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Hi and welcome! Hair Loss: maybe? We're all different. Getting too thin: Worry about following your surgeon's plan. Good news is most of us already broke the code on how to gain weight. Worry about how to lose down to your personal goal. The rest takes care of itself regardless of starting weight. Loose skin: Probably. Also individual and depends on genetics and age usually. Dehydration: The struggle is real for many. Fluid is KING before and after surgery. If you stay fully hydrated then it's easier to eat normally and remain nausea free and losing weight. I'm 17 months out. At 4 days I was getting my 64oz of liquids in and now I have 100+oz per day every day. Congrats on making the pre-emptive changes. I've got zero regrets. Don't be anxious!

If you eat correctly you will not have to worry about hair loss. I agree with the others, remember to eat Protein. think protein all the time, eat it first. you will not have any trouble. do you log your food each day. you must do that, lots of us use fitnesspal.com works great and you can adjust it to the calorie intake you are doing. drink lots of Water. 8 glasses each day is important. have you started an exercise program yet. walking is a good start. I go to Curves and love it. I am sure this all seems like so much to you right now. It will all become second nature to think in the key points Water, protein & exercise. Congrats to you for make this wonderful life style change! Smiles will abound!!!

My doctor Encouraged this application for lapband. So I'm going to try it out! I got acccepted for lapband about three weeks ago. I start my liquid diet in about three days and get my surgry on the 10th next month. Very nervous! I also heard about hair loss with lapband..I am worried about this! I read some about it already on here, and they say use biotin or zinc? I bought both today, is it alright to start taking these before I Even get the band?

Thank you so much for the answers! I have been taking the bariatric Vitamins and they are horrible! I didnt know I could take flintstones or another type! Im switching today! The others are not so bad but that multi... gross! I use Myfitness pal already. It always tells me I am not getting enough lol. I seriously try to eat more... God that is such odd to hear myself say!. I didnt know it would tell me about Protein however. I guess i dont have mine set up right. Ill look into adding that to my details. Does anyone know how I do this off the top of their heads? Otherwise Ill just dig in a figure it out. Im so glad to hear about the hair loss. I know its vain and should be the least of my worries but it really bothers me! Ill keep hanging in there and ill try to go easy on my head for now! looking forward to the day it stops! The pain used to happen ALL THE TIME. I did tell my dr but he said it was common as I heal. I just thought it was odd that it comes back sometimes. Ill mention it to him at my next visit Thank you al l again for writing . The support here is awesome. My family tries but they really dont get how hard this can be - emotionally hard too!! (understandably)

Great responses so far - agree with all of them. 1. Only weigh yourself once a week - your weight will fluctuate daily and it will be discouraging when you see it temporarily go up. 2. You will have stalls - they are normal. At around 3-4 weeks is when your liver will return to its normal storing of glucose, plus when the liver dumped its stores pre-op it causes dehydration - temporarily looking like more fat loss than really occurred (the pre-op diet shrinks it to help the surgeon) so a stall here is usual. Search "stalls" or "three-week stall" for more posts on this. From what I've read here, stalls will happen occasionally throughout the weight loss process but often the inches will continue to come off. It's the bodies way of taking time to adjust. 3. You didn't mention which surgery you're having. If it's gastric sleeve then initially your sleeve will be swollen so when you start on solid foods it won't hold much at all. But once the swelling goes down it will hold a little more (ounces.) Everyone is different. But don't worry, you didn't stretch your sleeve! That takes "one extra bite at a time over about a year" according to surgeon Dr. Duc Vuong. 4. I started losing right away, and write down everything I eat in a food journal. Don't ever allow fattening, unhealthy foods in again and especially not high calorie drinks - you can override the surgery and regain the weight even eating smaller portions especially if eating every couple of hours. 5. If you haven't discovered him yet, on YouTube I highly recommend watching as many of Dr. Duc Vuong's videos as possible. His breakfast green smoothie is what I've been doing since surgery and plan to continue forever. 6. When your clothes start falling off you avoid spending on new clothes - visit the local Goodwill or thrift store. You'll turn them in for smaller ones the following month after month. It's fun! And costs little. I've found so many nice clothes in good condition available that frankly this will now be the first place I go to shop even when I reach my goal weight. 7. Take your vitamins and get enough protein (and don't forget some healthy fats.) It will help keep you healthy plus temporary hair loss at 3-6 months is frequently talked about here but getting enough protein and the proper vitamins may help either prevent it or make it less than otherwise. They say it grows back - I'm only at two months so haven't reached that point yet. 8. Immediately post-op know that pain meds cause constipation so will keep the gas in causing more pain. By all means if you're in pain and need to take them do so at your surgeon's direction! But be sure to drink enough water/liquids and walk as mentioned by others here. Good luck! Having weight loss surgery was the best thing I've ever done for myself especially for my health. And my knees are no longer aching as well. Whew! Who wants knee surgery?

