All You Need To Know About Hair Loss » Chemotherapy Hair Loss

A patient is taking cancer chemotherapy for breast cancer and developed complete hair loss. This hair loss wo?

admin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:05:25 +0000

A patient is taking cancer chemotherapy for breast cancer and developed complete hair loss. This hair loss would be an example of a/an

a. side effect
b. adverse effect
c. toxic reaction
d. idiosyncratic reaction

The answer is side effect

Why exactly does chemotherapy cause hair loss?

admin — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 05:24:10 +0000

Not all chemotherapy causes hair loss . . only some types. Cancer is the result of our own DNA, our own cells mutating and losing the ability to stop growing. Normal cells are produced all the time and grow to the appropriate size and stop . . a malignant cell for mostly unknown reasons has lost that ability to stop and will grow and replicate indefinitely, unless treatment stops it.

Chemotherapy was designed to kill off any and all fast growing cells in the body . . since the majority of normal cells grow slowly and replace old cells continuously, the idea was that chemotherapy would target and kill fast growing cancer cells. Unfortunately the body has a few other fast growing cells . . hair cells grow fast and some cells in the intestinal track also grow fast . . the chemotherapy cannot tell the difference between these few ‘normal’ fast growing cells and cancer cells so it destroys all of them.

The reason for the hair loss is because the chemo will kill off cancer cells as well as hair cells. The good news is that the hair cells will grow back after the treatment is over . . so hair loss is temporary. The loss of hair temporarily is a small price to pay for your life.

chemotherapy, hair and what to expect?

admin — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:11:21 +0000

I have th eoption of having chemotherapy to help treat my disease, and r-chop chemo is what the doctor has suggested i have. With the hair loss do people normally shave off their own hair before it falls out? Do they do this before treatment or once the hair starts to fall out.
And also what is chemo like, is it really as bad as i imagine it to be? i realise everyones experience is different.

Any tips to help deal with it?

Everyone is different with chemo, I can only tell you what my sister is experiencing with chemo after breast cancer. Every 3 weeks she gets blood taken to check her blood levels and then they decide how much chemo she gets the following day, the day after chemo she gets an injection, i believe it is some type of steroid, she also takes anti sickness pills, the following day she can feel very tired, this happened every 3 weeks for 3 sessions, most of her hair has fallen out, she then started a different chemo which is also given every 3 weeks but with this one her hair does not fall out but on a few occasions she has ended up in hospital overnight due to terrible pain throughout her body, even her eyelashes were painful, she had her second cycle yesterday and is spending most of today in bed due to tiredness. when the chemo is finished she has 1 month to recover and then they start radiotherapy for several months.

Hair loss after Chemotherapy?

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:18:26 +0000

I had 4 out of my 6 Chemo treatments. But I haven’t had any more Chemo treatments for 2 months because my blood tests were coming back with low white blood cell counts and with low platelette counts so my doctor put off my last two treatments that I’m supposed to have. Now my blood levels are good so I had a Chemo treatment on last Friday. The thing is that my hair has grown back like a half inch already since my last Chemo 2 months ago. So will all of the new hair that I finaly grew back in fall out again now that I’m back on Chemo for two more treatments?
I was completely bald after my first Chemo, but now have 1 inch hair I’m afraid will fall out again now Chemo started again.

Not all chemos cause hair loss, but if you’re receiving the same chemo as before then I’m afraid you can expect to lose it again. Take heart though, it’s not permanent and yours grows back quickly so just grin and bear it. Some fantastic wigs and scarves available if you want to cover up.
I wish you all the best for a positive outcome with your treatment )

hair loss with chemotherapy?

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:26:25 +0000

my sister has aplastic anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant…she needs 4 days of chemotherapy will her hair fall out? any one have any advice or experienced this? please help

my aunt had cancer and got chemotherapy. What Chemo is is it is radiation that destroys every cell in your body.(every bad cell) so her brain will be fine. but it also destroys your hair cells. so yes she will lose her eyebrows and her hair most likely. I wanna wish her good luck!

Question about chemotherapy and hair loss?

admin — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:01:23 +0000

My 4 year old brother is currently undergoing treatment for neuroblastoma. He has no hair at the moment and treatment is still ongoing so it’ll be a wee while, but I just have a few questions about when it grows back. How long generally after chemo will it start to come back? I realise it’s probably different for everyone but on a general level? Will it come back very slowly and thin? I guess like a baby’s hair? And will it come back as his original colour? (He had a kinda strawberry blond hair colour if that makes any difference)

Sorry it’s so many questions and thanks for your help in advance

When my hair started to grow back from chemo, it began just like babys hair, thin on the top of my head and developed a layer of fuzz. Within a few months, it was getting thicker and generally back to the way it was before. It may grow back a different colour, but most people keep their original colour.

When it’s growing back, it feels like it’s taking forever and making no progress. However it does come back eventually.

