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When did hair loss start with Abraxone/Gecitabine chemo?

Posted by Marsha @gmapri, Jan 26 1:47pm

Have had 2 rounds with 3rd coming Friday. Getting mixed messages about the likihood of hair loss. Was going to be pro-active, get a short cut and fit for a wig. Now I am not sure if I should wait and see what happens. What has been your experience. If you did lose, how long after beginning treatment, especially if this combo of drugs.

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cbeard1 | @cbeard1 | 2 days ago
In reply to @sheridanb "@cbeard1 I can relate... my husband had a beard for our 46 + years. That was..." + (show)
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@cbeard1 I can relate... my husband had a beard for our 46 + years. That was gone. And he also commented that his nose dripped all the time because there was no longer any nose hair to catch the drips. Some of the mets were in his lungs, so maybe that caused more mucus? His beard did start regrowing when he got off treatments, but Dan lost his battle before it became full again.

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@sheridanb Thank you for sharing, and so sorry for your loss. 🙁

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kakalena | @kakalena | 1 day ago
In reply to @cbrl "@corieg Hi, I have been on Gem+Abraxane since 10/10/26, starting with 3 weeks on/1 week off...." + (show)
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@corieg Hi, I have been on Gem+Abraxane since 10/10/26, starting with 3 weeks on/1 week off. Lost my hair after second treatment. Heartbreaking. After 4 months, I was so sick, not one good day. They switched me to every other week, and I feel much better. A little life back in my life. I also see my hair coming back a bit. Is yours still growing? I don’t want to get my hopes up that I’ll get my hair back, but they are rising. No brows or lashes to speak of yet. I had been on FOLFIRINOX in 2019, which got me to SBRT radiation, which got me 7 years. So grateful. But the pancreatic beast is back, metastasized. I must say it would make me very happy to get my hair back. Looking forward to hearing if anyone else might have had hair growth on every other week Gem+Abraxane.

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@cbrl
I had 2 weeks on, one week off. By 4th treatment the hair started falling out. Was on gem/brax for 6 months, and hair didn't start back for 3 months after treatment was done. Now, 12 mo. after it fell out, I have Curly hair. Kind of fun.

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kakalena | @kakalena | 1 day ago

Meant to say, there are lots of hats out there and you can put all your hair care products and tools away for awhile. I recommend night caps for sleeping.

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Marsha | @gmapri | 1 day ago
In reply to @kakalena "Meant to say, there are lots of hats out there and you can put all your..." + (show)
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Meant to say, there are lots of hats out there and you can put all your hair care products and tools away for awhile. I recommend night caps for sleeping.

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@kakalena
It is nice to be able to put those things away & someone sent night caps that are very helpful! I actually lost my hair after round 3.

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cbrl | @cbrl | 1 day ago

Thank you for your replies. I had put all my hair things away, but recently discovered I can use my round brush hairdryer to style my wig. That was a fun discovery. I also got a baseball hat with hair attached, as well as a headband/ ponytail wig. I sleep in a soft hat because my head gets so cold. All of this said, it does look like my hair is slowly coming back with my new chemo schedule (switched from 3 on/1 off to every other week). I will never be able to get off chemo, but I'm slowly becoming cautiously optimistic about my hair. Has anyone had a similar experience of hair growth while still on Gem/Abraxane? Any bit of normalcy in life is huge these days.

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baravelli | @baravelli | 1 day ago
In reply to @cbrl "@corieg Hi, I have been on Gem+Abraxane since 10/10/26, starting with 3 weeks on/1 week off...." + (show)
Profile picture for cbrl @cbrl

@corieg Hi, I have been on Gem+Abraxane since 10/10/26, starting with 3 weeks on/1 week off. Lost my hair after second treatment. Heartbreaking. After 4 months, I was so sick, not one good day. They switched me to every other week, and I feel much better. A little life back in my life. I also see my hair coming back a bit. Is yours still growing? I don’t want to get my hopes up that I’ll get my hair back, but they are rising. No brows or lashes to speak of yet. I had been on FOLFIRINOX in 2019, which got me to SBRT radiation, which got me 7 years. So grateful. But the pancreatic beast is back, metastasized. I must say it would make me very happy to get my hair back. Looking forward to hearing if anyone else might have had hair growth on every other week Gem+Abraxane.

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@cbrl I was on the same chemo every 2 weeks. I do not remember the dose but was dx as Stage 1. so I assume I had a much lower dose than other higher stages. My hair loss started after my 3rd chemo so I got a buzz cut. Never lost lashes or eyebrows. I had 6 chemos then Whipple surgery. Then 6 more chemo after the Whipple. My hair started growing back about a month to 6weeks after my last chemo. I was able to stop wearing my wig and had my first hair cut at 6mos as it was the same length all over and it needed a trim in order to style it. It is a little lighter than it was but the texture took a while to get back to normal I've never used a conditioner prior to chemo but it has been very helpful post chemo. I wish you all the best on this journey. The picture I'm posting is 18mos after my last chemo and only had my bangs trimmed at this point.

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cbrl | @cbrl | 22 hours ago
In reply to @baravelli "@cbrl I was on the same chemo every 2 weeks. I do not remember the dose..." + (show)
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@cbrl I was on the same chemo every 2 weeks. I do not remember the dose but was dx as Stage 1. so I assume I had a much lower dose than other higher stages. My hair loss started after my 3rd chemo so I got a buzz cut. Never lost lashes or eyebrows. I had 6 chemos then Whipple surgery. Then 6 more chemo after the Whipple. My hair started growing back about a month to 6weeks after my last chemo. I was able to stop wearing my wig and had my first hair cut at 6mos as it was the same length all over and it needed a trim in order to style it. It is a little lighter than it was but the texture took a while to get back to normal I've never used a conditioner prior to chemo but it has been very helpful post chemo. I wish you all the best on this journey. The picture I'm posting is 18mos after my last chemo and only had my bangs trimmed at this point.

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@baravelli Thank you, you look great! So glad you are through your treatment and surgery. Praying you continue to do well.

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mcharlesfrancis | @mcharlesfrancis | 21 hours ago

did 18 weeks of the triplet (Gemcitabine, Abraxane, and Cisplatin) — 2 weeks on, 1 week off. After just a couple of treatments the hair loss started, and by about week 4 I had lost all my hair — head, eyebrows, even nose and body hair. My wife said I looked like a baby.

The good news is it all came back. It started growing back about 6 weeks after treatment ended — slowly at first — and it actually came back a little different, with some waves I never had before.

That was over 7 years ago.

Just sharing in case it helps someone going through it — it can feel pretty shocking, but it doesn’t last forever.

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