10/31/19: Cycle 4 Side Effects

My hair is definitely thinning. It may not be noticeable to others yet, but it's happening. I've always had a lot of hair, so every time I shower or brush my hair, I'm used to hair coming out. That's normal for me. When my scalp started feeling sensitive last week, I actually had not noticed an increase in the amount of hair in my hairbrush. But when gathering my hair like for a ponytail, it felt thinner.

The real evidence came after a shower on Saturday. We have a drain cover to catch hair. It slows down the water drainage, so I can't clean the catch right away, I have to wait until all the water drains out first. Ken was the first to look after all the water drained, and he came to me, looking a little concerned, and said very sympathetically that there was WAY more hair than usual in the drain.

I guess I've gotten off easy so far with side effects. If this is it, it is what it is.

On Monday, I saw for myself. If I so much as touched my hair, strands came out. I took a shower, and yep, WAY more hair than usual came out with my comb.

On Tuesday morning, this is what one single pass of my hairbrush through my hair looked like.

As if that weren't traumatic enough, this is what one single pass of my comb after a shower looked like today.

My hair even feels lighter, as if I got a hair cut. Frankly, when I look at how much hair is in the trash, I can't believe there's any left on my head.

Others in Facebook support groups have posted photos of their hair falling out in thick clumps, so again, I guess I can consider myself lucky. My scalp is still sensitive - it feels kind of like when you take your hair out of a super tight ponytail - so I'm guessing more hair loss is still to come.

Meanwhile, other symptoms have been consistent with previous weeks. I've still got blurry vision, a mild headache, and acne. (The vision is slightly better; I wonder if the lack of sun all week has helped.) Still seeing blood in my occasional stuffy/runny nose, and had a bit of neuropathy (tingly toes) here and there. Energy-wise, Saturday I felt good, despite not sleeping well on Friday night. Sunday I started to drag, Monday I was super tired, and Tuesday I was dragging again; on those days I'm useless after dinner. Wednesday was better, but I still felt done by dinner time. Today, Thursday, I hope I will get a good day in before starting a new cycle tomorrow.