Hep C Discussion Forum

I want to add an additional comment to this conversation. It has been a month since my last post to this thread and I've noticed a quick change in my hair growth. My hair didn't fall out in patches, like several here described. Normally my hair is real thick and treatment noticeably thinned it out. My beard also changed from bushy to coarse and straight. All of that seems to be in a correction mode and looks like it will be closer to what it was, instead of what it had become. At least something is returning to normal!!  

I lost a lot of hair in the beginning, i would say 2nd/3rd month was bad. I am still leaving a trail of hair..but its not as bad. I do my best to treat and condition it to keep it as healthy as i can. I guess as long as am on treatment, i will continue to loose some. I seem to loose most of my front hair, so i just braid some loose plaits and pull a cute beanie on. Thank the Lord for winter and hats ! i don't have to worry about my hair for now. 

I also lost a lot of hair during treatment. I noticed it was happening around week 8 and it increased throughout Tx. I would say that a good estimate would be 40-50%. One additional note is that I've always had a full beard and I really lost my facial hair fast. For my family, they thought that my facial hair loss and my complete loss of skin color (very pale) made me look the worst during Tx.

I'm also curious about the weight loss people experienced during Tx? I weighed myself at the start of treatment: 254 lbs and again at the end of treatment: 200 lbs. A 54 lb loss over 28 weeks. I needed to lose weight but that was a harsh weight loss program! I didnt do anything other than try to stay active, which amounted to short walks throughout Tx. I had to eat at least 3 times per day because Victrelis required it. I never ate a lot but enough, plus I would try to eat ice cream daily for the caloric increase (and because I love it, lol!) What about the rest of you?

sarah,

i concur w/ everyone about noticing lots of shedding hair by 3 month mark. at 1st i believed i would just shave it all off & get a wig,even posted a comment about it. well it got a lot worse w/ the itching & rash.i guess i lost about 1/3 of my hair,but this is my 2nd round of treatment. my hair never fully recovered the 1st time for baldness runs on my mom's side. at 1st i went to dermo & used topicort which was too strong for me. about a month ago i got a free consult from a specialist who only deals w/ chemo, aids, and hcv patients . here's what he recommended & it worked!!!!! twice a week do a regimen of the following;clarifying shampoo to exfoliate dead skin, selson blue or tea tree oil shampoo and a lavender mint moisturizing conditioner. in addition cut off all split ends. now voila i feel pretty again !!!!! in my honest opinion if we shave our heads the itchy rash doesn't disappear and a wig will only make our scalps hotter.

keep us posted you may come up w/ a better solution. remember it's all worth it to be hcv free.

sandy,ucbgal

hi there, i started losing my hair after about the 11th week into it. i would stand over the loo every morning and brush handfuls out. it was all over the house.

its very thin now and hasn't started growing back yet. i've tried to keep it long and wear it back in a ponytail, but i see i'll need to get whats left of the long strands cut this week. The pony tail is now a rats tail. i tried on wigs but they looked really goofy in my op. they were tight also on my sensitive head.

i have great faith it will grow back in time.

happy thanksgiving all!

Hi Sarah,

Hair loss is common, but you don't end up with bald patches. Usually you notice more hair in the shower or comb amd it never becomes extreme. Don't worry, it grows back rapidly a few weeks after finishing the Riba. Cheers.