Hair Color

jbeans888

So my hair is finally coming in and it is coming in silverish gray and brown all mixed together. It is so weird. I know I am young and did have some gray hairs before chemo but not this many. Yikes! How has everybody else's hair come in?

mopar

SALT & PEPPER, FOR ME
I certainly had a few grays pre-chemo. It came back a little grayer (very common). But a little color with my 'new do' was fabulous! Everyone loved it. I would never have gotten my hair cut that short in a million years. But since that's all I had to work with, it was amazing how nice it turned out to be!
(((HUGS)))
Monika

sarahb74

I expected the grey,
I'd had grey hairs for several years BC, but not the black hair which grew out with it. BC my hair had been very light brown and quite a bit of grey. Now it's black and lots of grey. It's fallen out twice now and it's been the same each time

Tethys41

Hair
My hair looked very grey when it came in, but now it is pretty similar to BC, maybe just a tad greyer. It was definitely a different texture at first. Personally, I have decided to grow old gracefully and not color my hair. Too many chemicals in hair color. Even my oncologist has opted to stop coloring her hair, for the same reason.

kikz

Tethys41 said:

Hair
My hair looked very grey when it came in, but now it is pretty similar to BC, maybe just a tad greyer. It was definitely a different texture at first. Personally, I have decided to grow old gracefully and not color my hair. Too many chemicals in hair color. Even my oncologist has opted to stop coloring her hair, for the same reason.

My hair
came in pretty much the same dark brown color. I am 63 but do not have a lot of white hair (genes). My hair did come in with some wave, thicker and coarser. It's hard to say if it was curly because I normally wear it short and began having it shaped as soon as I had enough hair to do that. My normal hair is stick straight and on the limp side. The straigtness is back but it does seem to have more body. I liked the bit of curl and had hoped it would stay. Should get something out of all this, right?

Karen

lindaprocopio

kikz said:

My hair
came in pretty much the same dark brown color. I am 63 but do not have a lot of white hair (genes). My hair did come in with some wave, thicker and coarser. It's hard to say if it was curly because I normally wear it short and began having it shaped as soon as I had enough hair to do that. My normal hair is stick straight and on the limp side. The straigtness is back but it does seem to have more body. I liked the bit of curl and had hoped it would stay. Should get something out of all this, right?

Karen

3 different times I was taxol-bald: all re-growths different.
The first time my hair came back after carbo/taxol it was like a calico cat: dark hair, red hair, white hair, crazy colored, and so freakishly SOFT that it was like troll doll hair. Of course I loved it because it was HAIR after all. That's the hairdo of my passport photo.

The 2nd time, after 10 rounds of dense dose taxol, my hair came back an ugly pewter grey and in tight ringlets all over my head. I colored it as soon as it was an inch long. That remission was so short that it never got the chance to lose the tight curls. But that's the hairdo of my drivers license photo.

The last time I was bald from a 2nd try at dense-dose taxol, I had disease progression and we switched to Doxil, and then carboplatin, and then avastin/cytoxin (each allowed disease progression and so we kept moving on). During those months of those chemo drugs, my hair started to grow back, but so thin and with bald patches everywhere. This time my hair was poker straight and grey again. Eventually the bald spots got hair coverage and I could stop the elaborate Donald Trump comb-overs. I've taken a 5-month chemo break to do radioembolism this spring & summer, so my hair has continued to grow. I keep it colored and I get it shaped up about once a month so it doesn't look so shaggy. I should really get a new photo taken and post it, as I ALMOST have a short 'bob' now, not quite but soon. First time in 3 years I have hair that covers my ears!!

Of course, I will probably soon have to go on Gemzar or Topotekan and may lose my hair again. But maybe not!

wfisaac

lindaprocopio said:

3 different times I was taxol-bald: all re-growths different.
The first time my hair came back after carbo/taxol it was like a calico cat: dark hair, red hair, white hair, crazy colored, and so freakishly SOFT that it was like troll doll hair. Of course I loved it because it was HAIR after all. That's the hairdo of my passport photo.

The 2nd time, after 10 rounds of dense dose taxol, my hair came back an ugly pewter grey and in tight ringlets all over my head. I colored it as soon as it was an inch long. That remission was so short that it never got the chance to lose the tight curls. But that's the hairdo of my drivers license photo.

The last time I was bald from a 2nd try at dense-dose taxol, I had disease progression and we switched to Doxil, and then carboplatin, and then avastin/cytoxin (each allowed disease progression and so we kept moving on). During those months of those chemo drugs, my hair started to grow back, but so thin and with bald patches everywhere. This time my hair was poker straight and grey again. Eventually the bald spots got hair coverage and I could stop the elaborate Donald Trump comb-overs. I've taken a 5-month chemo break to do radioembolism this spring & summer, so my hair has continued to grow. I keep it colored and I get it shaped up about once a month so it doesn't look so shaggy. I should really get a new photo taken and post it, as I ALMOST have a short 'bob' now, not quite but soon. First time in 3 years I have hair that covers my ears!!

Of course, I will probably soon have to go on Gemzar or Topotekan and may lose my hair again. But maybe not!

That's funny that
That's funny that lindaprocopio described her hair like a calico cat because that is exactly how I described mine. I did try putting some color in it to even things out but it made it worse the first time. Then my cousin who is a beautician gave me some tips and it worked. And even now if it's getting past time to do touch ups it isn't anywhere near as bad as before.

