11 replies to this topic

[cometbro]

Hi, my eyebrows have been thinning to the point were people look at me and say there's something different about me but can't pinpoint what.  I'm at the 6 month mark of Tasigna and was wondering if anybody has been having this issue.  I'm afraid they will get very thin or completely fall off.  Will it keep thinning out, stay steady, or regrow?  They are always kind of itchy too.  Thanks.

[jrsboo]

Dear Comet,

At this thursday's bone marrow, my onc also talked about how thin my eyebrows were, and how it was usually a side effect of Tasigna, not the Sprycel I was on.  Apparently, she is in contact with the drug companies and all my weird side effects are being reported.

Borrow some of your wife's eyebrow pencil and just make tiny replacement hair like marks, don't fill in the all the blank spaces.  Onc said that the hair grows back after about 6 months.

Caroline

[Trey]

Have you looked under the sofa cushions?  Maybe near the lost Cheetos.

Hair loss can reverse after time, and often the hair re-grows.  This is an issue related to TKI drugs inhibiting c-Kit and maybe PDGFR, which are necessary for proper follicle function.  The TKIs make the follicles act weird, and also make them itch.

Do TKI drugs make Cheetos fall out of the bag and lodge under the sofa cushions?  Maybe it is the inhibition of yellow number 6.

[cometbro]

Thanks for the responses, it just feels like recently in the last couple of weeks that i've been losing them, that I've noticed at least.  It feels like they are trying to crawl out of my face.  Thanks.

[VickiW]

Yep, had the same thing happen on Gleevec (nearly lost them entirely).  They grew back on Sprycel, to a point, but now are grey like Billie's.  I can also relate to the itchy part!  Tends to come and go on Sprycel but definitely still there!  Oh just a side note.  On Gleevec I lost most of the hair on my arms and legs and it never came back at all on my arms/hands and only slightly on my legs!  (Not such a bad thing for a female~hehehe)

[cometbro]

Hey vwoyak, just curious, how long did it take on Gleevec to lose almost all your eyebrows?

[VickiW]

Actually, my hair, in ,many places, sigh, started falling out almost immediately but that might have been because I was in ICU for a week after dxd and on some heavy chemo drugs.  This probably "jump started" things.  However my hair, including my eyebrows, kept falling out the whole time I was on Gleevec.  Fortunately, at least on my head, it also kept growing back so I never went completely bald, just had very thin hair always with all these short, new hairs sticking up everywhere, .  I never completely lost my eyebrows but it came very close.  Even now I have 1/2 brows, like I get too carried away tweezing the sides and the top is a pretty thin line.

[PhilB]

One famous UK politician lost her eyebrows completely due to over-zealous plucking and had replacements tattooed on.  That could be an option to consider.  Another alternative may be to train a suitable pair of caterpillars, but it can be quite hard to get whips and chairs that small.

Phil

[Lynne D]

I've been on Gleevec for 6 years, I go through phases of losing hair. My eyebrows have thinned a lot (considering mine usually look like the 80's Brook Shields) My eye lashes too. I have all the funky symptoms. It used to piss me off and it still does sometimes but I guess it could be worse. Yesterday my skin slothed off. Like a snake just shed. My body temp. alw\ays runs low too, about 96.7 normal. 

[everonward]

HI there

Initially on Hydroxy my hair thinned out quite a lot - much to my hairfressers delight, but it has since grown back albeit with slightly different characteristics, it now has a tendency to frizz.

I also lost most of my eye lashes and eye brows. The lashes have grown back but nowhere near as long as they once were, thank heavens for mascara. The eye brows have also made a bit of a recovery - not bushy but there. They have also come back so pale (I am blonde originally) that they are almost invisible. So I have them shaped and dyed professionally which both helps and gives me an excuse for a bit of pampering.

[hannibellemo]

Hi, everonward,

I also experienced loss of hair on legs and underarms on hydroxyurea (I don't remember about my arms), but it returned to normal on Gleevec. Like Vicki, on Sprycel I've lost the hair on my arms and I seldom have to shave my legs or under my arms, now. Not that I'm complaining!

Pat

[jsmiddiebrush]

My husband has been on Tasigna for about a year and 3 months.  He lost most, not all, of the hair on his arms and legs.  Maybe some thinning of the hair on his head, but its not very noticable.  Is that from Tasigna or because he's a male in his late 40s?  Hard to know.   Eyebrows seem normal although I confess I don't pay that much attention to them.  But I do like the thought of training caterpillars to sit up there!