Wish him all the best

How can I stop hair loss IMMEDIATELY?

admin — Wed, 05 May 2010 17:26:11 +0000

I am 17 years old and shedding like a dog. I eat and sleep regularly, have not had chemotherapy or anything like that, and have even started dying my hair with henna and avoid brushing it too much between washes. NOTHING is helping. I hope you understand what a catastrophe this is to me and won’t try to advertise stuff that doesn’t work because I seriously don’t have money to throw away and if I don’t figure something out right now I’m going to be practically bald by the time I’m 21. help me please!!!

Luckily, hair loss in younger men is also something that can be prevented, and to prevent hair loss, one needs to start taking medication to block Dihydrotestosterone right away. In order to prevent hair loss caused by DHT, you need to begin right away. The sooner you can stop the DHT, the more likely you will be able to keep your hair and the more likely you will be able to prevent hair loss. Some of the natural medications designed to prevent hair loss are safer, but they only deal with one issue. For example, while you may be able to block DHT from forming by using an herbal remedy like Saw Palmetto berries, if any DHT gets through, you still have no way of stopping it, because Saw Palmetto can only do so much on its own. its the very ingredients you have in the product Procerin ( http://www.procerin.com ). A supplements designed to completely prevent all aspects of hair loss without affecting the rest of your body.

Hair loss after 1 week of chemo?

admin — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 11:54:33 +0000

I had chemotherapy a week ago and I’ve already lost 1 clump of hair on my head and a few nose hairs. It’s probably not unheard of, but I’m wondering if anyone else either has or knows someone who has had the same kind of quick hair loss from chemo?

I’m sorry you have to go though chemo. My sister went through the same thing and ended up losing her hair. The good news is it will come back when done.

What was chemotherapy like the first time, ladies?

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:41:29 +0000

If anyone who has been through chemo, can tell me about their experience, I would love to hear. I am really interested in knowing how long it took for the first treatment. Then, I would also like to know about your hair loss. Was it all at once, the first week, later on?

Mine starts tomorrow and I am very nervous. Thanks for any input.

My first chemotherapy infusion took about 3 hours but it is different with everyone depending on what and how many drugs you are getting. With some drugs they may only administer a small amount the first time to make sure you don’t have any kind of a reaction, for this reason your first infusion may be shorter than the rest. My treatments usually take about 3 and 1/2 hours from start to finish.
The first couple of days after my treatment were uneventful but nothing (except maybe an avalanche or something) could have prepared me for the lovely side effects of chemotherapy.
The worst side effects were mouth sores, muscle pain, vommiting/nauseau and constipation. If you start getting mouth sores use baking soda and water to rinse out your mouth, your doctor can also prescribe a great mouthwash that numbs your mouth if it gets really bad. Make a list of the sympoms you have so you can tell your doctor and they can help fix the problem. Not everything can be fixed but there are a lot of sollutions to help.

To help chemo go by quicker I have a different person come with me to each treatment whether it’s a friend or a relative, they always have something new to talk about and it can sometimes (if possible) make me look forward to chemo because of who is be coming with me.

My hair started falling out 2 days after my second treatment, at your chemo center they will probably have free hats for you to take, people have made and donated these for cancer patients (it really helped me knowing that a complete stranger would make a hat for me so I would recommend taking one.) I had a friend cut my hair short and wore it that way for a few days, I did this because I’ve always had long hair and it will take a while to grow it out again. Then I shaved it off as it started falling out in clumps. Buy a wig now so they can match your style and color. Also buy some hair accessories like hairclips, headbands, and hairbows for your wig. This really helped me feel like I could still fix my hair and be a girl every morning. (Hair accessories are really in right now too!!) The National Cancer Society does really good classes called "Look Good, Feel Better" so look for one in your area, these are very helpful and you can meet other people going through the same thing you are.

Chemotherapy is HARD!! But there are bright sides, it’s really hard t see them at first so I listed out a few below.

1. You can blame anything on chemo, I got a parking ticket and when I informed my parents they blamed the chemotherapy. (This was before I even started chemo, so you can see the possibilities.)
2. You get to meet some amazing people like your nurses, and fellow patients going through chemo.
3. What are the chances you would ever get to see what a great shaped head you have without chemo?

Good Luck with everything, and please feel free to email me if you ever need to talk to someone about this whole ordeal.

Can chemotherapy have long term side effects?

admin — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:02:12 +0000

I don’t mean the stuff like hair loss or sickness , I mean side effects that can last for months or even years, maybe for ever?
After effects.
Wow. All interesting answers so far. Not asking for myself, a relative starts chemotherapy soon. Thanks everyone.
btw I haven’t given anyone a thumbs down, I don’t know why someone would give any of these answers a thumbs down as all are helpful especially personal experiences.

Yes, it is possible to have long term side effects . . but the side effects are in exchange for your life. Side effects can be treated. Death is final.

Speaking as a parent who has lost a child . . I would give a thousand percent in order to have my son alive and living with side effects no matter what they are. I can not emphasize this enough . . life is worth fighting for, because when it is gone . . there are no ’second chances’.