Cold Cap - during all 4 fortnightly x EC and then stopping during 12 weekly Paclitaxel - Results?

I did persevere and used the cold cap through out.  Having weekly sessions I was told made it even more effective. The additional time isn't as long as for EC. Yes my hair thinned but I neve wore my wig.  It just didn't work with the hair I had.  I used beanie hats  etc.  My hair started to grow before the end of the treatment. 6 months after my treatment ended I have a full head of curly hair. I added rosemary extract to my non perfumed shampoo and conditioner. It can aid growth.

Ultimately the decision is yours.  All the best.

I think your hair will start regrowing with paclitaxel if you continue to cold cap. But an extra hour a week is a big extra on your treatment time. I had a badly placed cold cap on first treatment so lost a huge amount over the top of my head after 2 cycles. I stopped at that point. Now more than a year on, I wish I’d continued as hair growth is so slow without cold cap and I’d be back to a happy hair length if I had continued. I have grown 1cm of hair/ month. At 12 months after chemo, my fringe hair did not even reach the tip of my nose. I have a lovely wig and still prefer it to my own hair. Had long hair prechemo and my new hair is not me at all. I guess it’s just weighing up the pros and cons for yourself and seeing how you feel about it x

Please stick with the cold cap. I’m so glad I did. My hair at the end of 3 x EC & 3 x Docetaxel was in comparison 3 plus months more growth than a friend at the same stage who did not cold cap. My hair 4 weeks post end of treatment is full coverage, thick and growing! I’d stick with it if you can ! 

Hi I chose not to cold cap and had a crew cut after my long hair started falling after 17 days  of EC I got a few bald patches and wore beanies as not comfy in wig , I’m now on weekly number 8 of Paclitaxel and my hair is definitely growing all over more longer on top hoping it remains to grow and glad I never cold capped due to time and to me having hardly any hair is as bad as no hair , you just have to do what you feel is best for you but good luck difficult as it is now hair will grow back xx 

Ooooh it a difficult one isn’t it? I cold capped though EC and am now cold capping through Paclitaxel - my friend is doing the same, but we retained good hair with EC or thats a motivator to continue. It is a long time to add to treatment time I know, but the fact that it helps with hair growth  is good.

I understand you feel disheartened - I would feel the same I know. There is always something to feel disheartened about on this journey - today I have woken up with a complete burning tomato face after treatment yesterday and I look horrendous! But it will pass in a few days - and cold capping will pass also

Jan

Hi Ricki,

Thank you  so much for responding and sharing your experience. Great to hear that only 6 months after finishing chemo you had a full head of hair, thanks to rhe cold cap undoubtedly really encouraging to hear :) I know with Paclitaxel it's an hr only as opposed 1.5 hrs as with EC after the infusion for the cold cap to stay on,but I am not sure if the time to wait before the infusion is actually longer or shorter, do you know? I think with EC, it's 30 min before the infusion. 

Also,great tip about the rosemary oil, I've heard too that rosemary oil helps with hair growth so will be adding this to my shampoo too - do you know if I can do it now during chemo,  or do I need to wait for after chemo is finished? I've been using paraben, silicone  SLS, etc - free shampoo and conditioner for months.

Thank you again :)

Thank you #zephyr for sharing your experience.

I'm sorry to hear you lost most of your hair even with the cold cap in the beginning, but as you say cold cap fit is so important, amongst other things, for how effective ultimately ii is. I think the 2 male nurses who fitted mine during the 2nd cycle were fairly inexperienced with the cold cap ( they said so themselves and I could tell too), but they did take their time trying to fit it the bestthey could , buy my hair fell out in clumps during wash time a week after that. I was really distraught;( The nurse who did it for the 1st cycle had her PhD done in cold capping and she really knew what she was doing. Anyway,  from what you are saying it does sound that hair regrowth is slower without the cold cap, so thank you for sharing this with me. Although I do understand exactly what you mean by you don't recognise yourself with the hair you currently have  as I feel exactly the same at the moment, it does sound that yours is well on the way to fully regrowing and getting back to normal Hang in there xx

Thank you RugbyFan  for sharing your experience.

Wow, what a great outcome for you , and so so encouraging to hear, especially in my doubtful state at the moment ️ I tolerate the actual cold capping ok   apart from feeling the first 10 min more intensely for the last 2 cycles after losing most of my hair ( even through the surgical cap I wore both times), so I definitely know I can stick it out till the end from that point of view,but just felt totally flat and depressed after seeing the actual results of it so far  :(

But your reply has given me a real boost so thank you again xx

Thank you Louise69  for responding and sharing your experience.

I'm sorry to hear you've lost most of your hair, but equally really positive and encouraging to hear its already growing back on Paclitaxel,  even without the cold cap,yay  ️

As you say, adding hours to chemo treatment each time is not for everyone, especially as results unfortunately cannot be accurately predicted, and so one must go with what suits their personal circumstances best. I can certainly resonate also with what you are saying that having very little hair almost equates to having no hair at all - just look and feel old when looking myself in the mirror now ;(  And unfortunately can't wear beanie hats because of the warm weather ( otherwise would've been my preferred choice same as you), or any other types of hat for that matter, ss they are simply not me at all

Good luck with the remaining Paclitaxel sessions ( you are nearly at the finale of that  :) and also with the rest of you treatment xx

️

The site Annabandana online is fab I bought some lovely cotton scarves and bandanas that don’t feel too warm really cheap too ! I also went to a Headwrappers group which was great got freebies and useful tips on how to wear at the maggies centre and I think they do an online session if u haven’t a maggies centre local to you , also the look good feel better session is fab and a big bag of great goodies given too , I would say if you been brave enough with cold cap this far keep going ! You can do it good luck xx (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to wearing anything on my head tbh haha )