My hair is coming out on pillow a lot now, if I am going to lose all my hair how long will it take?

[charleee]

After 3 lots of carboplatin have had my second lot of caelyx 2 days ago and my hair is noticably coming away now. Just wonder if this is normal and if it keeps getting worse or suddenly falls out completely. Not had noticable hair loss before just thinning. Any advice on when to get a wig, hat. Thanks xxx

[TrishLey]

Hi Charlee. I have never had Caelyx and Carbo. However the last time I had Gem/Carbo my hair thinned out the first two times then stopped. The first time on Carbo/taxol I shaved my head to a tight number one cut (left around an inch of hair) this was to prevent it coming out in clumps. Overall I believe this helped it grow back thick and healthy. Kind of like pruning a tree. I hope it does stop, if not I would recommend getting it cut short/shaved but then again that is me and what was right for me. I didn't wear a wig just had nice hats/scarfs. Wishing you all the best with your treatment xxxx Trish

[baxbird]

Hiya,

I had carbo/taxol and my hair kept falling out (bugged me) so shaved it off number 1. Felt better about making that decision myself and taking charge. I went with just hats ( even though I had a wig I didn't wear it, but it is each to their own)

Macmillan centres can advise you on local wig suppliers, they had come that came into the centre where I live.

Best of luck with your continuing treatment

Dawn xx

[charleee]

Thanks girls, think I will wait till next treatment unless it all falls out before. My hair is shortish anyway, and thick. I am having ct scan after next one anyway to see if caelyx is working. Carboplatin was my first line drug so tried 3 lots as second line but although it shrunk pelvic mass it didnt stop liver mastesis. 2007 when first diagnosed so 6 years remission to find it spread to liver, lung and pelvic mass means roller coaster ride for me but having joined this site feel I have someone to talk to. Thanks again ladies and good luck. Carole xx

[Fernanda]

Carole, my second line chemo was avastin and caelyx. My hair thinned, but stayed over my head. And was growing very slowly and much drier, so a lot of moisture for hair over it to keep it in a presentable way.

Good luck with your treatment.

Fernanda

[Hidden]

Yes I agree plenty of conditioner, but if you feel it is coming out a lot I would recommend you get on top of it, that way you are not letting the cancer and treatment win. I had carbo taxol on first line and hair was in clumps after three weeks, so I got head shaved and picked out a wig that way it made me feel in charge of when the hair would go and I felt better about it but we are all different Wishing you the best on this journey

[Madz]

I am on second line carbo/taxol as it worked well first time they are trying it again and taxol made hair fall out before my second dose both times so I shaved it off. At home I wear sea salt soft tube scarves and a wig for work so I don't scare my patients. Hope you get on ok and it's a personal choice what you do - no rights or wrongs, tempted to go out with nothing at all but not quite managed that yet apart from on photos xxxxx

[redangelas]

Hi Charlee. It's a over 3 years since I had carboplatin, and like you nothing happened on the first 2 cycles which lulled me into a false sense of security. My hair first started coming out when I washed it after cycle 3 - I suddenly realised my hands were covered in hair and foam - it looked Like a very bad movie about werewolves.

Most of my hair fell out in the next two weeks - very unevenly so my head looked mangy. It was winter so I just wore a hat outdoors and I don't think anyone noticed. It just looked like I was hiding a short haircut under a slightly eccentric fashion statement. The rest of my hair fell out more slowly. (I think it's to do with growing and resting phases - all the "growing" hair comes out together - the "resting" hair stays put till it is ready to fall out as part of the normal cycle of hair regrowth.) I was pretty much bald by the end of 6 cycles.

I shaved the remaining strands to celebrate ending chemo (they looked hideous - worse than the baldy man comb-over) and waited for it to grow back. It took a good 3 months for it to look like proper hair again, but actually the experience of being bald improved my confidence because 1. It didn't make me look like a man, which I expected. 2. People were all nice about it, and I learned I didn't need to use my hair for hiding behind.

.

When my hair did grow back instead of being a bit wavy it curled very tightly, like an afro perm, which was a bit of a shock. Apparently hair being different after chemo is not unusual - the curl in mine very gradually relaxed and it went through afro, curly, wavy back to what it was before I had chemo, and now if there is any difference to what it was before, it is less grey - the effort of recovering seems to have helped the pigment cells.

Anyway, that's my experience. And apart from numb fingers and feet (peripheral neuropathy) I am fine since chemo. No cancer. The peripheral neuropathy has continually improved - my finger sensation is about 95% now, my feet have gone from feeling like polystyrene to just being annoyingly itchy. On the positive side I lost weight during the chemo, and have kept it off since. (Which would not have been good if I had been a healthy weight, but I started chemo with a 2 stone spare tyre, so feel and look better for losing it.) My leg hair grew back too - bummer.

[cherylw1974 in reply to redangelas]

I am having Carboplatin, hair started coming out like you said after third treatment, I had it shaved and went to wigs & scarves, nothing worse than hair on pillow and in shower -