hello all, I'm scheduled for 11/14/16 but I have been worried about hair loss...I already have thinning hair due to high blood pressure meds/age...I'm 43. Any tips,ideas on preserving my hair that I have? hair loss inevitable? will it grow back?? Sent from my SM-G900V using the BariatricPal App

This was my biggest fear as well. I did lose quite a bit from month 3-7. I was nervous about it. I felt like it was a ton but It stopped and I look completely normal. Don't worry, I have had so much regrowth as well. Nobody noticed the hair loss except me.....it will be so worth it!!! TRUST ME

Ok im crying again drowning in total self pitty :think I was banded in May 2005 my weight was on day of op 17 stone 5 lb. I had reduced my weight from 18 stone 5 lb on a pre op liver shrinking diet of 800cals a day for 4 week's. The actual operation was a walk in the park for me they took me to the theater at 9.30am and i was out of bed washed and dressed by 1pm. I was home 7.30am the next day potting plant's and doing light gardening feeling great. Having my band was a easier operation than having my wisdome teeth out. Well i have a very speedy idilyc recovery but begin to regain weight. By the time i have my first fill at 18 weeks post op i am back up to 17 stone 12 lb. My First fill was blind and i had 4 mills i have zero restriction so i go back 4 weeks to the date later and have another 2 1/2 mill's. This time i am tight tighter than tight and i can't drink it hurts. I emailed my fill provider but he was on holiday (vacation) by the time he get's back i have asperational pnumonia and i am very poorly. I didn't know he was on holiday and i must have emailed him 2 or 3 times i guess coming back off holiday to my winging emails annoyed his wife so she emailed me back saying the infection was not related to my band and her husband could not surgically remove pnumonia. I did ask if the infection was band related but i never for one moment think it could be band related i was worried and didn't know if it was a band related problem or what? Well three months and 2 lots of antibiotics later i am no better. I was very low and depressed by now i had sufferd all threw christmas and i was told by my family Dr i needed my band unfilled while i took time out to recover. so again and worried i emailed my fill provider and asked again for a unfill. I recived a nice reply back from his wife saying she was sorry for her comments and she explained she was tired due to just returning off holiday. So she made me a appointment for a unfill and the surgion was lovely he was a little concerd about my health and told me to return in a month. But out of the Blue my local health Authority phoned me telling me to travel to a specialist for a second opinion. I had wrote to them before christmas when my pnumonia was at its worst asking what should i do well because of the responce from the fill providers wife if it wasn't band related what was it?. So anyway it turns out it was totally band related and down to being over filled i was much better now as i had gone back and had it unfilled and from that day i began to recover. Its february now 2006 and i am almost 1 year post op the new surgion wants to x ray my band as he didn't fit it and wanted to be sure there was no slippage or anything. the x rays reveal my band is in a good position apart from me needing a fill so he filled me 2 mill's aparently i still had 2 mill's in so i am back to four mill's. I must admit being a year out and having only lost a grand total of 7 or 8lb's i was fed up. I asked the surgion would he revise my band to a bypass and he said its not that easy and he felt we should try a bit longer with the band so see if we can optimise weight loss. So off i go and back again 4 weeks later a few lb weight loss weight loss, so off i go and im back 3 months later its October now and i am gutted my weight is still at 16 stone 2lb actually a slight regain on the previous visit its a 200mile drive each way each visit all for a offical weigh in and a dissapointing 25 min consultation. I was told to go back after Christmas 9th Jan 2007. But iv had enough iv had nothing but problems i can't keep any solid food down at all i vomit everything solid. I am forsed to consume food that i can eat rather than should eat. I suffer from constant heartburn (reflux) its horrendus it feels like i have a baby elephant sat on my chest i feel short of breath and it's just uncomfortable. The motional impact of not loseing weight at almost 2 years out or should i say any kind of sygnificant weight to improve my quality of life or even impact