Hi Lynne, 

I noticed you haven't had a reply just yet so I just wanted to wish you all the best with your chemo next week and to share some information we have about hair loss.

I hope this comes in handy but I'm sure some of our members will be along soon to share some of their tips and advice as well.

If you'd like to discuss any of this further with one of our cancer nurses, you can call them on 0808 800 4040, Monday - Friday between 9a.m - 5p.m. They're very knowledgeable in this area and will do all that they can to help.

Kind regards,

Steph, Cancer Chat Moderator

Lyn63

Hi Lynn just read your post. Firstly im sorry you got breast cancer ,but this cancer chat forum is a welcoming place,and hopefully many will reply to your questions. 

Having breast cancer myself in 2020  I've completed all my surgery ( lumpectomy and lymph nodes removed from under my right arm, as cancer had spread there) and trestments of 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 15 rounds of Radiotherapy.  

Trestments are not as bad as you imagine  I started to lose my long hair two weeks into my chemotherapy.  It was so hot weather wise   kept falling out in clumps, sticking to my overheated body lol. I cut it short then shaved it all off. I used coconut oil on my scalp  used to massage it in put a turban on my head and sleep with it on my head,and wash it off In the shower . I did this every other day.  I used  it sparingly on my face and skin as well. Also used shampoo that had caffeine in it as its good to promote hair growth, I started using this after my 8 chemotherapy sessions were over. 

For the 15 Radiotherapy  sessions I used E45 cream as that was what was reccomended to me to use. 

I was 63 when I was diognosed, I'm now 67. I'm on Letrazole  was pit on it for 10 yrs I have 7 more yrs left being on it. My hair has grown back ,more curls than before, but its long.agan now  and the lengh has straitened it a lot but still has some curls at ends which are nice. 

My hair has thinned  a tiny bit from having to take the letrazole, but I have a lot of hair so people tell me  it's only me that's noticed it. 

My hair grew back grey ,I'd always coloured it,and didn't realise how grey I actually was lol. I am a qualified city and guilds trained hairdresser. So I waited 6mths before I coloured my hair brown again . After chemotherapy it's best to wait that long, as your hair needs that time to regrow and recover from the chemotherapy.  

I hope this helps you ,and I wish you good luck with all your trestments. Always here if you need to chat or vent .

Thank you so much for your reply, I am 60 and really short haired anyway, even more so since I have had a buzz cut yesterday, I have no wrinkles on my face and come hell or high water no intention of gaining loads through treatment lol. So glad you came through your Chemo etc safely. I have been diagnosed with TNBC they don't think its genetic as the Oncologist said just bad luck.. Thank you for the advice about coconut oil and caffeine shampoo. Did you lose eyelashes and eyebrows if you did how long did they take to grow back? 

Lynn 63. Your welcome  glad it's helped .And yes I did lose my eyebrows and eyelashes.  One lady I know had her eyebrows tattoo before all her treatments but I never thought to do that,as I don't like tattoos very much but in this instance they looked good. I don't have very long eyelashes anyway,and my eyebrows were plucked thinly  so it wasn't a drastic change when I lost them.  After chemotherapy treatments stopped both took around 6mths to grow back again. I also went and bought 3 wigs I went to a wig shop,I bought 2 synthetic lace front wigs  and one teal hair wig as I had a wedding to go to,but the wedding was postponesd because of covid. But to be honest I prefers the synthetic wigs,they were much lighter to wear than the real hair wig. I paid £700 for thst one  and £399 each  for the synthetic wigs. I also bought lots of turbans,and  beanie type hats and headgear to wear indoors.onky wore the wigs outside.