HEP C TREATMENT HAIR LOSS

I have been off the hep c treatment for 3 months,I am still losing so much hair that I'm afraid that I will lose it all. I'ts very thin. It comes out just by running your fingers through your hair.Has anyone else had this problem?

[lifeisgood]

I've been off tx. for about 3 weeks or so, and this is the one thing that I'm really bothered with. I know that if it stopped falling out, I would just feel better mentally and that would affect everything. For those whose hair fell out and regrew, did it stop falling out first and then grew back? How did you know it was growing back-did you notice "sprouts" on your scalp? It's discouraging because we want this whole thing to be over!!!

[friole]

Well, I have been on treatment for 3 months, and I am just beginning to see hair fall out.  So if it takes about 3 months for the rx to affect the hair, it seems logical that it would take 3 months, at least for the rx to get out of your system and the hair to start regrowing.  I hope your hair begins to grow in soon.  It is rather a depressing side effect.
friole

[cuteus]

in all the time reading here I have  not read anyone going completely bald. Some claimed they could see spots, but no one else around them notice it. It will stop falling. For a while there I was getting 0 hair falling (maybe 2-3 months post tx, could be more), no hair at all was shedding for months. I am now 11 months post tx, and just now noticed some hair shedding, all after hairwashing. I don't recall how it came back, my hair was shoulder length the whole time and still is, but I can feel volume when doing a pony tail. Just the other day I glanced at my image while doing a class at the Y, and noticed how much hair was on my face. It was great thinking "look at all that hair"!

[BronxRican007]

I've been in tx for 2 months and within 2-3 weeks I started losing hair. Maybe hair regrowth has something to do with the point in tx where you began to lose hair? Well thats what I'm hoping for :)
br007

[GoofyDad]

I glanced at my image while doing a class at the Y, and noticed how much hair was on my face. It was great thinking "look at all that hair"!

Hmmmm.... to each their own I s'pose.... ;-)

Interesting the mental images we deveop of people. Cuteus, your's just changed!

[cuteus]

one thing I noticed is that the hairloss seems to coincide with the begining of anemia, around month 2-3, and if we had severe anemia maybe it takes longer to recover post tx along with the hair growth, just another theory of mine.

[cuteus]

please tell me you did not imagine me bald and fat...not that there is anything wrong with that ;-}

[GoofyDad]

No. Simply not an over-abundance of facial hair! But I'm straightened out now!

[RobBetz]

my bilirubin is still in the normal range but went up from lab test...should I worry

Robert

[cuteus]

I would only worry if things are listed in the "out of range" column, you have enough to worry about without making up more. If in doubt, ask your GI or PCP.
take it easy

goofy; I thought about the facial hair prank after I posted my question.
the bearded woman at the circus image? how goofy is that?

some people posted that they got their hair growing back without any gray in it, I am still waiting on that one.

[painintheside]

I had hair loss before even starting tx. I am female, young, and look forward to lossing more cause I hear it comes back thicker then before. Hang in there. It takes time to flush the meds out. Continue lots of water.

Sincerely,
Dana

[GoofyDad]

Along these lines, I have these nasty ol' little skanky-*ss mini-zits along my hairline. It looks like each may be an aggravated folical that lost it's hair shaft (thin as it was). Any suggestions for OTC pimple cream or something?

I'll concede the loss of hair, but do I need a billboard saying, "Stare at this train-wreck, right up here folks. It's creepy, so cop a gawk."?

[FlGuy]

A doc told me that the hairopenia aspect of tx is not just losing hair.  It's that hair shafts themselves get thinner.  So although you may not see it in the drain you may be losing volume anyway.  So, I guess it may be more noticable for those who have thin hair (generally blones and lighter shades) than for those with coarser/darker/thicker hair.  

Vanity, thy name is HCV.  But perhaps a more pleasant discussion topic than poop color.

[sunspot]

My beard growth has slowed and I now have 2 distinct eyebrows. It ain

[go-girl]

Have any of you used NIOXIN products, shampoo & scalp treatment etc; they are supposed to be helpful. I bought some, its suggested to start using a month before tx,so thats what I'm doing, read posts that your lashed may possibly come in a little loger amd fuller, could I use those,

happy hair days

[cuteus]

I did not see a difference with the Nioxin, but my GI suggested biotin, zinc and vit e for the hairloss. It has to be done early enough in tx. Biotin particularly.

