Hair loss

Hi riderbred, 

I too am on the chemo with nearly full hair loss, I wear wigs at the moment. 
I too - a long hair kinda gal 

went to pixie bob the short back and side now just nakid 

min afraid I can’t truly answer the question, some of the forums I am on the ladies have said within 4 month they had hair growth.

I think it might also depend on how quick our hair is, what treatment etc? 
If it helps, I got some really great long wigs off Amazon ranging from £20 to £70 

honestly for the money they are great 

Thanks, Cherry!

I like my crewcut and am fine with scarves and hats when I want to cover my pink-under-a-thin-silver-coat head, but dang, it's discouraging to see it still pouring off.

I'm also SO grateful that the awful, unbearable parts of recovery are mostly behind me and that my worst worry now is my neon pink scalp.

Good to hear that for some folks it was 4 months. I've got time yet.

Hang on in there!  I finished the carbo/taxol chemo last November (I know, quite a while ago) but all of a sudden my hair started sprouting about two months ago - the grey hair first, oddly as I don't have that much, and the darker hair afterwards.  My daughter trimmed it all to a very short cut and it is now growing in evenly.  I bought a wig in anticipation, and never wore it.  Whilst you still have hair loss it is probably a good idea to keep it short, but I don't have any hair loss at all now, and hopefully you will be the same.

Thanks, Irene! Good to hear I'm not the only one whose hair is taking its own sweet time. But hey, the crewcut is great for summer!

As a fellow cancer sufferer I feel your pain. I’m a professional hairdresser and have styled the hair of many C victims over more than forty years. Every person reacts differently and different cancers call for different treatments and different treatments affect people in many different ways. Hair loss can be rapid and the whole lot can fall out within a month, and then there are cases like you where the hair falls out much more slowly and evenly. Invariably the hair grows back once the treatment has stopped and your body starts to recover in general. With the more aggressive treatments it can take months for the hair to return but return it will. Sometimes the texture is altered and very rarely the colour can change slightly. Rubbing a small amount of coconut oil (get the cheap one from Aldi) into your scalp once or twice a week will help to keep your scalp healthy thus giving the new hair a good foundation to grow from. Good luck and you’ll have your long tresses back but it will take while as hair only grows an average of half an inch a month. 

Thanks, Neil! I already have that coconut oil for my bum (which has healed enough that I can replace the thick, sticky Calmoseptine with coconut oil at least a couple of times per day) so I'll try it! Thanks for the tip!

Hi there!

I had 3 months of carbo/taxil that finished in early December, I went from nearly waist-length curly red hair to shiny bald…shiny.  The odd thing was that the hair on my head had started growing back by Christmas, but my eyelashes and eyebrows only began to disappear around that same time and for the next couple of weeks!  In January, everything was growing, and I thought I was on the happy side of regrowth, but then, I’d say about two months ago, all of my eyelashes fell out again!  I read that hair grows in a pretty predictable cycle, and when we lose it all at the same time (as with chemo), it starts all of those hair follicles on the same cycle (so they fall out again at the same time).  It apparently takes a couple of cycles for the follicles to operate out of synchronicity, so yes, the hairs still fall out, but they aren’t as noticeable because they aren’t all falling out at the same time.  Maybe that what’s happening to you?  If I made sense…

I always thought I’d not want a wig, but for the shiny times, I did have one.  Sometimes I just wanted to blend in, ya know?  Also, though I loved scarves, they were cumbersome with mask-wearing.  A wig was quick and looked fancy for the times I didn’t feel my ball cap was appropriate.  I had a very good quality synthetic wig, and it was easy to care for.  MANY people who I happened to see at the grocery store or out at a restaurant, who knew me but didn’t know I had cancer, just assumed I had a new hairstyle.  I can share wig fitting tips if you’re interested. (File that under “Things I Never Expected to Know So Much About”)

I think the crew cut look is super strong!  I went through a few weeks of that when my shiny bald head started to sprout its new hairs, and I was surprised by how much I liked it, especially since I’ve ALWAYS had long hair.  I actually felt pretty awesome, and it was so low-maintenance, so rock that short hair!  Also, my kids LOVED rubbing my fuzzy head, which felt good and made us all giggle, so nothing wrong with that.

So now I’m 7 months out of the heavy systemic chemo that I had from September to December, and I’m 5 months out of the less potent chemo I received with radiation.  I have about 2.5-3 inches of (very curly) hair.  I also have my normal eyelashes and eyebrows (for now, but who knows if they’ll fall out again at the same time).  I’ve heard that hair starts to grow back 5-6 weeks after your last chemo, and after that, you can expect 1/2 inch of hair growth per month, which all seems about right for me.

I bet your noticeable hair loss will slow with each hair growth cycle, and meanwhile, I bet you look fabulous with your short ‘do.

Best to you!

Red

Hi RedCurlGirl, now I know why that great profile name. I have always had fine hair and not much of it which wasn’t good when I started to lose more hair. I did not lose it completely but it thinned and now you can see my head. I resorted to getting a very short cut as I told my hair dresser no matter what I would look bald. It doesn’t hold a style and I am just stuck with it. How I envy you ladies with luscious hair you just don’t know how lucky you are. I have a times been tempted to just shave it if and wear wigs but don’t know where to start. Are they hot to wear in hot weather? I also thought about bandanas but find the too hot. I think this is me now and it’s something I have to just live with.

Oh, thanks, RedCurl! My brows and lashes have thinned but not totally fallen out. Things are Bare Down There, which is kind of funny, and no signs of returning.

 
My hair doesn't seem to be falling out, at least not like it was, but not growing back yet either. I've updated my crewcut with temporary purple dye, which is fun (if silly) and delights my 2 year old grandddaughter no end.

Since it's summer, and I'm deep purple, I'm not wearing anything on my head but hats in the sun. If I'm still shorn when the weather gets cold I may consider a wig, since masks and scarves are unwieldy as you point out.

Thanks so much for the suggestions and encouragement!

I actually considered some temporary dye at one point, too!  Purple hair sounds awesome!  I’m sure you’re the very coolest grandmother around.  You’re right about wigs being too hot for this time of year.  Fortunately (always find the bright side!), my wig days were in the depths of winter, but even so, there were days in Texas that I felt a little too toasty in my wig.  I also missed the airflow of the breeze through my hair when I wore the wig.  I wore a mesh cap under the wig, and perhaps without the cap, I’d not have been so hot and would’ve had better airflow, but hopefully I’ll never have to test that out.  I did tear up a bit a couple of months ago when I was leaving a restaurant one morning my husband and I felt actual wind rustle my actual hair.  I didn’t realize I’d missed it, but the sensation hit me so suddenly, and there I was, darn-near crying in a parking lot.

I was “bare down there” for quite some time, too.  In fact, that may have been the last place I experienced hair regrowth, I’m assuming because not only did it get chemo’ed, but also then got zapped with the radiation.  Mine has fully grown back, but I’ve heard that for many, though it grows back, it might not completely.

Take care!

Red