Hair loss ten years after chemo

It has been five years  since my cancer treatment.  I was bald for over a year, so was glad when I had hair growing back in.  Fast forward to now........my hair is very thin compared to what is normal for me.  I am fortunate in that my lovely daughter in law has a beauty salon and always keeps my hair decent.  I have given up on anything that takes more than a few minutes daily and have it very short....very very short on the sides and some fluff on the top. She taught me to toss on some earrings and go about my day.  Giving up? Not really.  Hair isn't as important to me as it is to a lot of women.  Good luck!

Macz, I am sorry that you have to go through this indignity after all that you and your family have been through. I totally understand that when you are trying to earn a living, it is harder when you don't at least look healthy. 

I have no idea why you are losing hair again, but I wonder whether you are on any other drugs that could possibly cause hair loss. For instance, lots of BP meds can cause hair loss. I had a friend who lost her hair while on Paxil. 

I hope you can find the cause or wt least get the shedding under control. Hang in there! 

If you are going for the iron test, ask about adding on a Thyroid test.  Thyroid conditions can also cause hair to thin.

just another thought.

Kathy

12 yr breast cancer survivor here who developed a more severe sulfite allergy after treatments. I have a very limited diet (I'm talking maybe 10 plain foods total for over the past decade), absolutely no drugs, supplements, not even otc or aspirin, no nothing. Over the past year and much more lately I have thinning hair on the top of my head, even noticing it on my pillow in the mornings, and more hair in drain than usual after washing hair. So I found your threads here about hair loss many years after treatment while I was internet searching for answers yet again. I just had my annual checkup and blood work done - all very normal, so there is no nutritional or metabolic/thyroid/anemia or drugs cause here. It seems logical that if all your hair follicles begin to grow again after chemo at about the same time, they will grow new hair at about the same time in a cycle. In my case the first regrowth took years even though initially fairly quickly, so here's hoping for no baldness! Thanks for writing everyone! Best wishes to all!

My hair has definitely changed and I call it chemo hair. I had very thick wavy hair but after my chemo, yes I lost it all but it grew back within 2/3 months but the texture was totally different thin n straight. Some people were wondering if I had it straightened! But I would say no it‘s my chemo hair. Now after 11 years I’ve been on treatment for metastatic breast cancer for almost 2 years n my hair is definitely suffering!! It’s very thin drops even more than ever!! 

I hesitate to complain cause I know I should be grateful for every day I have but to be honest it does bother me but don’t see what I can do about it! 

I was first diagnosed in 2010 at age 50, did the chemo, had surgery, went through the crappy radiation and my hair looked horrible afterwards, went on Tamoxifin and then was diagnosed again 5 years later, that time I had a double mastectomy, with crappy results from a diep procedure. Then got put on Anastrozole, my hair never recovered, it's limp, flat thin and crappy looking everyday. I decided screw it I am not taking the drugs any longer so I stopped. I was told I have a 1-2 percent chance of getting breast cancer even though I technically don't have any breast tissue. Who cares anymore, I hate my hair, I hate my marriage, that has suffered too. You can't win... 

Teach76 said:

I can sympathize

I, too, can sympathize - 3 years out of treatment, and I can not make any decisions with this limp, thin hair.  I sometimes feel I was better bald - I could deal with that with accessorising.  Maybe I am just not a stylist.  I toy with the idea of getting it cut short to see if it would come in thicker, but it now grows so slowly that if I hate it, I would be stuck for a long time.

I realize I am blessed to have my hair return, and I never thought I would seem so vain.  Maybe age is just creeping in as well, but the anti-estrogen is taking its toll on me.

Kathy

My heart is breaking as I read each of your stories.  I just finished chemo almost 2 months ago, so I have some hair growing back in, but top of my scalp looks a lot thinner than the rest of my head.  I did 12 weeks of taxol and am worried that my hair will never be the same.  It was down to my butt last summer. I am prying that all of you ladies get some real help with regrowth of your hair.  

I had chemo for breast cancer at age 58. I had fine hair that fell out almost immediately, and grew back thinner. Now, ten years later, I have less than half of my regrown hair, and seem to be losing it steadily over the past two or three months. I am so ugly now that I have left the country, I live alone and see no one. I miss my family, but I do not want them to see me. This is no life.

I was diagnosed 5 years ago, at 54, had lumpectomy, chemo, radiotherapy, 2 yrs of tamoxifene, then 3 yrs of letrozole (almost finished). My hair had grown back really thick and curly, and reached down to my hips, never had it this long and thick! Until a few months ago. Then I started to loose lots of it, have already lost about a third of it, and cut it down to my shoulders to better cope with it. I guess it's because it's all the same age, so all due for turnover at the same time?  But the new regrowth is very thin and scraggly... yuk! In the meantime menopause set in, so maybe that's affecting it too?