Femara And Return Of Hair After Chemo

I just completed 4 months of chemotherapy, am still getting Herceptin till the end of November and have now been told to start on Femara.  With the chemo I lost all my body hair; the NHS did not provide any information about the possibilty to prevent that.  At the moment some of the hair - lashes, eyebrows - is starting to return, but when I collected my Femara I noticed that one of the side effects is hair loss too.  Will that mean that I will not get my hair back at all? ( I have been told that I will probably be on medication for the rest of my life). 

Hi Mietie,

I take Femara after taking Tamoxofin for two years after treatment.  So far, now 5 years out from treatment, I am cancer free.  Most likely, you probably won't experience hair loss from the Femara.  I did, but I understand the chances are low.  My hair was almost to my shoulders again after chemo.  When I started Femara, I had a slow thinning and loss of lustre of my hair.  It got bad enough that I had to get a short haircut again, which I wasn't happy about.  But, my body must be adjusting to the Femara, because my hair is growing back in and is almost back to normal, not quite, but good enough!  My breast cancer is hormone receptor positive.  Your's must be both negative and positive?...because of taking Herceptin and then Femara???

Don't worry too much about the chance of hair loss with Femara...it probably won't happen to you...even if it did...we are still here.  Best of luck to you with your treatment.  Keep your chin up and enjoy every day with or without hair.

Best Regards, Linda Lou

I have been on Femara for 4 years. I have some thinning at the front hairline, but that might be inherited. My Mom and Grandmother both had thin hair at age 60.

Other than sore joints, I have had no other symptoms.

 

 

On 2/27/2008 Linda Lou wrote:

Hi Mietie,

I take Femara after taking Tamoxofin for two years after treatment.  So far, now 5 years out from treatment, I am cancer free.  Most likely, you probably won't experience hair loss from the Femara.  I did, but I understand the chances are low.  My hair was almost to my shoulders again after chemo.  When I started Femara, I had a slow thinning and loss of lustre of my hair.  It got bad enough that I had to get a short haircut again, which I wasn't happy about.  But, my body must be adjusting to the Femara, because my hair is growing back in and is almost back to normal, not quite, but good enough!  My breast cancer is hormone receptor positive.  Your's must be both negative and positive?...because of taking Herceptin and then Femara???

Don't worry too much about the chance of hair loss with Femara...it probably won't happen to you...even if it did...we are still here.  Best of luck to you with your treatment.  Keep your chin up and enjoy every day with or without hair.

Best Regards, Linda Lou

Thanks Linda for the quick response.  it is not so much loss of hair I am worried about; I do not have my hair back yet after chemo - it did not even start to come back as I am still suffering of the effects of the Taxol I had - I just wonder if it will have a chance to come back with having to start on the Femara immediately.  I know it is for the best: my tumour was oestrogen, progesteron and HR  (  is that what it is called, I am not sure!) receptive and it was the second time I had it, but the idea of never getting my hair back is very unattractive as I can not wear a wig without getting a headache.  I suppose I'll just have to wait and see and hope for the best.  At least your hair came back when still being on treatment and that gives me hope.

Take care of yourself, and thank you again for finding the time to think about me,  all the very best,

Annemarie

 

Hello Mietie Have you ever considered using Avemar. There have been many studies done on it now and it has been showing great results with many cancers especially breast. It is a completely natural substance with no side effects. I have used it personally.http://www.cancercompass.com/cancer-news/1,12705,00.htm http://www.rejuvenation-science.com/avemar.html http://www.avemarresearch.com/TOC.html http://www.thehealthierlife.co.uk/article/3603/reduce-cancer Copyright (C) 2007 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved In clinical cancer trials, Avemar was shown to reduce the progression of disease in patients with head and neck cancers, colorectal cancer, and malignant melanoma of the skin. The quality of life of patients with breast cancer or lung cancer improved significantly (P < 0.05) after supportive treatment with Avemar: improvements in the global state of health and fatigue were observed in lung cancer patients, and improvements in physical and emotional function, the global state of health, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, and constipation were observed in breast cancer patients. Clinical studies of the efficacy of Avemar in the treatment of other cancers are ongoing. However, observational data indicate that this wheat germ extract has favorable effects on ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, thyroid cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple myeloma. "The therapeutic spectrum of Avemar is much wider than it had been thought some years ago." Avemar (Wheat Germ Extract) Avemar is the new wonder-alternative cancer treatment / adjuvant therapy for boosting the immune system and fighting cancer. "Research at UCLA has demonstrated that Avemar reduces glucose flow into the cancer cells.  Cancer cells can evade NK [natural killer] cells by masking their outer membrane with a special substance that the NK cells recognize as 'normal.'  Avemar suppresses the release of this masking substance -- allowing NK cells to better target and kill the cancer cells."  Avemar's immune-stimulating ability appears to be so powerful that it can be useful in helping to restore even the most severely compromised immune systems.

