Hair Loss

[avidreader]

I know this is trivial but I'm interested in something my Doctor suggested. I'm in the early stages of treatment and color my hair. My doctor has said that hair dye will contribute to my hair loss but that actually bleaching it seems to help--both for real and appearance wise. I'm wondering if anyone else had heard this/had it suggested to them. By the way--this is a GREAT forum--I've been lurking for monthes and it is the best one I've found. I appreciate all of your (un-knowing) support as I explored my options and began Pegasys treatment.

[annette40]

Hello all, I am new, but not new to hep c. have it for 21 yrs now. female, 40 yrs old.

I tried the interferon in 95, for only 3 months  i tolerated like ****. my hair is med to good thickness, naturally but for 5 years after , i had the prettiest spiral type of curl to it! Now it is gone straight again, and pretty grey. lol. it can be so different for different people, depending on medication.

[Forseegood]

Just thought I'd throw my two cents in. I'm going to be going on treatment in the fall. Presently I color my hair with these new dyes that have almost no amonia in them, they are more heavy tints. I'm pretty grey now naturally. Well, if I put anything on my hair like this, I lose hair. When I go au natural it's much thicker. Personally, I know that if I continue to tint my hair through tx I'll lose it in handfuls, and I'm sorry to admit, I'm pretty vain. Plus, I dont want the toxins. I have heard some women tell me that they continued coloring and they were okay. Once again, everyone's different. Just hope I don't end up looking like Uncle Fester anyway, best of luck to all.

[Jane_s]

PLease can someone answer me this then... all my life I have had corkscrew curls that I hated and would have done anything for stright hair. Now 3 months post 48 week treatment my hair is virtually dead straight and half as thick, apparently something that can happen. My hairdresser is great with cutting in is styles to give it a bit of body/volume but she did tell me it sould take a while to grow back curly or it may never grow back curly. I neve thought I'd say this but I WANT MY CURLS BACK. Can anyone tell me what my chances are that they will come back (maybe its so I can feel a little more like my old self)?

Cheers

[avidreader]

It's nice to talk about hair for a change instead of all the more serious and sometimes disheartening stuff. Jane--most of the people I know who have been through treatment have ended up with straighter hair, but I ran into an old friend last week who had finished about 3 mos ago and her formerly very straight hair is now thicker and curlier then it has ever been. Go figure. I think I've lost about 30% volume and I'm early in treatment so I'm obsessing about what the coming months will bring so I won't obsess about what my counts will be at 12 weeks. I think for now I'll continue to color just try and stretch the time between dye jobs--that way when I can't stand the sight of me anymore I'll have the spikey bleached blond look to shock and awe with. The good news for me is that the pegasys/copeg diet is working wonders--much better then Weight Watchers, exercise, slim-fast et al. ;-) I may end up looking like **** for a while, but it will be svelte ****!!!

[doll face]

I went through two rounds of tx and colored my hair through both. It was suggested that I should use a semi-permanate dye but I never did. (too grey) I did lose about 50% of volume during tx but cut my hair to shoulder length so it would look fuller. After tx, within a few months it grew back just fine. A little straighter than normal, but at least it grew back.

[jevs2]

I lost about half my hair during tx and it was very fine to start with. Also went very straight and about 2 shades lighter. All is back to normal now.
Best wishes
Joanna

[InevitableSVR]

For the men on this forum, who has used Propecia/finasteride and/or minoxidil (5%) before, during or after treatment to try to prevent hair loss?  Is either one toxic to the liver?

[bon_vivant]

OUCH... you sure he didn't get that backwards???

Bleach is not only damaging, but it is also drying to the scalp, & dry skin, & hair is already an sx for some.

I was told it is okay to use those Non-permanate hair die's as they don't have amonnia in them.... but I just went al-la-natural.... my hair turned color on it's own last time... so now I am just waiting on that Slate Gray to return.

I did get a recent perm when I was up in Alaska because I was so scraggly & my better half insisted..... it looks good, gave me some volume back, & no hair loss so far & that's been like a month or so ago now...
:)
Vicki

[cougareyes]

I just retired from being a hairstylist for 20 years. I never connected coloring hair contributing to more hair loss during medication. I've had clients on all sorts of meds including chemo. But you do have to pay extra attention to the condition of your hair, since you're bleaching I'm sure you already know that.
One warning: medications get deposited into the hair, and after a while can cause unpredictable color results. Especially when lightening the hair. Suggest to your stylist to clarify your hair prior to color app(if he's not already doing it), this will remove the med deposit.
You may have read all sorts of reports about hair color causing cancer and the likes, we professional hairstylists have never seen anything of the sorts. I've had friends carry thier babies from conception to the day before their birth, and these children and all the stylists I have ever worked with are all fine. These drug testing reports were from injecting hair color into the bodies of lab animals, hardly an accurate comparison.
I don't know about you, but I feel bad enough on tx, and if trying to look better makes me feel better, I'm doing it.

[artgal]

Maybe the spikey white look will do the trick! My stylist (when I questioned him prior to tx) said it would be no problem to continue to highlight as the bleach does not touch the scalp. I had mine done right before beginning treatment (I'm on shot #12 tonight of 24). If I can, I'll wait until after tx since I'm doing the shorter series of shots. BUT I am a firm believer in the theory that whatever helps one to feel and look better makes a huge difference in attitude. So I think if you are comfortable with it, do whatever makes you feel good! I make a point to do "little kindnesses" for  myself while on these toxic drugs -- buy my favorite almond butter, use a special skin cream, invest in new art materials, etc.... Take care of yourself!

[chellski]

I have veeeeery short white blonde/spiky hair -but only bleach about every 4-5 months - i actually like the roots and white ends look...my hair has been fine and healthy so far during tx.

[mauka]

I almost shaved my head prior to treatment....
hopefully I will be set :)

[Laika]

I was concerned about losing hair and whether or not I should continue to highlight thru my treatment.  Although I'm 58, I don't have grey hair, so I occasionally have it highlighted (done with foil) to give it a little volume and brightness.  I think I've had it done 2 X so far on treatment...obviously, bleach is used, but it doesn't touch the scalp.  I don't think my hairdresser clarified.  There was no change in the results.

The texture of my hair doesn't seem drier, but I use softened well water and live in FL, where it is unbelievably humid at present.  I am losing more of it, at week 20 of 24.  Every morning I brush all the knots out and my hairbrush is full of hair.  I don't have much longer to go, so not a big deal.  It looks like I'm losing so much when I look at the hairbrush, but when I look in the mirror, I don't see much difference.

Just my story,
Laika

[avidreader]

clarification: I go darker then my true color so medically induced color change isn't going to be an issue, but hair loss most definitely is and my hair was very thin to begin with. I have never bleached my hair but now my doc is suggesting I discontinue the color and bleach it. I kind of like the idea of going spikey/white blond--I'm 54 years old and it will drive the teenagers in my life crazy, but common sense tells me that despite what the doc said bleaching has to be even more stressful the coloring. Oh well.

[bon_vivant]

Oh Goody, We have another stylist on board.... now we can get some professional advice!

Yea when I talked to the girl that did my hair, I explained everything & she clarified me first. Looking better does make you feel better on TX..... Last year everytime I got breakage, ect... I wouldn't even go to the salon, I used to put it all in a pony tail on top of my head & chop it off... giving me that old time Gypsy Shag Look.....

It's a wonder I looked so scraggly.... he said after my visit to the salon that I looked 210% better!
:)