on my comorbidtys is heartbreaking. I have socially withdrown had a recent complete breakdown resulting in a serious attempt to end my life. I took a overdose of citilopram and washed them down with alchohol i cut my wrist repetedly and went to sleep. My husband rushed me to hospital the next day when he found me in a state and he was unable to wake me. For the past 2 or three weeks my depression has nose dived i didn'tintend to harm myself i can't remember much of it or even why i did it i just felt i couldnt see a way of changing my situation and life as it is was not worth living. I am tremendusly fed up with my band. No matter how hard i struggle to get my head around it and adjust to i can't. I am constantly hungry i was told the band would make me feel full and i would feel the need to stop eating sooner. That just does not happen i feel my restriction but i do not feel full or satisfied i am hungry and if i eat anything solid it comes streght back up. I can't make the healthy options beacuse the band wont have them some days the egg's go's down other days it does not. I have began to hate myself more than ever because i am not making the correct adjustments to lose weight and i only had this band fitted to lose weight. I wanted better mobility i was told the band would cure me of my reflux problem and weight loss would improve my stress incontinents. None of this has happened and while the band is in a good position and would seem to be working fine i am not. I can't handle this constant hunger and the diet is horrendus the vomiting is horrendus i know the vomiting is because i have eaten too much but even with one bite of food im vomiting no matter how much i chew. Infact sometimes its not even a vomit if i bend over it simply just falls out of my mouth as if it has gone no further than my tonsills. The poor diet leaves me feeling lathorgic and my hair is limp and falling out. My scalp is dry and ichy and my skin is spotty and dry. chocolate crisp and rubbish go down fine sloppy food like lasgna mashed potatoes go down fine but there high carb hens no weight loss. Im begining to think im losing my own mind that the vomiting is more psycoligical than a actual banding problem. Eather way it all rounds up to im not coping and suiside right now seems like a better option than the life i am living because the i have no quality of life and the longer it go's on the more fed up i am getting the deeper into dispare i am. tomorrow i have a psyciatrist appointment iv been getting regular help since my overdose 3 weeks ago. I almost cant wait to see the shrink because i am constantly thinking of death as a way out and im having horrendus urges to but myself again. this is so knew to me i have never wanted to cut myself before. I am worried i might do myself some real harm while not really meaning to do it. I am resisting the urges but the more i dwell on my weight the more i think of self harm. and its not like i can stop thinking about it and forget weight loss for a while because the weight impacts so much on my daily life it just seems there is no escape, and now i have taken a over dose i am so worried and frustrated with myself that i will now be considerd too unstable for a bypass when at the end of the day all's i want is to lose weight and start to enjoy life. it seems ironic i am fighting to improve mylife so i can get a better quality of life but the actual fight is leaving me wishing i was dead. :think i know me me me its all about me poor old me pitty me im fed up of hearing myself winge so god knows how those around me feel.

I started using rogaine for women (you can buy it at most stores) the day I came home from surgery. It prevented the hair loss. About a year post-op I figured I didn't need it anymore and stopped using it. Then my hair fell out anyway. I didn't have bald Patches but it got pretty thin. It has grown back in, thicker than before and curly. I always wanted curly hair but still have no idea what to do with this mess. Don't worry, it grows back.:-)

My sleeve was 3/22/2010 and I have lost 37 lbs to date. I am not worried about rapid weight loss as it causes hair loss!!!!. So the slower the better. I am with Tiffikins. Eat the protein first. I find I don't have room for much else. Being that I am only at 7 weeks, I think I have done really well. My son came home frm college nad told me he thought I looked thinner. Getting a compliment from him is rare so I loved it! Guess I shouldn't be giving advise to a 5 monther! I know sometimes I weigh the same for 4 days then all of a sudden a couple lbs drop off. Hang in there!

