FEC OR CMF WITH COLD CAP

[Denise3691]

Hi there ! Sorry for late reply I don't come on here very often. My dose of FEC is the same for six sessions don't have details of specific doses. Am using the Paxman Scalp Cooling machine and a small cap as have small head ! Have lost about a third of my hair but it doesn't show really just a bit on my parting which is wider. Have next Chemo tomorrow and will be using again as have my Dad's 85th Birthday to go to in a week and a half. Good luck with it.

[diffdecisions]

Thanks for the replies. It's a great help to hear from others going through this. Denise3691 could I ask you what dosage FEC you are receiving and which cold caps you are using? It sounds like you are succeeding in keeping your hair and if I can keep mine at shoulder length (it's currently much longer than that) I\d be very very happy.

[Denise3691]

Hi There

I am having FEC and using the cold cap. I have had three treatments so far and still have a total covering of hair. I have lost hair each time but it is still even all over. I had eight inches cut off my hair before the treatment to a shoulder-length style which I am very happy with. The cold cap is not easy and made me feel very queasy the first time with bad pain in my head for about fifteen minutes but was bearable after that. Took painkillers pre-treatment the other two times and was not so painful.Hope this is helpful.Good luck with whatever you decide. 

[Sodastream]

Hi. I did FEC-T using the cold cap. I had my hair cut into a short bob before starting. At the time of my 2nd FEC my hair started shedding and I lost quite a bit but it was evenly spread. It did slow down once my body got used to the FEC and by my 3rd and 4th dose I was hardly loosing any. For me it was when I changed over to Doxetaxol it accelerated again and thinned more. I did have a bald spot on top but covered this with Bastille dry shampoo for brown hair. I've now finished chemo 6 weeks ago having had 4 x FEC and 2 x Doxetaxol. I've had to have my hair cropped short because it was thin and straggly but my hair had started growing again so at no time have I ever been bald. I now have a pixie cut but with grey curly hair growing on top so I'll dye it in a few weeks despite the recommendation being 3 months. Throughout using the cold cap I washed and blow dried my hair every day as I needed my hair to look good else it wasn't worth trying to keep. If you click on my picture I have put some photos of me on there after I'd had 5 cycles. I honestly think I'd have kept the majority of my hair if I'd have kept on just the FEC and not changed to Doxetaxol.
Good luck with your treatment and whatever decision you make.

[diffdecisions]

I'm needing help deciding whether to go for chemo or not. I'm intermediate risk of recurrence, but on the low side of intermediate and FEC has been suggested (if I want to go ahead) but they've also said they would be prepared to do CMF. I will only go ahead if I can find a regime with which I won't lose too much hair. I will be using cold caps. I've heard FEC doesn't work very well with the cold cap but I don't know about CMF. I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has used either regime with the cold cap and what their results were. Has anyone used e-CMF? Thank you.