Same with the softness. I had lots of people pet my head because it felt so soft. At least I was a soft calico kitty. :-)

joan60

Hair
The first time my hair came in it was real curly and extremely soft plus it was dark gray and white. (original color was blonde with silver highlights). This time my hair is straight with no wavyness to it (my hair used to be straight and thick with some body). Oh to be there again!!!
Joan

kellyh33

Hair Colour
Mom's hair came in the same texture and colour as it was before the chemo. If it bothers you, you can buy coloured mousse that washes out after each use. It is available in all kinds of different colours from funky pink to natural colours.
Kelly

lauripiper

kellyh33 said:

Hair Colour
Mom's hair came in the same texture and colour as it was before the chemo. If it bothers you, you can buy coloured mousse that washes out after each use. It is available in all kinds of different colours from funky pink to natural colours.
Kelly

Hair color
The good news is whatever it come back in as, it should return to normal at some point. I have red hair and it came back in blonde/brown at first. It's red again now but curly which it was not before. Eventually the curls should grown out and I'll have my normal hair again. Assuming no recurrence in that time!

ocalalaurie

hair!
I was 36 when I was dx in 2010. I originally had long, dark brown/auburn hair (and just a few grays!)...thick with a nice wavy curl. Loved it! Then lost it all. When it started to come back in after treatment ended, it was spotty here and there...different lengths and textures on different parts of my head. Ugh! It was dark...almost black...and seemed to be straight. But then it started to get a slight wave to it (yay!), but still super dark in color....and no grays!

Then I recurred (<3mos), and it fell out again. Sometimes even now during treatment I think I notice a little microscopic fuzz in a couple of spots, and it's seems to look dark...but then it breaks or falls out. (Anyone else have this happen? Wasn't expecting any growth at all. This didn't happen my first time.)

I'm hoping that when I finish this time, it will come in a reddish color! That is the color of one of my wigs and I absolutely love it!

I do have a question....I heard that we shouldn't get our "new hair" colored because it is weaker and it is damaging to the new hair? Does anyone know or have experience with that?

wfisaac

ocalalaurie said:

hair!
I was 36 when I was dx in 2010. I originally had long, dark brown/auburn hair (and just a few grays!)...thick with a nice wavy curl. Loved it! Then lost it all. When it started to come back in after treatment ended, it was spotty here and there...different lengths and textures on different parts of my head. Ugh! It was dark...almost black...and seemed to be straight. But then it started to get a slight wave to it (yay!), but still super dark in color....and no grays!

Then I recurred (<3mos), and it fell out again. Sometimes even now during treatment I think I notice a little microscopic fuzz in a couple of spots, and it's seems to look dark...but then it breaks or falls out. (Anyone else have this happen? Wasn't expecting any growth at all. This didn't happen my first time.)

I'm hoping that when I finish this time, it will come in a reddish color! That is the color of one of my wigs and I absolutely love it!

I do have a question....I heard that we shouldn't get our "new hair" colored because it is weaker and it is damaging to the new hair? Does anyone know or have experience with that?</p>

I was worried about whether
I was worried about whether or not to put color in my hair as well but I was desperate to find out because I looked like a calico cat. My cousin worked at a salon that has a very cool program for women going through chemo and they had given me some shampoo and conditioner to use on my head while I was going through the chemo saying it would help promote strong healthy follicles. My hair was really baby fine when it first came in but that wasn't surprising because I've always had very fine hair. Lots of hair, but fine. Anyway....I don't know if the shampoo & conditioner really did work or not but my hair seems quite healthy and I have colored it a few times now and it still feels real healthy. The first time I colored it it did not hold the color very evenly. I had some extremely white hair spots that wouldn't hold color at all. But, they showed me how to use the developer on those spots a few minutes before mixing it with the color and now it's all very even.

Anyway....that's my experience.

carolenk

wfisaac said:

I was worried about whether
I was worried about whether or not to put color in my hair as well but I was desperate to find out because I looked like a calico cat. My cousin worked at a salon that has a very cool program for women going through chemo and they had given me some shampoo and conditioner to use on my head while I was going through the chemo saying it would help promote strong healthy follicles. My hair was really baby fine when it first came in but that wasn't surprising because I've always had very fine hair. Lots of hair, but fine. Anyway....I don't know if the shampoo & conditioner really did work or not but my hair seems quite healthy and I have colored it a few times now and it still feels real healthy. The first time I colored it it did not hold the color very evenly. I had some extremely white hair spots that wouldn't hold color at all. But, they showed me how to use the developer on those spots a few minutes before mixing it with the color and now it's all very even.

Anyway....that's my experience.

Lots of gray
My new hair came back with a lot more gray than before chemo and it looks fine for my age--I am just so happy to have hair again, I really don't care what color it is.

jbeans888

I also heard that we
I also heard that we shouldn't color our hair because of the chemicals in the dye.

Tethys41

jbeans888 said:

I also heard that we
I also heard that we shouldn't color our hair because of the chemicals in the dye.

It's true
We should not color our hair.

msfanciful

Lots and lots of gray for
Lots and lots of gray for me, I think that's why I now choose
to keep my hair shaved for a while, until I'm ready to deal
with it. :-)

Sharon

michelefabus

msfanciful said:

Lots and lots of gray for
Lots and lots of gray for me, I think that's why I now choose
to keep my hair shaved for a while, until I'm ready to deal
with it. :-)

Sharon

I had a 2 1/2 month break in
I had a 2 1/2 month break in chemo surrounding my debulking surgery and my hair came back in white with a few black hairs here and there. I had colored my hair for so long I no longer knew for sure what color it really was, but I am pretty sure it wasn't that white. I was so happy to have hair that I really didn't care what color it was. Now of course, I am bald again due to resuming the chemo, which I just finished so I'm curious to see what it looks like this time.