To tell, or not to tell? That is the question on the lips of many WLS patients. Once again, there’s no one-size-fits-most answer to this question. The decision to tell (and how much to tell) or not to tell is unique to each patients’ unique personality and circumstances. IN & OUT OF THE WLS CLOSET I was happy about my decision to have WLS and thrilled when my insurance company finally approved it. I shared this happy news with many friends, acquaintances, family members, and coworkers. I don’t know but I assume that they discussed it amongst themselves to some extent, expressed opinions or concerns, and perhaps worried about my decision, but none of them gave me frankly negative feedback. They might have been thinking it, but they didn’t say it. I very much doubt I would have reversed my decision if someone had said, “That’s too risky/it’s a bad idea/I don’t want you to/you’re crazy/or whatever.” I’m going to assume that you, the reader of this article, are an adult over the age of 18, with the right to vote, the obligation to serve in the military, and (at some point, depending on your location) the right to purchase and use tobacco and liquor. Unless a judge has declared you mentally incompetent (and that’s harder to accomplish than you’d think), you are the one who’s responsible for your body – for its care and nourishment and any medical treatments or procedures that affect it. So if you’re in the early stages of considering WLS, whose input are you going to trust to inform your final decision? A bariatric surgeon, or your dad? Your primary care physician, or your sister? Your therapist, or your hairdresser? And hey, I’m not slamming hairdressers. Mine could do very well indeed as a therapist, but she has a cosmetology license, not a mental health practitioner license. Last summer I was startled to hear a 50-something bandster state that she had gotten her husband’s permission to have plastic surgery. His permission? Huh? Does that mean he’s the only adult in that relationship, or what? I’m not against asking permission, mind you. I ask my boss’s permission to undertake certain tasks or projects at work; I ask the State of Tennessee for permission (i.e., a driving license) to drive a car; if I still lived in a suburban development, I might ask the zoning board for permission to add a room to my house; I ask the government of China for permission (i.e., a visa) to travel in that country. I’m an extremely independent person in many ways, so I have to stop and think carefully about what I might ask my husband permission to do. We have our own separate checking accounts as well as a joint account, so I might ask him for “permission” to spend a chunk of that joint account on a big purchase like a computer or a car. Everything else gets negotiated. I have a lot of experience in negotiation because of my business career. I negotiated things with everyone from my coworkers to my suppliers. But people who do that kind of thing for a living aren’t the only ones who negotiate, and negotiators aren’t necessarily politicians or manipulators trying to advance some evil cause. My own career as a negotiator probably started when I was a child who realized that good behavior often yielded a treat. My negotiations with my mother went something like this: It’s 7:00 o’clock on Thursday morning. Mom is brushing the tangled cobweb of my hair in preparation for braiding it. I am sniveling because the untangling hurts. The negotiation begins. Mom says: “Jeannie, if you stop whining right this minute, you can have Cocoa Puffs for breakfast.” Jeannie sees an opportunity and negotiates this agreement by asking, “Can I have chocolate milk on my Cocoa Puffs?” Mom sighs and yanks at a hank of hair. Jeannie snivels a little bit more. Finally Mom says, “Yes, you can have chocolate milk on your Cocoa Puffs.” Jeannie instantly shuts up. Negotiation over. It’s a win-win situation. Everybody’s happy… for maybe 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, Jeannie’s hair is finally tamed into two narrow braids and it’s time to choose an outfit for school. This time Jeannie begins the negotiation. “Can I wear my pink dress to school?” Mom says: “That dress is brand new. We’re going to save it for church.” Jeannie says: “I promise not to get it dirty.” And so on and so forth. Well, that’s enough time spent traipsing along Memory Lane. My point (and, like Ellen Degeneres, I do have one) is that the “yes or no” WLS decision is yours. Everything else (how to make it work best; what your family can do to help you; how much to tell your nosy coworker) needs to be negotiated with (or modulated by) the people who will be involved in your WLS journey on a daily basis and possibly renegotiated as time goes on and your needs change. The negotiation may be simple (“Will you take the kids to