Cold cap for chemo

Hello Judes

Yes I did. My chemo was last year- May- August and I kept most of my hair. I do not regret it and would do it again. It is however a personal decision. 

There is a thread on the Chemotherapy forum about hair loss where I have posted about my experience with the cooling cap and others have also posted. I will pop a link below for you.

Hair Loss and Hair Loss treatments - Macmillan Online Community

Hope this helps

Jane

Thank you for your reply 

I’m having a dilemma about chemo as it is an anti cancer therapy as I have had a lumpectomy and I will be having radiation after chemo if I decide to have chemo 

I have been offered the 8 sessions with the last 4 being paclitaxen but the first 4 is epirubicin

i am opting to only have the first 4 and not have the last 4 as that is more aggressive 

the only reason I am even considering chemo is my oncy test came back with a score of 48 out of 50 which my oncologist has said is the highest she has seen personally 

so it is a do I or don’t I 

i really hate making decisions 

any advice from your experience would be appreciated 

thanks 

I see you are starting with epirubicin. I had fine, straight hair, cold capped for the first EC (epirubicin, cyclophosphamide), about 2 weeks later my hair started shedding to the point where I was almost bald on top by the time my next chemo came round. You won’t know unless you try, but it is a fairly lengthy experience that adds a lot of time to your sessions. 

The taxane drugs such as Paclitaxel are particularly effective with breast cancer and for many of us, the experience on them is easier than on EC. They are different in how they affect you. I found Paclitaxel relentless as I was having it weekly, but EC felt more brutal during the early part of the cycle. With that oncotype score, I would think very carefully about your decision. Perhaps find out how EC is and then decide, rather than ruling Paclitaxel out  

I have metastatic cancer despite chemo. 

I was given paclitaxel and carboplatin for my cancer as adjuvant treatment. I also had radiotherapy. The fear of the chemo and its side effects was less than the fear of the cancer returning so I wanted to do all that I could. Different chemos can affect different people differently and you won't necessarily know until you try. Chemo is not easy but I found it doable. Most side effects can be treated.

Some people say that the cooling cap adds a lot of time to your day. I didn't find that particularly the case. It was put on for 30 mins before the first chemo went in but during that time I was waiting for blood results and then having the premeds. You need to keep it on for a while after the last chemo drug but in reality during that time I was having a saline flush put through and also discussing the treatments and side effects and the nurses were giving me my meds etc so I would have been there anyway. 

There will still be some shedding with the cooling cap. Mine started about 14 days after the first chemo. I had some thinning all over but did not need to wear a wig or use scarves. I followed the instructions they gave me about hair care etc. My hair started to regrow during chemo and it has grown back thick and healthy. I believe that even when you do lose some hair that it protects the hair follicles. I lost all body hair and then my eye lashes and eye brows during chemo so I know that without the cooling cap I would have lost all the hair on my head. For me it was about trying to look a bit more normal and not a sick person during treatment. Hair is not just hair- it is part of our identity and my choice was to try to save it. I met several people on my chemo days and most of them had a fair amount of success using the cap.

I would do it all again if I had to- the chemo- the radiotherapy and the cooling cap. Only you can decide what is right for you but I would listen to the advice from your oncologist as it seems a high score. I would also think that if you are going to do the first bit of the chemo you may as well carry on and do it all- once you get started you may surprise yourself in how you much you can cope with when it is needed. If you do get some side effects they can actually adjust your doses each cycle and this happened to me.

I wish you luck whatever you decide. If you feel like talking it through then I can recommend the support line. The number is at the bottom of this.

Jane

Hi there,

I did the cold cap all the way through EC and Paclitaxel/carboplatin. It worked for me - I just about totally retained all my hair. It’s definitely doable if you can get through the first ten minutes of the brain freeze.

As has been said, EC side effects meant to be harsher than Paclitaxel . EC was every 3 weeks for me and then Paclitaxel weekly for 9 weeks. I did all the treatment and I’m glad I did - just so that I could give myself the best chance possible. It’s a period of time in life that will pass - and really the side effects of it all were minimal for me. It really is so different for different people.

My tumour shrank to nothing with the chemo - its not over yet - surgery on Thursday and await biopsy results, but I’m grateful for chemo doing its job the best it could.

Good to get people’s views and experiences from here - we are all in it together!

Jan x

Hiya. I did 4 cycles ec and three cycles docetaxel beginning of this year. As others have said I wanted to do whatever I could to reduce risk of  recurrence so I did all chemo. I'm now coming to end of 20 sessions radiotherapy. I tried cold cap but gave up after 2 and a bit cycles as I felt sick and headachy when wearing it. Lost all hair but it's coming back now. Might be worth asking people on chemo forum their opinions of pacitaxel before you definitely decline. 

I too had reduced dose of docetaxel for my last two cycles as I got sepsis first cycle. 

Hi, I have done 2 cycles of ec with cold Cape I did start shedding about 2 week after but I have long thick hair so only thinned out so far, I have one more ec cycle then move to 3 cycles of docetaxel and phesgo injections. It is personal choice and the 1st 10 mins or so not nice and have read many of stories on here that it helps with the regrowth x

I had thick hair and starting shedding like a molting dog rather than losing clumps of hair. But it's growing back already

More comes out when combing but at least not losing clumps x