Hi. I finished 6 rounds of Docetaxol and Carboplatin 5 weeks ago but am continuing with Phesgo injections every 3 weeks for another 11 times. I cold-capped but only managed to save around 20% of my hair, although I do feel it has helped to protect the hair follicles somewhat. My eyelashes came out after round 4 and my eyebrows are v thin. I had surgery last week and will be having radiotherapy in the near future too.
My hair is definitely growing already which is great but just wondering if there are any hair regrowth products that anybody has tried which seemed to work? Also in regards to eyelashes and eyebrows? I have heard of Waterman’s Grow Me Hair Growth Shampoo and Conditioner, and UKlash eyelash serum, but don’t want to splash out on either if they’re not particularly effective.
Any advice gratefully received!
Best wishes to everyone.xx
Percy and Reed do a great scalp shampoo conditioner and serum.
I used before with menopause thinning. I’m cold capping with Paclitaxel 7/12 done and still have full head of hair.
I also contacted Jasmin at cancer hair care and she responded with great information and even offered to post me some free eyelashes Eyelure C lash designed for cancer patients. She also has lots of information and videos.
Also https://lookgoodfeelbetter.co.uk/ online or F2F course and you get a goody bag. I’ve done hand and nails and the skincare and makeup. They were great source of useful information.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
I had exactly the same chemo regime as you but I didn’t cold cap. Lost most of my hair and it took several weeks before o started to see anything but peach fuzz! I can’t say if it worked but I followed the advice of Cancer Hair Care and used Aveda rosemary hair tonic day and night. I am 4 months post chemo and have about 3/4 inch of good hair coverage now. It took longer for the temple region to grow in but it’s coming now! Rosemary is supposed to help stimulate the hair follicles.
I hung into my eyelashes and brows all through chemo and then they all fell out three weeks post chemo! I was using UK lash and UKbrow and have continued to do so. My eye brows are thinner than they were but I can pencil them in. My eyelashes are growing well. Not quite back to their original length yet, but there are plenty of them.
Well done on the cold capping! I just couldn’t bear the hair shedding so shaved it off. I am now waiting for my histology back on my second surgery as they didn’t get clear margins on my first lumpectomy. Was expecting herceptin but think it will be Kadcyla as there was a little bit of cancer left after chemo.
All the best!
Andrea
I used Ginger oil until my hair started to grow back then continued with Ginger shampoo and conditioner. After a year my hair is at least 4 inches and quite thick.
Hi guys
I lost my hair, tried cold-cap but gave up after round 3. Finished treatment 6 weeks ago, eyebrows have disappeared over the last couple of weeks. Yet hair is growing, everyday day it seems that bit longer.
Thank you to everyone for all your advice and support. My hair is definitely growing back but still no sign of eyelashes. I need to be patient, I know! Think the cold cap protected my hair follicles and Watermans Grow Me Hair is helping to encourage the re-emergence of hair. Will need to habe it tidied up soon though, as it is all at different lengths between the new growth over bald patches and hair that managed to hang on in there throughout chemo.
Good luck to everyone. We’re an amazing and strong community.xx
Well done for getting through treatment. Chemo is so gruelling physically and emotionally. Great your hair is growing back every day. Brilliant news. So good to see it re-emerge. Shows you your body can recover from the bombardment it has endured. Good luck with everything.xx
Hi @andreag. How did the histology go? I hope they got it all after the second try and you have clear margins now. You’re so strong and brave, not easy to have surgery again after the lumpectomy. Hope you’re recovering well. Best wishes.xx
Thank you for thinking of me! I had the results last week- happily they obtained clear margins this time! I have my first dose of Kadcyla next Friday, and I am seeing the oncologist on Thursday. I expect to start radiotherapy soon too. My hair is very tufty now! Not quite a style yet and still wearing my wigs, but a few more months and I may debut my new hair to the world 
Hope it’s going ok for you? Stay strong!
Take care,
Andrea xx
Hi Andrea,
Great the margins were clear this time round. I received my histology results which were v good -clear margins and nothing in the nodes. Thought I’d be continuing with Phesgo but apparently it’s now a choice between Herceptin and Kadcyla. This has thrown me a bit as I thought with my nodes being clear I wouldn’t need it. The thought of anything with a chemo drug in it brings me out in a cold sweat, but I’ve decided to give it a try and see how I go. The Oncologist thinks it will give me up to 5% extra chance of not having a recurrence and with being only 50, I feel I should try it. I was nearly halfway through the Phesgo cycles too and this resets the clock, which is a bit depressing. Justpraying the side effects are minimaland I can continue to try and get back some strength after chemo over the Summer. Hope it goes well for you on Friday and you cope well. You’re doing amazingly.xx
Fabulous news about clear nodes and good margins! I understand your trepidation though about Kadcyla. I was gutted when they found some cancer cells left following chemo. On MR scan it had looked like a total response to chemo so it was a blow when they found 9mm of grade 1 cells. Still, it was still an amazing reduction from a 60mm grade 2 tumour! That’s the reason I’m having the Kadcyla instead of herceptin, the residual disease. I guess that must be the same for you?