[mistybean]

I just noticed for the first time ( on tx for 14 shots) that my hair is falling out.  If I run my hand through my hair .. I get strands of blonde hair in my hands.  This is a bummer because I have thin hair to begin with.  Well.. I heard it grows back.  Oh.. I did know one person on tx that did get ugly bald spots on the top of her head.

[v eggie dip]

You it's funny to me that hair is so important to people...If I were on tx and loss of hair was one of the sides it would just be an excuse to get a wig!  Maybe two or three of the suckers...It might be fun to have different hair a couple nights a week *evil grin* for my husband!  As vain as I am, and believe me vanity runs rampant in my family, I never really thought much about the hair loss when wondering about sides...

*dip in disguise*

[GoofyDad]

"If I run my hand through my hair .. I get strands of blonde hair in my hands"

Kennedy had that problem too!

[azgrl]

okay...now I just blew diet pepsi out my nose....burns.  

Deb in Az

[v eggie dip]

hahaha  now that was a good one!

*laughing dip*

[GoofyDad]

Interesting. Snorting Pepsi.

No Coke. Pepsi.

:)

[suzieq2]

I had beautiful long, blonde,healthy hair. It started falling out and becoming dry & britle at about 12 weeks. I decided not to prolong the agony and went down and had it cut boy short.One less thing to worry about.It will grow back. Absolutely no maintenance.

[Drugs Sucks]

Hair lost, well i am into the Tx for 6 month now and i have notice the lost too but i have long hair and it seem that it just Braking at the band but i know it coming from the head and i can see the boldness YUCK.......
The brush has been showing lots of hair too..

[strator]

You my man are better than tylenol!

[avidreader]

The first posting I ever did on the site was re: hair loss. I started losing hair immediately and had thin hair to start with. 4 months later I'm still losing hair and it is very thin but I must admit that most people don't notice it. I guess year's of not 'doing' or brushing my hair is paying off--people assume the weird hair is just because once again I've neglected to comb it. My doctor told me if it gets too thin to bleach it blond--not because that is good for it but because the chemical process would make the hairshafts thicker. I'm thinking of doing it white/blond and really spikey/punky--I'm 54--I figure that will scandalize enough people so that they won't have time to dwell on the scarcity of what is left. Frankly I'd much rather dwell on my hair loss then on droopy poopies! I'm glad you all are here to keep me going. Thank you.

[GoofyDad]

Careful strator, you'll just serve egg this idjit on! As Ms. Greene used to say in 4th grade, "Goofy, they're laughing AT you, not WITH you". Well she tried - bless her soul.

[go-girl]

Reminds me of my dad , he would tell me "be a spectator not a spectacle" chuckle, doesn't always work

[strator]

So the yoke is on me.

[carpedi]

A week of Procrit to anyone who can find my missing eyelashes (and the other half of my eyebrows)!
Ribbet...ribbet

[texasgal]

Hair loss is a huge issue with a lot of people on Hep C drugs.  I am one of them.  I am a geno 1a, and a non responder to Peg and Copeg, so I went on daily infergen and riba for 6 months when I finally decided that the sides were too much.  I was on the verge of not being able to work, the depression was continuing to grow and worsen, but the final straw was when I woke up one morning and my usual immensley thick, blonde beautiful mane was mostly on my pillow.  It happened so suddenly that I freaked out and naturally my mental condition on top of the horrible side effects was about all I could take.  My hair is spider web thin and every day, I look in the mirror and see this horribly thin hair.  I am hoping and praying that there is a chance that it will grow back healthy and normal.  I am on vitamins and take very good care, but I will not go in public or too many places just because of self consciousness.  I hope this doesn't sound like a major vanity issue, but I have gone thru this disease suffering anything and everything with the side effects, and vanity is all I have left.  I truly believe that the drugs are worse than the disease in my case.  Love to all!!