McDonald’s for lunch if I pick up your dry cleaning?”) or complex (“Let’s talk about how we’ll handle Thanksgiving Dinner this year”) or downright messy (“I feel like you’re trying to sabotage my weight loss.”). That’s life, isn’t it? BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR Getting feedback from others is usually a mixed bag experience. It’s wonderful to get the positive stuff and uncomfortable to get the negative stuff. It’s also very frustrating when your announcement elicits no response at all. What if you tell your sister, “I’ve decided to have weight loss surgery,” and all she says is “Oh.” What’s that all about? She’s shared her thoughts about your hairstyle, your boss, your kid’s struggles with math, your parents’ new car, your high blood pressure and now she has nothing to say about something as momentous as weight loss surgery? If you’re like me, your mind gets busy filling in all the empty spaces with scenarios and speculation. My own little mind is always full of running commentary (most of it – well, some of it – never uttered aloud). When I’m exercising, I’m planning what to wear to work that day. When I’m driving to work, I’m considering the best way to write the first or fifth or fifteenth sentence of my next article. When I’m driving home at the end of that day, I’m replaying a conversation I had with a coworker and fiddling with what I could have said better. So when I encounter my complete opposite (someone who has nothing to say on a matter that’s important to me), I cast my fishing net into my teeming mental pond, scoop up a dozen squirming fish, and off I go into Wonderland. “Wonderland” as in the land where I wonder, and wander, on an endless circular track. Around and around Jean goes, and where she stops, nobody knows, least of all Jean. The official term for that is “projection”. You project your own internal drama onto someone else’s blank white movie screen without having the first clue about what’s really going on behind that blank screen. You’ve known your sister all her life, ever since she supplanted you as the baby of the family. That’s what, 35 long years? After 35 years together, you might think you could predict her reaction to almost anything, but it’s also quite possible that you cannot correctly read her mind. Your suspicions about her reaction to your weight loss surgery announcement may be accurate, but you’ll never know that unless you specifically ask her. That’s more or less what happened to me when I first began discussing weight loss surgery with my husband. We had been married for 20 years, so he had two long decades of experience with his wife launching herself into risky situations (be it a new job, an overseas trip, adopting a pet, redecorating a house, taking fen-phen). He had been amazingly patient through all of that, not just because he loves and supports me but also because he knows that hell hath no fury like Jean with an obstacle in her path. So when I said, “Today I made an appointment to go to a bariatric surgery seminar,” and he said nothing in response, a dozen things ran through my mind. He thinks I should be able to lose weight by dieting. He doesn’t want me to lose weight because he likes fat girls. He thinks this is another of Jean’s wild goose chases and if he leaves it alone, she’ll get over it and move on to some other project…and so on and so forth. What was actually going on in his head was probably more like, “I wonder if there’s more rice in that saucepan, but if Jean forgot to buy soy sauce again, I won’t have another helping because I can’t eat rice without soy sauce. If Jean has weight loss surgery, will we ever get to eat rice with soy sauce again? Will we be living on warm water and melba toast? Did I remember to fill the cat’s water dish before I came in the house? We really need to get the cat fixed but I don’t want another argument about whose turn it is to take a critter to the vet. Oh no, Georgie’s puking in the living room again. If I ignore it, can I get Jean to clean it up? I’m going to write SOY SAUCE on the grocery list in big letters so Jean won’t forget to buy it. Maybe if I ignore the weight loss surgery thing, it’ll disappear, like Georgie’s puke”…and so on and so forth. I’m not trying to make my husband’s thought processes sound asinine (for a taste of truly asinine thinking, you really need to listen to a few minutes of my own stream of consciousness). I’m just making the point that our minds are full of stuff that may be worthwhile or interesting to us but doesn’t necessarily have to be shared in detail with everyone around us, and that nobody but the Amazing Kreskin can hear someone else’s thoughts. When my husband finished his dinner (without a second helping of rice) that night without making any response to my bariatric ambitions, I asked him, “So