I start on Friday so I will let you know how I go. Two ladies that I know from joining a chemotherapy starters group back in March have already started and are doing ok so far, no major side effects. As you say, we are quite young still (I’m 53y) so anything I can do now to prevent recurrence, I will grab with both hands.
Keep in touch and stay strong. We can do it! Xxx
Thank you for your support and positivity, it really made a difference. I hada low day yesterday, think it was the realisation fully sinking in that I’ve signed up for 10 more months of treatment and treatment with a chemo component to boot. Nooooo! Feeling a bit more resolute today though. I’m doing it for a good reason.
Good that a couple of people you know from the March chemo starters group have already started on Kadcyla and are doing okay, no major side effects.
Wow, what a reduction and fantastic response to chemo. Disappointing it wasn’t a complete response when the MRI looked like it was, but still brilliant.
Good luck tomorrow, hope it goes well and you cope okay with it. You are clearly strong and focussed, have a great attitude and will get through this next stage.
Please let me know how you get on. Best wishes and lots of strength.
Helen.xx
My hair is starting to grow back, my head itches like mad and is driving me crazy, any tips on what to put on it?
Www.cancerhaircare.co.uk have great information and you can call them up and talk to them.
They work with Look Good Feel Better as well.
Hi Helen,
Just checking in to see if you’ve started Kadcyla and how you are doing? I’ve had two rounds so far, third this coming Friday. It hasn’t been too bad at all for me. The whole process (after the first dose) took about 90 minutes including flushes etc. I have a couple of ‘meh’ days on days 3 and 4, but pretty tolerable. My newly growing hair doesn’t appear to be thinning again, fingers crossed. My tiny bit of neuropathy in my fingertips is no worse. Hope you are finding the same!
I started tamoxifen three weeks ago and that is having more of an effect! also started 19 sessions of radiotherapy this week, so my poor body doesn’t know if its coming or going lol!
I would love to hear how you are getting on. Take care! Andrea xx
HI Andrea,
Lovely to hear from you. So glad the Kadcyla is going okay so far for you. It is for me really too. Should have had my 3rd cycle today but I pushed it back a couple of days as I’m having radiotherapy at the moment and didn’t want to have both on the same day in different hospitals 15 miles apart and have to go back for my last radiotherapy session tomorrow when feeling a bit rough. Yes, 90 minutes after the first one including everything which is v doable compared to chemo and cold capping. I feel a bit fatigued and achy for the first few days, followed by nosebleeds and breathlessness when my blood levels drop, but then into week 2 I feel stronger and brighter again and week 3 isn’t too bad at all. Hair still seems to be growing, hoping to have it cut into a v short, smart style and dye it brown (it’s mostly growing grey which is a bit of a pain as I was mostly brunette before this) in the next month or so. I even think that I’m recovering a little bit from the chemo underneath the Kadcyla treatments, as I feel better now than when I started.
I started on Letrozole which isn’t fun but is manageable. 5-10 hot flushes a day and a bit of joint stiffness and aching at times too. I do feel fatigued but don’t know if it’s the Letrozole, radiotherapy, Kadcyla or all of the above? Hope your body settles into the Tamoxifen and it’s not as challenging. I’ve been on Letrozole 7 weeks now and I am tentatively thinking the hot flushes aren’t quite as frequent. Fingers crossed I’m right 
.
Good luck on Friday, hope it continues to be manageable. Keep in touch. Hugs.xx
Hi!
Just checking in to see how you are doing? I am three weeks post radiotherapy and having a few after effects which are a bit worrisome. I had the cracked and weeping nipple first, which is all fine now, but my main issue is a feeling of tightness in my chest/lungs, like I can’t get a proper deep breath. Keep mentioning it to people e.g. during my check up Phonecall from oncology and during an echocardiogram this week, but no-one seems to know if this is normal. I have Kadcyla number 5 on Friday so will ask again. It’s annoying as it’s on my mind a lot, when I was hoping to start my recovery. Hope you are faring better!! Sorry for the moan! Xx
Hi @andreag
I finished radiotherapy 5 weeks ago and continue to have back pain and take paracetamol and use ibuprofen gel on the area. I’m also asthmatic so understand the need to breath well and if your chest/ribs/back ache is makes it harder.
The breast care nurse saw me last week and said it’s still early days and to continue with the painkillers.
I also have Herceptin 3 weekly with Letrozole daily. I had 5 days radiotherapy on both sides. I’m fatigued, not sleeping, hot flushes, achy joints and never know exactly what is causing them.
Maybe give your breast care nurse a call or phone breast cancer now nurses on 0808 800 6000 to talk it through your own situation. Or as you’ve already said ask again Friday. It always worth asking again.
