Chemo hair loss

Armywife said:

Hang On

I never lost all my fuzz - had some the whole time and a few blessed eyelashes and eyebrows too - not much but a faithful few!  Also, I know this is going to sound bizarre - but savor what little good you can find.  It takes zero time to get ready -  no more blow dryers and fussing.  Also, (this is kind of personal but we are the group who talks about everything) I found it felt absolutely amazing to have the shower running on my bare head.  I couldn't remember that feeling because I'd had hair since I was a baby - but there was something so soothing and magical about the feel of that water on my skin.  Look for the blessings -  there will be something every day!

I never buzzed my hair and only self-cut it to about an inch long when it got really sparse. I had the dandelion fuzz throughout chemo untill it started growing back and that really helped when sitting in a recliner or wearing my wig. Your right! It was so nice not to have to fuss with my hair every day, but the icing on the cake for me is that I no longer have to bother with shaving my legs or armpits! My head hair came back salt and pepper (I was still mostly blond before chemo), but it seems that my arm and leg hair are permanently gone. I don't understand how that could happen, but I'm not complaining about it! (On a personal note, pubic hair did come back)

janaes said:

I was excited that my hair

I was excited that my hair was comming back when it did. At the same time i wasnt excited to have to take care of it.  I loved that i didnt have to wash my bald head. And when it started growing back i did not want to wash my hair.  My hair came back grey and before i ditched my wig i colored my hair its original color.  I cant figure out why but after that my hair never went back to the grey it was at first. After about a year i colored my hair brown again becaause iy was looking a little too grey but not like at first.  I was glad i havent had to color it too often. 

It is hard to wait for hair to grow back.  I did end up with a really short hair cut that i liked and am tempted to go back some times i havent its been almost 2 years since treatment was over and my hair is the length i often wore it before cancer.  I dont get it cut because i liked filling like my self before cancer.  I feel like i accomplished someting.

It's interesting that the gray partially went away eventually. My hair had aot of gray in it before chemo, but was still basically brown. After chemo it's all salt and pepper, no brown. I wouldn't mind if it miraculously went back to 100% brown, but I'd rather stay all gray than go back to faded, tired brown!

I am with cheese queen. My hair came back better as well. Big, loopy, silver curls. The “silver” lining. That includes the two chin hairs that keep growing back. 

Canary said:

After 4 treatments

i just finished my 4th of 6 planned rounds of chemo (three weeks apart). So far the only negative side effects have been bone pain in my legs from about day 4 for a bout a week. I have lost most of my hair, but after shaving it at the beginning to about 1/8 of an inch, i still have some of that on my head. Not sure if it will all still come out or not. I have lost some eyebrow hair and some lashes. It was indeed easy for my dermatologist to check my head this year. And, i too, love the feel of the shower on my head.

I don‘t know if other chemo centers offer this activity, but my chemo center has a craft lady come in to the center of the suite for about three hours each time i am there. This gives us who can be mobile a chance to meet and visit with other patients and the craft leader and have an interesting activity to complete. It really helps the time fly by. 

i spent good money on a wig before chemo started, but have only worn it once. I really like wearing the turbin style hats. I did have to go to walmart last week and buy some sock hats to keep my head warm but they are really comfortable. 

I am really looking forward to my last treatment and the tests that follow. My last treatment will be Nov. 29 so should have my CAT scan before Christmas. 

 

I also had very short hair left after buzzing it (I was afraid I'd get ingrowns if I shaved it). Throughout chemo it got a whole lot sparser, but I was never cue ball smooth on my head.

Almost a week after my third chemo and I swear my hair might be growing a little. I had it cut real short when I started shedding after chemo 1. I still have a lot of fuzz even if it's patchy and thin. 

Canary said:

Curly hair

 I am two months past chemo treatments and my hair is growing in straight. I have had straight hair in the past but knew that I could end up with curly hair after chemo. I have a friend whose hair came in very very curly but she says that her hair was much longer than mine is  now before it curled. Does anyone have experience with hair coming in curly and at what point did it seem to start curling? 

