Just wondering ‘what hair where’ I should expect to lose.
The hair on my head is almost gone, and down below! But leg hair seems to be staying put, along with eyebrows and eyelashes. Oh, and the awful moustache that I normally bleach, (but haven’t for the past few weeks as I didn’t want to risk any reaction due to my now sensitive skin) is very dark and noticeable…and what about nose hairs!!
Hope I haven’t put anyone off their dinner…thought it would be a light-hearted talking point anyway!!
Eventually I lost the lot! Nose, underarms, pubic, legs, arms - then eyebrows and eyelashes the last to go. And facial hair. Some is great - some isn’t. Feel like a bald seven year old!
I kept eyelashes, most of my eyebrows (were a bit patchy, but not too bad) and the light hair on my arms… Funnily enough, even though I don’t have a hair nose (!!) I did find that my nose ran a little bit more than usual and had wondered if it was because of a lack of nasal hair (yuck!!) The leg hair did disappear for a short while, but is back to growing normally! Thankfully now that I’ve finished the Epi chemo and am on tablets it’s all starting to grow back
Hi there
Just finished four Taxols and lost my hair just after the second week. This was followed by underarm , most pubic, and legs, hooray,. Also lost some unwanted facial stragglers. So far a have a tiny bit of eyebrow left. Oh just realised my arm hair has gone as well !
Beast wishes Alison x
Hi Andrea, I too lost all of it eventually, but the leg and underarm hairs were the most stubborn. I think it’s a bit like spots and wrinkles - when you’re young you want to look older and vice versa. Nothing ever happens in the order you want it to! It’s all come back in about the same order, so I got a bit of a surprise when I realised the hair was sticking through my tights!
Hope the time flies till it’s all over and you can enjoy the regrowth
Sarah
XXX
I’ve had two doses of FEC and started losing my head hair just before the second. I initially had it cut short but got fed up with digging it out of the plug hole so took the clippers to it. It hasn’t all yet gone - more of a designer stubble look.I haven’t noticed any other losses yet - altho’ I’m looking forward to saving on waxing! When I told a friend that I expect to lose all body hair she was horrified and said ‘What, even down there?’. I joked that it was a painless way to experience a Hollywood, to which she said she’d rather lose her head hair than pubic??? Nowt as queer as folk as my grandma used to say!!!
I’ve just checked my nose and realised that hair has gone! How weird, I didn’t actually notice that before.
My leg hair remained the same length for the last couple of months, softer and didn’t grow longer than about 2mm. Same with underarm hair. Hair on head went a couple of days after down below, and have now finished chemo (2 weeks ago, Taxotere) and my eyebrows and lashes have thinned significantly but they had previously remained all through.
I seem to have a fuzzy growth on my head, GINGER! It wasn’t ginger before! More of a light auburn.
Hey - just tried that and I can do that trick with my nostrils too! Fancy a double act? This site is soooo great, it stops you feeling like a freak!
Three weeks and three days after last tax and I THINK I have some slight fuzz on my head. My hasband reckons I am dreaming but I really think I do. The last remaining eyelash came out this morning though. Chemo has a wicked sense of humour.
Hi
to those that kept eyelashes /eyebrows albeit thinned out did you consider yourself to have thick or strong hair . I’m just trying to figure out what determines who loses eyelashes and who doesnt ? seems a bit random
I think it depends on your personal drugs cocktail. My hair has always been strong and thick. Despite this, my onc said that taxol would take out everything without fail, and he was right. No point in using the cold cap or anything, as nothing short of a thick coating of PVA glue would keep anything in place.
After 4 x taxol and 2 x epi, the fuzz started to re-grow even though I had 2 more epi/cyclophosphamide still to go; but 2 weeks after each dose I lost a bit of the regrowth again, which REALLY PIGGED ME OFF. Anyway, 6 weeks now since the last chemo and although I look like Sigourney Weaver (yeah right - actually more like the Alien!) the hair is definitely back … everywhere!
Incidentally, although the eyebrows and lashes were last out, they were also first back and began to regrow as soon as they’d fallen out.
