. I think chemo cocktail for b/c does always cause hair loss.

I had cytoxan, methotrexate,
I had cytoxan, methotrexate, and 5FU,(CMF) 16 years ago and did not lose my hair, it thinned, but I never needed a head covering of any kind. I also had thin fine hair at the time. They dont use this as much now, but I still hear about it rarely.

Jean 0609

Hey Janie,
Like with all side effects everyone is different. I started chemo (Taxotere & Cytoxan) on June 23, 2010. I have had 3 treatments and have 1 left to go. I actually still have hair. I got my hair cut really short when the strands started coming out. It has thinned out, especially on top. I still go out most of the times without a head covering. My oncologist was surprised to see the hair a couple weeks ago. She said that it could still fall out and I am prepared for that.

heidijez

i was told breast cancer chemo causes hair loss. . .
the day i started my second course of chemo, when leaving the hospital i ran into two women at the elevator. she joked about this being her day at the spa. i told her it was my first day. she told me she had been doing chemo for a full year - she had long blonde hair and i was amazed. she had a tumor on her liver and another one somewhere else . . .said that her hair thinned considerably, but she did not lose it. she gave me a sad smile and asked
"breast cancer?" she also heard that chemo for breast cancer always causes hair loss.

susie09

jackiejhm said:

OMG
Traci, My Mom was right, someone ALWAYS is "worse off" than you. Bless her heart! xoxo, Jackie

I'm not an oncologist, but,
I'm not an oncologist, but, I think that all chemo for bc does make your hair fall out. For other cancers, sometimes, it doesn't.