H Canary,

I had very thick and wavy hair before I lost it to chemo.  It began to come in straight and stayed that way for awhile.  As it grew it became very curly.  I think it stayed that way for more than a few months before it started looking like my original hair.

Canary said:

Curly hair

 I am two months past chemo treatments and my hair is growing in straight. I have had straight hair in the past but knew that I could end up with curly hair after chemo. I have a friend whose hair came in very very curly but she says that her hair was much longer than mine is  now before it curled. Does anyone have experience with hair coming in curly and at what point did it seem to start curling? 

Your hair will be weird for awhile. Mine started growing in before the end of chemo and was straight and silver gray (previously light brown & gray). When it was about 1" long it took a turn for the worse, into a dark dark gray, super wiry/coarse. Think Brillo pad: no true curls just bizarre bends. Finally, my 'regular' hair started coming in and I cut off the bent, damaged areas. The new hair was a pretty silver color. I really liked it, people would tell me I looked like Carol on the Walking Dead, which was good for my ego. Unfortunately immunotherapy changed the color/texture yet again; it reverted to the fine light browning/blondish of my youth (side effect for some people).  Now the brown is growing out and the silver is coming back in. You won't have the immuno color change that I did, but I'm writing all this to say that my hair didn't take a direct route to regrowth, it took all kinds of detours. Of  course I'm happy that it came back at all, and is thick and healthy. Now if it would just stop changing colors...

I'm not looking forward to the warm weather, at least when it comes to my head.  Yesterday it was 60 degrees here in the Northeast, very unusual for February.  I took the dog for a walk, wearing one of my usual hats.  It was too warm on my head.  I just so wanted to take the hat off and feel the sun on my head, but I'm too embarrassed about being bald!  (Unusual for me, I'm not very concerned with my appearance.)  I knew just how the women who are forced to wear headcoverings must feel!

Anyway, looking forward to spring, but not looking forward to covering my bald head in the warm weather!  And from what I'm reading, it's going to be at least a YEAR before I have short normal hair!  Plus, I'll be on Herceptin for a year, and who knows how that will affect hair regrowth.  But it's all nothing, compared to one's health.  I feel so silly being upset about hair loss, in the grand scheme of things.

Canary said:

Curly hair

 I am two months past chemo treatments and my hair is growing in straight. I have had straight hair in the past but knew that I could end up with curly hair after chemo. I have a friend whose hair came in very very curly but she says that her hair was much longer than mine is  now before it curled. Does anyone have experience with hair coming in curly and at what point did it seem to start curling? 

I had very curly hair before chemo, with a little white coming in. I'm 5 months post-chemo now and my hair is long enough (about 2-3") to start curling again and boy, is it. I can't tell if it's much curlier because it isn't long enough to compare to the shoulder-length curls I had until last May, and I plan to keep it in a pixie now. It's now much whiter than before, as are my eyebrows!

zsazsa1 said:

I'm not looking forward to

I'm not looking forward to the warm weather, at least when it comes to my head.  Yesterday it was 60 degrees here in the Northeast, very unusual for February.  I took the dog for a walk, wearing one of my usual hats.  It was too warm on my head.  I just so wanted to take the hat off and feel the sun on my head, but I'm too embarrassed about being bald!  (Unusual for me, I'm not very concerned with my appearance.)  I knew just how the women who are forced to wear headcoverings must feel!

Anyway, looking forward to spring, but not looking forward to covering my bald head in the warm weather!  And from what I'm reading, it's going to be at least a YEAR before I have short normal hair!  Plus, I'll be on Herceptin for a year, and who knows how that will affect hair regrowth.  But it's all nothing, compared to one's health.  I feel so silly being upset about hair loss, in the grand scheme of things.

I don't know when your chemo will be done, but my profile pic was 3 months post chemo. Still very short, but no hat needed. I actually ditched the caps 2 weeks before that picture, because of the hot weather.