On 2/27/2008 Mietie wrote:

I just completed 4 months of chemotherapy, am still getting Herceptin till the end of November and have now been told to start on Femara.  With the chemo I lost all my body hair; the NHS did not provide any information about the possibilty to prevent that.  At the moment some of the hair - lashes, eyebrows - is starting to return, but when I collected my Femara I noticed that one of the side effects is hair loss too.  Will that mean that I will not get my hair back at all? ( I have been told that I will probably be on medication for the rest of my life). 

 

On 2/27/2008 Mietie wrote:

I just completed 4 months of chemotherapy, am still getting Herceptin till the end of November and have now been told to start on Femara.  With the chemo I lost all my body hair; the NHS did not provide any information about the possibilty to prevent that.  At the moment some of the hair - lashes, eyebrows - is starting to return, but when I collected my Femara I noticed that one of the side effects is hair loss too.  Will that mean that I will not get my hair back at all? ( I have been told that I will probably be on medication for the rest of my life). 

 

I suggest you look at the scientific work (not the advertising) on Japanese mushroom extract, which I understand is used as an adjunct almost universally by patients on chemotherapy in Japan (except for blood cancer patients). I have taken AHCC+ with chemotherapy for nine months and have had no significant hair loss or nausea.

The mushrooms are an old folk remedy in Japan and seem to have some enzymes in them that have a number of benefits not only for mushrooms but also for people. For example, they boost the observed activity within natural killer cells. AHCC+ and other such preparations have standardized doses. I curently take three 1,000 mg capsules a day and will drop to one a day when symptoms are entirely gone.

The mushroom extract is not a cure and not a substitute for medical treatment, but do appear to have some real benefits. There has been no little or no research on this in the United States, but there is a medical society in Japan with about 300 physician members.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll see if I can find this here in the U.K.  It is not always easy to get alternative medication here, it is very much disencouraged, but it is certainly worth trying!

Most mainstream treatment centers are not aware of the use of oleander extract as a stand alone or complimentary medicine for cancer treatment, with a notable exception being MD Anderson in Houston where one of their most respected researchers, Doctor Robert Newman has led and participated in many studies of oleander and it's cardiac glycosides and long chain polysacharrides.

A medicine made from oleander, now patented and known as Anvirzel, has been used successfully for thousands of cancer patients outside the US for over 40 years now.  In the US, it is available via FDA exception rule from the Salud Integral clinic in Honduras.  It is also available as a dietary supplement named Sutherlandia OPC from South Africa (which actually contains 80% oleander extract and 20% extract of the South Africa Cancer Bush, aka sutherlandia frutescens).

When used as complementary medicine with chemo, oleander either eliminates or greatly lessens all known side effects, including hair loss.  The sole exception I am aware of is that it does not eliminate hair loss when the chemo drug of choice is Cisplatin.

Another feature of oleander is that it is almost unheard of for cancer to ever return for those who have beaten cancer and take it as a preventive.  I have no doubt that the fact an aqueous extract of oleander was found in European studies in 1986-87 to have fully six times the immune stimulating activity of the most potent patented immune stimulators known to man.

If that sounds too good to be true, that is exactly what I thought a few years and thousands of hours of research ago.  I found out that it is even more impressive than I have indicated here.  In fact, I was so impressed that I ended up writing a book about it (I am a natural health author, advocate and researcher) and, for the past three plus years I have also hosted a non-commercial Yahoo informational health group about it where we have hundreds of members and every one is still alive and doing well.

I am not trying to sell my book or solicit new group members, but I do suggest that you do some research and educate yourself about it - it is one of the many wonders that nature has to offer for cancer and other serious illness.  Your hair may thank you for it!

I've been on Femara for 4 years and have not suffered any hair loss nor any other adverse side effects.  Some women do suffer from joint pains etc. from reading the feed back but it is not like the chemo you are on.  Good luck!

Hey Mietie,

I finished chemo in October and due to complication from chemo side effects didn't start femara until Dec.  I had lost all body hair too.  My eyebrows were the first to start growing.  I barely had hair on my head when I started but it slowly has come back.  So hopefully yours will too.

The only side effect I have experienced is joint pain.  Its not terrible but the mornings are a little tough.  In comparison to chemo-its a piece of cake.