Hair Loss- Chemo

Hello friends, as our journey continues, Pat finally agreed to give chemo a shot, his first treatment is on Thursday. In hopes of saving his hair (he’s really freaked out about it, if you saw his hair you’d understand, lol) I ordered cold caps! Good Lord! They aren’t very subtle are they?! Like a helmet of sorts. I also got him the mittens and socks! My question is, do you just wear it during the treatment! How long is recommended? I ordered extra ice packs, will we need them? I know some of you have experience with this and am looking forward to your replies. Thanks!!!

[Tall_Allen]

Just during treatment. It worked well for my friend.

[Schwah]

Ah ha. Finally after years of perfect responses, TA got one wrong lol. And he’s never wrong. Anyway I did cold caps to save my hair. It wasn’t so much vanity but rather the fear of having people look at me and tilt their heads and say “I’m so sorry”. I don’t know about you but pity is my worst nightmare. Anyway, it really worked but you have to do it right. I actually splurged and hired one of their nurses who did it the correct way. She had an ice chest with dry ice. She changed it out every half hour on the hour religiously throughout the infusion, in the car on the way home and (going by memory here) at least two hours after the infusion. A little uncomfortable at first but you get used to it quickly. My hair thinned a bit but only I noticed. Call the company [phone]. I worked with Soloman there but he may be gone. Get detailed instructions and follow them to the tee. You will need to help him off you don’t hire a nurse. . You can also call my nurse. Chrystal [phone]. Offer to pay her for an hour of instruction on how you do it. It’s been a couple of years but if you can’t get ahold of help, private message me and I’ll try and help. Also chew on ice chips the whole infusion and make sure the mittens have holes to place his fingers in ice during the infusion. I had no lasting SEs.

Schwah.

[Hidden in reply to Schwah]

OMG Thank you!!

[Jackpine]

Jacquitiani,

I’m currently going through chemo (2nd time through chemo), 5 infusion this Friday. I used a cold cap this time and have kept a nice head of hair. I put the cap on 5 minutes before the start the chemo portion of the treatment and wear it till it’s done. I also ice my hand and feet to help prevent neuropathy.

[larry_dammit]

Well didn’t use the cap, lost my hair But it came back thicker than it was before. Tell him not to despair time will correct what chemo does. Just fight the monster 🙏🙏🙏

[EdBar]

Same here as Larry, no cap, lost hair, embraced the baldness, and hair grew back thicker, in fact I lost the bald spot I had! Got a couple hats so my scalp didn’t get sunburned.

Ed

[Rexwaterbury]

Beware of penguin cold caps. I got second degree burns on my scalp from my forehead to my crown. All that area scabbed over, and when the scabs fell off, so did the hair. I looked like a circus freak, like bozo, or Larry of the three stooges.

[6357axbz]

Someone previously posted that they used an inexpensive “migraine” cap (Amazon) and put homemade ice packs inside and it worked well.

[cmeek1]

Flush your eyes with eye drops every 15 minutes to protect against tear duct damage. I have read that the chemo can scar and block the ducts causing dry eye problems.

[Shepard]

I have completed 4 infusions of Docetaxel. So far no evidence of hair loss. However, I did go to the barber and get a military haircut as I had abundant hair and did not want to clog the shower drain. I see most folks in the infusion room wearing stocking caps - guessing that is not a good idea. I wear one at home as my head gets cold. You might consider using gel packs which would not be quite so cold - put one in a towel behind your head and that should cool the whole dome. Advice on lubricating eye drops is good. I use them 4x a day. Good for comfort and saves the lenses.

[Rexwaterbury]

I used a migraine cool cap and had good results. Not nearly as cold or damaging.

[j-o-h-n]

Best way to save falling hair is put it in a cigar box....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Wednesday 02/26/2020 5:15 PM EST

[Saydeebugz]

My husband went thru 10 rounds of chemo and NO HAIR LOSS whatsoever. The chemo drug he was given was Jevtana, also NO NERVE damage either! He is now 1yr out from all treatments (chemo, lupron, Zytiga and Radium 223) and remains in remission and has all his hair.

[R410a]

There are specific instructions for using Penguin cold caps. Some time prior to infusion and several hours after. light material skull cap will help with burns. These are not easy to use and you need help. We had local outlet the provided dry ice, caps and assistance and training prior to infusion. It does seem to work