I lost all my hair 12 months ago after my first FEC. I finished chemo in Dec 08. Now over a year later my hair is still really thin and I am still having to wear a wig full-time except at home. I am now 67. Have other post menopausal women on Arimidex also experienced this? Will my hair ever recover?
The sides and back are not too bad but the crown is really thin and my fringe won’t re-grow.
I have had no response to my post of 5 days ago- does this mean that I am the ONLY person who has had this problem?
Now I feel even more of a freak!
Hi Topsymo,
I have only just finished treatment and have been on herceptin which is known to make hair grow more slowly… Mine is still very short and doesn’t seem to be growing very fast. Sadly some people do experience hair problems, so you are not on your own. I am a hairdresser and have now started to train to fit wigs and give hair loss advice. If the folicles on your head have been damaged with chemo permanent hairloss can develop, it is relatively rare but a lot of women complain about hair which never really returns to normal. Hair naturally thins with age and here also some women thin more than others. Normal times for recovery are varied but for radiotherapy and chemo, a year from end of treatment is generally the time span used to work out hair regrowth. what I suggest you do is try gently massaging your scalp with olive oil and when you are sitting at night keep massaging and gently rubbing your scalp which will help to stimulate the folicles to produce hair…also using a baby brush on your scalp instead of your finger tips can be quite stimuating to the folicles.
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Fiona xxx
Hello and please forgive me if I come across as smug but after all my treatments over the last year,Ive been rewarded with the best hair Ive EVER had in my entire life. Ive been a hairdresser all my working life,Im 57,and Ive only ever seen post-chemo ladies with hair as you describe yours,Topsymo. Does anyone think I will lose my thick and managable curly hair and return to the limp straggly greasy hair Ive had for all my life till chemo?(BTW, I was still heartbroken when I lost it)
Cheerio,my advice would be leave off the wig as much poss and see if anyone you know has used “Nourkin”,one of my clients got a decent result with it.
Love Mags x
Hello Topsymo
No, I don’t believe you’re the only one. I believe quite a few women are left with very sparse hair after chemo.
I’m also post menopausal and my hair took quite a long time to come back after FEC, Taxotere and a year of Herceptin but it did come back. I’m on Aromasin too, which can cause thinning of the hair but so far mine is OK.
Arimidex is also known to cause hair thinning. Feemac suggests Nourkin. I wonder if that is similar to Nioxin which lots of women on the American sites recommend. I used Nioxin and have no idea if it helped or not but it’s worth a try. I also used a solid shampoo from Lush called ‘New’ which is supposed to stimulate hair growth. Again, I’ve no idea if it helped but it smells lovely and I like it so much I’m still using it
Good luck. I hope your hair improves soon. Anthi x
Thank you Anthi, Mags and Fiona- it is really nice of you to get in touch and to be so helpful
I will try ALL the suggestions you have made!
I am pleased that you mentioned Nourkin as I saw a big add for it in The Times and persuaded my husband that it would be a lovely early Christmas present for me! I thought maybe it was all a bit of a scam & it seems you have to buy the expensive products for at least 6 months - but I felt I’d got to give it a try at least.
I have started to use the shampoo and conditioner (and to n massage my scalp, but after 2 or 3 days of the Nourkin tablets I had ‘the trots’! Maybe it was something I’d eaten but I have temporarily stopped taken them and will try again in a week or so.
Thanks again for your encouragement.