Hi my Dad is noticing his hair is starting to fall out. It's been 11 weeks since he 'finished' treatment (35 rads and 3 chemos). It didn't fall out during treatment but he's been noticing it for a few weeks now. He was wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

Thanks in advance.
LisaB

Lisa, there's 2 kinds of hair loss. One is from the chemo and that hair will grow back. The second is from the follicles directly in the radiation field. The follicles actually die and fall out. The hair will not regrow there except fot a few stragglers here and there. I never have to shave my neck and that's 360 degree's. My hair loss wasn't symetrical either. Like 1/2 of my moustache fell out - but it grew back. Neither my wife or I can remember when this all started but I can remember smelling like a toxic waste factory from the Cisplatin for several weeks post Tx.

Thanks; well his hair on his head is falling out and it didn't during treatment.

Thanks
Lisa

I think that in most of the patients I have talked to, the loss of hair is an emotionally disturbing by-product of treatments. Whether chemo induced and returning, or radiation induced and gone forever, it is a drag no matter how you slice it, and hurts self-image. I recommend, and have heard this from many others, to buzz cut the hair down to and 1/8th or 1/4 of an inch right from the get go. Loosing hair in clumps is disturbing, seeing it in the drain, etc. and having a patch work of bald areas and hair in others in some random pattern isn

Well as long as it just comes with treatment and not anything to worry about; that's more what is bothering my Dad.

Thanks
Lisa

I was shaving my head long before I was Dx'd with cancer and a lot of women find it edgey and attractive. In fact I met my wife after I shaved my head and she's pretty easy on the eyes. Hair on men is overblown and those fake and spray can hair BS makes me want to puke. Brian's right - get a buzz cut. My barber told me many years ago that once men shave their heads they rearely go back. We set ourselves up with wierd standards of what is considered attractive. It's really an industry rather than a cultural thing anyway.

Yul Brenner- YUM YUM- Amy

Well during treatment my Dad's nice silver hair was growing in black (his natural colour) now his face hair is black. His hair didn't fall out (not that we noticed anyhow) but 'now' after treatment it is starting to. The doctors say the chemo is out of the body; so maybe it's the rad that is still working? Any comments?

Strangley enough it seemed that only the dark hairs in my beard fell out - to the point that the rad techs commented on it, but they grew back with avengence. Many people think I look better and healthier now then before treatment. I feel pretty good these days. There is definitely life after after treatment and it doesn't have to be a sh*t sandwich!

My seventy year old hubby had a gorgeous full, white beard before his treatments. He's left with a goatee....dark brown, like when I met him 35 years ago!

It's been about 8 weeks since Tom's last Cisplatin and he's just now losing hair from his head and body (most facial hair has been long gone from radiation). Does it always take so long?

We expected it much sooner and thought we were out of the woods when he didn't lose it within a couple of weeks of the last treatment. He's not upset...he wears it very short (#3 all over) and thinks he'll look "like a bad-a** with a shaved head and big scar on my neck." A pleasant surprise: his scar is barely noticeable now that his skin has healed and renewed after radiation.

Joyce

For some reason both times after Chemo/Rad I had scalp problems, showed up about a month or two after treatment ended. Used a anti-psoriasis shampoo (can't remember the name) for a few weeks and it went away. Only hair loss was from radiation field, and it eventually grew back. That was the start of my wearing my hair very short a la military buzz cut, but seems that's the style these days anyway.

And Gary, if you compare my DL photos from before and after treatment, folks think I look 10 years younger now. Go figure!

Hey Joyce it's been 4 months since my Dad finished his treatment and his hair is still thinning. It hasn't come out in clumps; it just thins, and not really all that much; but more so after treatment then during treatment.

JetAgeHobo, intersting about your scalp; my Dad has a large scab on his scalp (right where it's thinning).

LisaB, I had cisplatin and it did not affect my hair. I am wondering if your dad has had his thyroid checked, as thinning hair is one symptom of hypothyroidism. Others are being cold, being tired, and sometimes muddle minded. Persons who have had radiation are more likely to have this problem. A simple blood test is all that is necessary to see if this is what ails him.

Thanks Joanna, I'll let him know that.

This leads to a question I had on another thread that got overlooked. When I had my chemo/radiation four years ago at MDACC the usual protocol seemed to be concurrent small doses of chemo with the radiation. I had about 4 one half day chemo treatments and lost no hair and felt little or no side effects. I met a man recently with a similar diagnosis to mine who is also being treated at MDACC and he has started a long series of full day chemo sessions that will go on for several weeks before radiation starts.

For Gary and the scientifically informed here. What is up with that? Have the protocols changed? Are larger doses of chemo now being routinely used for H&N cancer?

Thanks,
Danny G.

Joanna; is it not normal for hair to fall out with cisplatin? and this far after treatment as well?

Thanks

Lisa,
A simple blood test can either rule out or confirm hypothyroidism. It is a relatively common side effect of radiation which is easily controlled with synthroid. My own thyroid failed sometime around 6 months after treatment, and I have been on the synthroid for two years. The blood work is part of my normal tests every six months now, and the prescription is one of the cheapest I have, at ~$11.00 for 90 days worth.

If this is the cause of his hair loss, then this will help clear it up along with several other annoying side effects that just generally make you feel like crap.

Good Health,

Chuck

Thanks to all who mentioned hypothyroidism. We are going to call and schedule a blood test tomorrow. None of our docs mentioned this to us.

LisaB, our MO told Tom that he would lose hair from the Cisplatin. What puzzled us is that he didn't, until now. Wishing you and your dad all the best--he's lucky to have you at bat for him!

Joyce

Thanks for the info. Ok he has a follow up in mid Nov with the RO and for bloodwork; so I'll make sure they check it.

Thanks Joyce! My Dad is great and does soooo much for us all. I'll do anything to help him.

Take care!

Hi Lisa,
Hopefully the RO did a FULL thyroid panel before he started radiation. You now need a new FULL thyroid panel done so you can compare his TSH level to what it was before he had radiation. The 'in range' levels for thyroid panels are fairly wide so you can still be in range and suffer from some side effects. I try to keep my TSH as close to what it was before radiation as possible. I get tested every three months.

Take care,
Eileen

Doesn't look like TSH has been tested (I have a copy of all bloodwork). He said his hair is not thinning anymore.

Thanks

My hair is still thinning 9 weeks post treatment. I don't know if this is from the chemo the radiation the baby (7 months) or a combo of all three. Luckily I started out with a thick head of hair, but it is still messy.

Lisa
I have 2 bold patches at the back of my head and I haven