Hi I had my first session of Fec-t chemo 15 days ago, luckily SE have been minimal. But I am wondering when to expect the dreaded hair loss? Currently it’s showing no signs at all of thinning or anything so wonder if is the same for everyone or if it differs person to person xx
Hi, Mine started with a few strands day 15 by day 18 I got shaved off due to how quick it was coming out. I believe most people loose it or are well on the way by the time they have their second FEC. Ofc you could be one of the few luckly ones 
Hi Jlr. Everyone is different and it also depends on the condition of your hair. Are you cold-capping? I had long thick brown hair and I used the cold-cap for the first two sessions of FEC-T. The first session was fine - nothing happened. Second session - about 4 days after session I had terrible pain in my head - like it was being pulled out by the roots - which is the hair follicles dying! By day 7 it was coming out in clumps so I took control and shaved it all off and felt much better for it! I finished my Tax in December and my hair is growing back nicely (although grey - gggrrr!!) and is soft and silky. I was really really worried about losing my hair. But its not the be all and end all. The most important thing is zapping the cancer and I am glad I had the chemo for that reason. There are many helpful threads on here re: chemo. I hope the other sessions go ok for you and you have minimal SE’s. Hugs Em x
Mine started falling out day 15 of first FEC, after about 5 days it was noticably thinner, sore and really annoying me, so I took it down to a number 1 with the clippers. The majority of the remaining stubble had gone within a few days from then.
Mine also started to fall out last Thurs 14 days after first Chemo session,got worse over the weekend itching and sore scalp son came round last night and gave me a number 2 wish id done it earlier would have saved the hair mess everywhere…
Mine started thinning a lot on day 5 of second FEC-T cycle. Quickly got worse. Shaved off what was left on day 12 (so 33 days after starting chemo) as I couldn’t stand the mess any more. Everyone seems to be slightly different. Good luck.
Thank you everyone, it seems like everything else associated with chemo etc that everyone is different. Guess I will just have to wit and see. I had not heard of cold capping nobody at my hospital has mentioned it either, but as I hate being cold I prob would not have bothered anyway xx
I wonder if it depends on the dose you get. Mine fell out all at once on about day 19…I think. I’m now almost 6 weeks past last chemo and am starting to get tiny stubble which actually feels quite nice. I am having recurring dreams that I have a full head of hair- so looking in the mirror and seing a baldy is still quite odd.
My scalp began to get very itchy by day 5, then sore, and by day nine was falling out all over the place. I could take hold of a clump, and it would come away easily. By day 12 I had a huge bald patch over the front and around the crown, so OH shaved it off. Day 14, Just look at my picture, that was taken about then!!
I was advised against the cold cap, as my oncologist said it would provide stray cancer cells with somewhere to hide. My hair started hurting quite soon after FEC 1 and fell out by day 10.
I was told at my first dose that my hair would be gone for the second dose of fec…and it was. About 2 weeks after first dose i was chatting on the phone twirling my hair in my fingers and noticed it coming out. After that i could pull it out in clumps. My little boy quite enjoyed helping me and making what looked like birds nests out of it. Got very sore and painful so got it shaved off. I finished chemo at the end of november and now have 1/2inch of grey hair!! Its sooo soft and everyone says it makes me look ‘distinguished’. If you had told me a year ago that i would happily go around with hair this short and grey i would have thought you had gone mad! But, after being bald you realise its just hair, there are more important things and you are so thankful that your body has remembered to grow it back again.
Good luck hun
mandyj.xx
Hi Jlr - I’m having my second EC this Friday - after a lot of root ‘sensitivity’ mine started falling out on day 15… by day 20 (today) it was such a mess, hair everywhere, that I shaved it off (myself…not an easy task! - though OH did finish it off for me when he came home from work! ). It is a relief in an sense as it is one less thing to worry about. I couldn’t be bothered with cold cap and from what I gathered it is a pain with not necessarily a lot of gain. Good luck with the next lot. x
Thank you everyone, I have got up this morning (day 16) and my scalp around the crown area is really sore to the touch so I wonder if this is the start of it eeeek! Currently all still there but I guess I had better be prepared now!
Jlr, same as everyone else, yep it does start with sore scalp, feels like its tight in a ponytail hurts in the wind. mine started just before the 2nd session and i had wispy bits everywhere but very very thin. i put up with that until 2months or so and then clippered it all. its now soft and very dark, with grey! but changes each week. x good luck x
Hi JLR,
MYN CAME OUT 2 WEEKS AFTE FIRST CHEMO, WAS CURLING MY HAIR ONE DAY AND THE WHOLE CURL JUST CAME OUT WITH TONGS, NEXT DAY WOKE UP WITH LOTS ON PILLOW, MY DAUGTER, SISTER AND HUSBAND WAS WITH ME AND IT TOOK ABOUT 2HOURS FOR ME TO START CUTING, MY DAUGHTER HELPED ME , AND MY HUSBAND SHAVED IN AT TH END, BUT WE AL HAD A GLASS OF WINE TO SAY GODBYE TO MY LOCKS,
GOOD LUCK XXXXX
Hi JLR
i too am at day 16 an as off 2day my hair has started 2 fall out. cant bloody touch it an i come away with a clump of hair. Went to the gym an now im sitting scared stiff il get in the shower an all my hair will go down the drain.lol Iv already had my long hair cut to help with the process but its still the strangest feeling. I hav 2 say thanks for putting up your post cause it did prepare me. I thought as my hair was ok this long following my chemo i would b ok till my second round. so reading that it could happen, meant it wasnt such a shock wen it happened if u no what i mean. lol
anyway good luck but it sounds like you mite b lucky an hold on to your hair a bit longer my scalp has been tender from the first couple of days after my first treatment.
xxxx Monicaxxxx.
Hi there, I am on day 15 from my first chemo and this morning noticed it coming out in chunks! Having said that, I am on dexataxol not a FEC. I am to star start FEC, hoe did you find it, whahave your you experienced?
It’s a funny thing, but I have had four x three week cycles of AC chemo (not FEC) and I still have a lot of hair left!
I did lose it rapidly from about day 15 of my first cycle, and then I shaved what was left, but to my surprise I have had to keep shaving! I have to say the sides are pretty near bald, but it is quite thick at the top, and still there at the back. I am thinking of growing a Mohawk!! 
If I had been using a cold cap, I probably would be congratulating myself. As it is, I am interested to see what twelve, weekly, doses of Paclitaxel (Taxol) is going to do to what is left,… and my thinning eyebrows and lashes too!
I had my head shaved the day before my second round of FEC. I had really thick hair and it was coming out in handfuls so I had it cut to about an inch on the sat before 2nd round. I went ‘naked’ in the september when we had a hot spell. Head was a little tender but didnt last long. That will be 2 years ago in July.
Jane xxx
Did you carry on using cold cap after the first two cycles and after your hair came out?
I’ve just had second cycle of FEC. Not much hairloss after first but coming out in hands now. Daren’t wash it as I feel it will all go!
Just debating whether to continue with cold cap or not.