After my first TAC i lost most of my head hair - actually, i lost ALL my nice, thick, brown hair and am left with the horrid grey hair!!! Whilst it was falling out my daughter came and trimmed it - so the grey is short and very wayward, sticks out wherever it fancies. I am now heading towards TAC 4 and although I was told I’d lose ALL my hair it seems that my arms, legs and facia hair forgot to read the book!
Oh and my chemo department don’t have cold cap
2 weeks after my first FEC treatment my hair started to come out, on my head it is very thick and there was a lot coming out but now I have got my hairdresser to shave it so now only little stubbly bits come out. Still distressing though. The pubic hair is going, I booked a final wax with my beautician and then had to cancel it as I could pull it all out with tweezers!
I probably shaved my arms and legs about 2 weeks ago and there is very little regrowth there, what is there can also be pulled out with tweezers, oh think of the money I am saving!!!
The mums as school seem quite impressed with the scarves and hats I am wearing so it can’t all be bad.
I, too, lost hair from everywhere although the leg hair just got sparser and finer but didn’t go completely. However, I never lost the black hairs on my big toes! I didn’t shave them off because it was sort of reassuring to see hair sprouting from somewhere. As Dilys said, chemo has a wicked sense of humour. My last chemo (4 EC and 4 Tax) was on 3 Aug and all the hair is growing back apart from underarm hair (I’m not complaining!). My hair used to be very dark brown and straight but over the years I’ve had it go lighter at the hairdressers until before chemo it was a lovely honey blonde bob. Now, it looks like grey and white lambskin. My daughter calls me Silver Fox although I don’t look or feel too foxy at the moment - but I’m working on it!!!
Hi All,
When I had my 1st chemo in Jan06, my thick hair started to loosena nd made me feel so stressed that I made a cedision after 2 weeks to cut my hair and shave it all.What A big reliefd when i had a shower.The water fell straight down from my bald head to my toes…what a feeling!!My brothers sent me lots of scarves…different colours and I preferred wearing them than my wig.The wig is still in the box.I found it too hot on my head to wear.
I lost all my body hair,eyelalshes and part of my eyebrows.They are all back and my hair started to grow 3weeks after my last chemo.I was amazed at how soft and healthy my hair.I noticed now,that my hair has gone wavy not curly as like the others.I dont seem to be comfortable now with hair falling on my face so decided to keep it short and less fuss.Yes,i agree with the savings on leg maintenance.No body hair,no fuss.
My hair is very thick and have had two lots of chemo where I lost my hair and both times it came back exactly the same (thickness, colour etc) but it is interesting that some people lose all their eyebrows and eyelashes which I didn’t but did look at bit strange because they were a bit sparse in places but I used to use a very light grey eyeliner (I have very dark hair) and it took away that bareness.
My hair under my arms hasn’t really come back (that’s with my first chemo being 12 years ago!).
Dilys - mine came back after about 3 weeks - it looked like a five o’clock shadow to start with and I felt the same as you - was it really starting to grow! I used to spend ages just stroking my hair when it was really really short (like a brush that you wipe your feet on!) - weird!!
Pinkdove!!!
I am so pleased you have solved the strange sticky nostril syndrome. It never occured to me it was lack of nasal hair. I didn’t notice its loss at all.
Last chemo was 12 days ago and my head hair has started to return I am with Jibby on the silver fox look.
I’m jealous now - it’s 4 weeks since my last Epi and still no new hair for me! Epi is supposed to be total body hair loss but I still have very slightly hairy bits here and there (arms, some eyebrow/eyelashes, a few remaining ones “down below” and a very few here and there on my head). I think most nose hair has gone but I have no idea how much was there in the first place - I’ll have to look up my sister’s nose when I see her at Xmas then I can compare, ha ha!! I think I have stubborn hair as it was slow to go in the first place (which was worse because it just dragged the whole thing out) and now it appears to be stubborn to grow back. I’d even bought myself a Babyliss beliss styler (bit like a hairdryer) for Xmas - ever the optimist. Maybe my hair was offended at the insensitivity of the new gift and that is why it is refusing to play ball.