[friole]

Glad to see you posting. You did quit tx, correct?  I hope you are feeling better and I that your beautiful hair will recover and that there may be some hope for you with less harsh rx in the future

ps I counted 32 hairs in the shower on Tuesday and 63 on Wednesday and decided I better quit counting. LOL I am so anal.

friole

[GoofyDad]

So does that make them 'anal hairs'?

Sorry ;(

[NYgirl]

I found 15 the other day.  Thought I was going to lose it.  But yeah I counted them too - no input needed here Goofy! ;-)

[nor cal mom]

forget the hairs we want to know about how many viruses you DO NOT have in a/ ml of your blood The labs sure are slow Good Luck and let us know as soon as you find out Hey,Jack them up right now its been 2wks?  Darc

[texasgal]

yes, i stopped treatment about one month ago, and as of that time, my viral load was less than 50.  That really doesn't mean anything.  The true test will be the next three months to see if the virus stays away.  All I can do is hope for the best.  As far as counting the hairs in the shower, there were too many to count.  I am talking a handful.  You could easily make a barbie from what I pulled out of the shower. It is hell waiting for it to grow back, but as you all know, time is everything.

Linda

[friole]

goof - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Nor Cal - Can you belive - it has been 14 days since the PCR and I still don't have the results.  I parked myself at LabCorp yesterday and am making a total pest of myself at the GI's office and labcorp.  I am so sick of fighting with these people to get my results.  Frankly I am expecting a call tomorrow that says, sorry we didn't suck enough blood - please come back.  I do so want to post my results but.......

Now, here is an interesting factoid for all ------ there is ANC and there is ANC. I wait for my CBC labs at the hemo doc -- Last week my ANC was at .5 (500) and the nurse said  to come in today and if it was still low it's Neupogen for me.  Well, this week it is still .5, but she prints off last weeks CBC and the ANC is .8.  They did a "manual" count after I got the initial ANC result and it was higher.  So, this weeks is probably higher too, but I am just tired of fighting all of this and will do the shot on Monday. (and yes, Cougar, I am one of those)

friole

[GoofyDad]

Nuep is where it's at for me. Worked like a charm and with no sx. We just decided to space me out to 10-12 days and see what happens since 7 day intervals has ANC over 2K.

Also going to space out the procrit since I've got one in the furnace (injected Monday) and I'm holding at hgb 10.5. The one in the furnace has a ways before we'll see it's affects.

Hint: I do my labs at the hospital outpatient clinic and have the CBC results in about 3 hours.  

[go-girl]

Highjacking to skin-------Is the idea to get a moisturizer without alcohol in it because of drying out the skin? I se mentioned here often AVEENO I checked it out today and some have ctydel alcohol (not spelled right) which the gal told me was a cosmetic alcohol and then one other had something like bendrl alcohol, again spelled wrong, she didn't know what that was. I didn't buy any, thought i would inquire her first which has worked the best for most of you, thanks for any info

[nyhepc]

i also go to lab directly for results. had to sign a release that's good for a year, but i do believe anybody can pick up their own results.

[jmjm530]

What lab, where, and do they give you the results on the phone or by mail? Best most of us can do is get them faxed to us if they follow the instructions written.

-- Jim

[SURVIVIN]

