Hair regrowth

Starting to grow hair after intense chemo treatments. I had dark brown before the chemo, now it seems to be coming in much lighter (hope it's not gray!) Would appreciate other members feedback on their "new" hair.

Comments

  • allmost60
    allmost60 Member Posts: 3,178 Member
    hair...
    Hi Carol,
    I did not lose "ALL" of my hair, but it thinned to the point of having some patchy bald spots. My chemo was CVP-R. When it started to grow back in, mine was also lighter in color and much thicker. I'm still doing Rituxan infusions every other month, but it hasn't caused any problems with my hair. It grows really fast and I like the thicker hair, as it makes working with so much easier. I had very long hair before chemo, but got it cut short before I started treatments and have kept it short since. If you don't like the new color, you can always color it...I'm naturally blonde, so when mine came back lighter, it just looked liked highlights were added, which was fine by me. :) Keep in touch...Love...Sue
    (FNHL-2-3A-6/10)
  • Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3
    Max Former Hodgkins Stage 3 Member Posts: 3,818 Member
    allmost60 said:

    hair...
    Hi Carol,
    I did not lose "ALL" of my hair, but it thinned to the point of having some patchy bald spots. My chemo was CVP-R. When it started to grow back in, mine was also lighter in color and much thicker. I'm still doing Rituxan infusions every other month, but it hasn't caused any problems with my hair. It grows really fast and I like the thicker hair, as it makes working with so much easier. I had very long hair before chemo, but got it cut short before I started treatments and have kept it short since. If you don't like the new color, you can always color it...I'm naturally blonde, so when mine came back lighter, it just looked liked highlights were added, which was fine by me. :) Keep in touch...Love...Sue
    (FNHL-2-3A-6/10)

    Hair

    Carol,

    Unlike Sue, I "lost it all" during chemo, even my eyelashes and eyebrows . My hair was already soemwhat thin before chemo (53 years old at the time), and it came back a bit thinner. It was coarse and somewhat wiry my whole life, but the new stuff (now about 3 years old) is very fine, almost like baby hair. It is approximately the same color as before. Most people regain about as much hair as they had before treatment, but an occasional story is told of someone getting only very thin regrowth, so the possibilities are very wide-ranging.

    One odd "guy" thing. My first hair to return was my facial hair, so I grew a stach, which came in very full. I shaved it a month or so later, and NOTHING GREW back. Then, hair would grow on one side of my face, but not the other, and then the reverse. FInally, it evened out, and I now have full beard growth. Therefore, expect just about anything, but most likely what you began with will return. It may take many months to a year for it to completely stabilize.

    max

    .
  • jimwins
    jimwins Member Posts: 2,107
    Hi Carol
    Hi Carol,

    I pretty much agree with Max, here is a wide range of what can happen.
    The hair on my head came back darker and I actually lost a little bit
    of gray. I was tow headed as a child, blonde to ashe blonde into my
    30's and darker brown as I got older (depending on sun) and now it's
    a much darker brown than before.

    I remember a post a good while back where a woman stated her eyelashes
    broke or fell out easily as they grew back. I think someone suggested
    she not wear mascara(?) for awhile until they were stronger.

    I was glad to be able to "lather up" again in the "nether regions" ;).
    (Sorry if that was too much information but hopefully made you smile.)

    Jim