Thinning hair

[Books48]

I am on ibrance-hair is thinning quite a bit. Has anyone completely lost all hair? I have my daughters wedding in sept and want to know if I should look at wigs. It really doesn’t bother me but, just want to know if on ibrance has anyone lost all their hair?

[Discocat]

Hello, I can see from your introductory bio that you started Ibrance in January I think….so you’ve only taken about 3 cycles. I’m not sure which hormone inhibitors you are also taking as these can cause hair loss too. I’m taking Letrozole & Goserelin and I’m now on my 5th cycle of Ibrance. I was previously taking Kisqali for 3 months.I was losing a lot of hair for the first 3-4 months of starting treatment but it gradually reduced falling and is now growing normally with very little loss.

Going into an induced menopause changed my hair and skin texture quickly and drastically….and I think in my case the hormone imbalances were more the culprit in causing the hair loss than the Kisqali or Ibrance.

I think things have stabilised now and my hair texture is also improving. Once a month when I get my roots dyed I get a treatment done at the same time at the hairdressers. It’s something like an Olaplex product but it’s specific to the hairdressers brand ( Toni&Guy). Not sure if you can find them in your location but I’ve really noticed a huge difference since I’ve started this type of “restorative bonding treatment”.

Wishing you all the best, and happy wedding outfit shopping😀 I think in a few months your hair should settle too.

Zoe x

[Books48 in reply to Discocat]

Thank you, Zoex ! I am on zometa and faslodex, plus the ibrance. Just started losing hair the last two weeks!

[Discocat in reply to Books48]

I know it comes up a lot here….but drinking loads of water has helped me process the meds. I drink about 3 litres of plain still water, plus about another litre in green and herbal teas. I think this has helped my hair stabilise too…as in the beginning of treatments I wasn’t drinking so much and had a more negative reaction then.Wishing you all the best.

Zoe xx

[2Hopeful]

My hair thinned a good bit about 7 months after starting Ibrance. Not where anybody would notice, but I was concerned. It was like that for a number of months and then suddenly stopped and new growth came in. Still getting thicker and hardly any falls out now.

[Garden-Lady]

Yes, I've been on Ibrance for 13 cycles. I've had steady hair loss, but it seems to be stabilising.

[Northcarolinafighter]

Yes. I am taking ibrance since may last year. In 3-4 cycles I lost a lot of hair. I bought wigs. Now it seems to be growing back. More on the top then in back, but I lost top part first. I do have the ibrance hair, so I basically wear baseball caps. Wigs on special occasions. It’s all worth it, knowing it’s keeping my cancer from progressing. Good luck, it does get better.

[love2golfwell]

My hair has thinned a lot since being on Ibrance and Letrozole. This is a known side effect as the medications stop the growth of rapidly growing cells which include hair, nails, eyelashes and eyebrows. My hair used to be really thick and easy to cut and style. I have probably lost half of the volume. I also do not have many lashes or eyebrows left. I have bought 2 wigs, one inexpensive one on Wigs.com and one hybrid one (part human hair, part synthetic) that looks more natural. I wear one or the other when I go out as my hair is hard to manage. I get compliments on them and they make me feel good. I've heard that the American Cancer Society will provide cancer patients with free wigs, but I have not checked into that, I just bought mine. Congratulations on your daughter's wedding. My son is planning a wedding in fall of 2023 and I will definitely be wearing one of my wigs for that. Sending hugs.

[AvidBooklover]

I have been on Ibrance 3+ years and either I missed it earlier, or it just started thinning recently. I have thick hair so losing some was not tragic. I notice it at my part and bought a powder to put there that works. More on top than in back is thinned. But learned we have 2 layers of hair in back and one on top. Hairdresser said she sees regrowth. Showed me tons of tiny hairs.

I am trying to see this as an example that the treatment is working!!

[Gingerann1]

I haven’t lost all my hair but I had shoulder length hair that was breaking off and thinning with long strands and the short pieces, it was a hot mess! I had a consult at a hair salon who suggested getting a short cut that would even things out all over and look thicker. I went for it and it did the trick! No wig for me…been there, done that with chemo back in 2013. I’ll rock the short cut as long as it looks presentable and hope the thinning stops and I can grow it out. Summers at the beach in NC get really hot so I’m looking forward to being a bit cooler with short hair. Enjoy your daughter’s wedding in Sept. whatever you decide!

[Books48 in reply to Gingerann1]

Thank you, Gingerann1!

[Totheriver]

I have not lost all my hair but it was so terribly thin I buzzed it and wear a wig.

[Beryl71]

I thought I was losing hair earlier on but noone else noticed and certainly all is fine now. I've been on ibrance and letrozole for two years now. X

[mizcaliflower]

Hi, I'm kind of in the middle of my third, three week cycle of Ibrance.

I cut my long, thick hair back in January after my diagnosis, in anticipation of losing my hair to the chemo. I didn't lose it. However now with Ibrance, It's just now starting to come out. in hands full! The pharmacist told me Ibrance may cause hair loss, but probably just thinning.

It has really thinned in the past couple weeks.

I hope as others have said, that it slows and re-grows... It hasn't grown for a good minute, before starting to come out so fast. Just stayed the same.

I hate hats, and don't want to wear a wig. I miss my hair. I know it's "just hair", but dang it... I'm not young and beautiful to go about with a bald head.

I also take the hormone blocker Arimidex. (sp)

[MadameKa]

In my case it was falling out in handfuls to start with, then it steadied after five or six months... and remained like that... not so thinned as to need a wig, but thin, straight and unmanageable. I always looked ten years younger than my schoolfriends, within five months I looked five years older than all of them, and that is pretty much the case now, four years on. On a good day it's a reminder that the drugs are working, on a bad day... hey ho.

[TammyCross in reply to MadameKa]

Hair has so much to do with how people assess our age! When I had thin hair, on Ibrance, people kept treating me like a fragile old woman, helping me if I dropped something. My hair came back thick and healthy on oral SERD, and people think I am younger than my age. -- I am facing hair thinning again, and dread that condescension.

[MadameKa in reply to TammyCross]

Yes! And women's hair is judged and commented on so much more than men's.

[kearnan]

I remember reading (and bought them before I said to my onco no more Ibrance) silk pillow cases. I read that they were easier on the hair than the cotton ones so I ordered them and then stopped using the Ibrance. Still using the silk pillow cases though LOL

[Books48 in reply to kearnan]

Thank you, I will try those!!

[morty87]

My hair thinned at first, but I was the only one that noticed. I've been on Ibrance and Letrozole since January 2018. My hair has regained its normal thick self. I have to get it thinned out every 5 weeks or so. There is hope. Good luck!

[Books48]

Thank you!!