TO STOP  HAIR FROM FALLING OUT  during pegatron treatment  i dyed my hair dark brown  it was blondie brown highlighted so I THREW ON DARK DARK BROWN AND EVEN STREAKED IT BLACK  AND IMEDIATLY MY HAIR STOPPED BREAKING AND FALLING OUT . SERIOUSLY I WAS TOLD TO DO THIS AT THE BEGINING OF THE TREATMENT  AND I THOUGHT NO WAY THEN I LOSE IT ALL FORSURE EVEN FASTER  BUT AT END OF 6 MONTHS I WAS IN A UPSET CONDITION AS IT WAS ALMOST DOWN TO NOTHING(WELL WHAT  WAS TO ME NOTHING) SO I DID IT  AND  I WAS SO HAPPPY NO MORE HAIR FALLING OUT ITS  THICKER GROWING BACK AND IM DONE TREATMENT EVERYTHING SO FAR GOING OK  BUT BE CAREFUL THE BEST IS YET TO COME AFTER YOU FINISH   INJECTIONS AND PILLS  A VERY SCARY  DEPRESSION HITS   I GET THESE MAYBE FOR  5 TO 30 MINS  3 OR 4 TIMES A WEEK (*ONE TIME FOR 6 HOURS ) BUT HOLY WHEN IT HITS NOTHING CAN BRING YOU OUT OF THIS IT IS SO HARSH IT SCARS ME  I HAVE TO BE TALKING TO SOMEONE AT THE SECOND I FEEL THIS BECAUSE ITS LIKE NOTHING IVE EVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE AND IM CLINIQLY DEPRESSED FOR YEARS  NOW AND THIS IS ZERO COMPARED  NO WONDER THERE IS A HIGH SUICIDE RAte  from this stuff  now i know why  ~!! also more side affects comming off  as i go but im survivin!                    cheers

[SURVIVIN]

DYEING YOUR HAIR DARK PUTS A PROTECTANT ON HAIR AND MAKES IT STRONGER AND HAS LESS BREAKAGE  I GUARENTEE IT OR YOUR MONEY BACK !!AND FOR YOU WHO THINK DYING IT OR SHOULD I SAY STRIPIN IT TO BLOND THINK AGAIN  ..ADDD NOT   WEAKEN PEEPS
I WISH  ALL  THE BEST !!TAKE IT EASY

[cuteus]

it was answered in C3 and C42, why wouldn't it grow back? It is the same as with your red cells, they come back to normal, most everything does.

[yaso]

Did someone has his hair back after treatment ? why there is no clear answer ?

[rusty_bawa2000]

My hair started to fall out at about 90 days into my 24 weeks treatment. I shaved my head and started applying emu oil twice a day. Also I discontinued use of "non-organic" hair products, kept the hat on most of the time and the hair started to grow back. It should grow back, eventually.

[elaine french]

try this. 1/4 cup mix virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoon honey and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.  leave on your head for 15 min. wash as usual. stay away from harsh shampoo's, hairspary etc.

[nmb93435]

Hi again,

I just read through all your comments and I have a couple of comments.  As I implied in my last post, I went off treatment about a year ago and have done a decent amount of research on these issues, so I feel fairly qualified to address many of your questions and concerns.

WHY HAIR BECOMES CHEMICALLY DAMAGED & FALLS OUT:
Hair falling out during HCV treatment is a medical condition known as Anagen Effluvium.  Essentially, this treatment is a form of chemotherapy, meaning that medication is injected into the body it kill cancerous cells.  Since the purpose of taking this medication is to kill the bad cells, it's not all that surprising that some good cells are killed in the process.  

Hair follicles are critically affected by the drugs during Anagen, which is the natural growth phase of hair--that is to say, when new hair is being produced. The medication poisons and kills the hair follicles just as it is intended to poison and kill the cancerous cells that are produced by Hepatitis.

DOES ANEMIA HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH HAIR LOSS?
I do not believe that anemia significantly affects the hair loss that is experienced during treatment.  I am naturally anemic and have had to take supplements to solve this problem, so while I was doing my treatment, I continued to take Iron and Vitamin C (which helps your blood absorb the Iron).  Every month, I was tested for anemia during my monthly blood test.  I did not test positive for anemia at any point during this time.  However, I did experience what I believed to be fairly significant hair loss.

[diane510]

IS IT WORTH IT?   DOES YOU HAIR GROW BACK HEALTHY?  I HAVE NOT STARTED THE INJECTION'S YET.   I AM SCARED.  I LIKE THIS SIGHT, BUT I THINK I WILL DO OK.

[Surfermike]

I have been off treatment for Hep c now for 20 months and still have thin on the top of my head. It seems like i noticed it towards the end of my treatment and it still has not grown back yet? Has anybody else had this same problem, and is there hope that my hair will get thicker on top again?

Thanks,
Mike

P.S. I took a high dose for one year. A shot once a week and pills twice a day. I guess it was Interfereon and Ribovrin. I am still showing that the Hep C is gone, so there is hope that the treatment does work.