what do you think of the idea of me having weight loss surgery?” And he said, “I’m not crazy about it, but if you really believe it will help you, I’ll do my best to support you.” And what did I say to that? All I said was, “Thank you.” I could have said a lot of other things. I could have said, “Why aren’t you crazy about the idea?” I could have quizzed his knowledge about weight loss and weight loss surgery. I could have asked him if he would still love me and desire me when I was thin. I could have gone on and on for hours, while adding to my own anxiety and creating a host of brand new anxieties in his poor head. But instead I said, “Thank you,” because his promise of support was all I needed to hear at that time, and we had a lifetime of conversations ahead of us. And I said “Thank you” because when I’m in the planning stages of something big that will require a group effort, I try not to invite discussion that will derail the whole project even before its engine starts. You may have a different style, and you may think I was postponing a discussion that should be tackled immediately, but my approach is: one step at a time. I don’t try to build Rome in one day. I pick up one brick, walk it over to where I want the wall, put it down, and go back for another brick. Eventually the wall (or Rome) gets built. IN & OUT OF THE BAND CLOSET My feelings about sharing my WLS journey with other people have changed as time has gone on. For three months before and about 18 months after my band surgery, bariatrics was the #1 subject in my mind at least 75% of the time. I had to exert effort to not talk about it constantly. If I hadn’t discovered online WLS forums, where I could talk about it constantly with other people who talked about it constantly, I think my head may have exploded. I didn’t talk about WLS with every single person in my everyday circle of friends and acquaintances (for example, I decided not to tell my church friends about it, mostly out of laziness), but most of the people who knew me as obese also knew about my surgery. When I had lost my excess weight, the focus of my life began to shift to other things. Yes, bariatric surgery was still important to me, and so fascinating that I wrote a 500+ page book about it, but as my interests and activities grew and changed, I acquired a whole new set of friends, acquaintances, and coworkers who had never known Fat Jean. It didn’t occur to me to tell them I’d had WLS any more that it occurred to me to tell them I’d had a hysterectomy or hemorrhoids. If the subject of weight loss or dieting or exercise came up, I was willing to talk about those topics, but not necessarily in the context of weight loss surgery. I guess you could say I was in the band closet then, though I won’t admit to hiding in there. I still wanted to talk about bariatric topics, but not with the general public. I made two new friends during that time who know about my band surgery. One of them had heard about it from her mother (a former coworker of mine) and the other heard about it from me. Otherwise I was kind of enjoying being perceived as a “normal” woman by people who couldn’t even imagine me as a fat woman. But one day my feelings changed. I opened the door of my band closet and peered out. It was time to get out of there. Here’s what happened. During an exercise class at my fitness studio, another (naturally slender) student began making fun of fat people, and a few more people there chimed in. They just couldn’t imagine how someone could “let themselves go” like that. It sounded to me like these well-meaning people were saying that obesity is a choice – that the fat people had made a conscious decision to overeat, under-exercise, and gain an unhealthy amount of weight. It sounded to me like these well-meaning people were saying that fat people don’t have the willpower or intelligence to maintain a healthy weight. And suddenly I heard myself say out loud, “Those people aren’t proud of their fat. Don’t be making fun of them.” After a minute or two of mumbled objections, those well-meaning people fell silent, and soon the conversation took a new direction. Months later, when I was about to publish Bandwagon Cookery, my friend, instructor and personal trainer, Caroline, suggested holding a book-signing event at the fitness studio. At first I was wary of the idea. It would require me to step out of the band closet and expose my bariatric secret to a community of people who had never known Fat Jean. It would require me to step out of my comfort zone and into the limelight. I’m not afraid of public speaking – I actually enjoy it in most circumstances – and I’ve told my WLS journey story plenty of times, but mostly to bariatric patients and professionals. At Caroline’s loving insistence, we hosted the book signing, which was well-attended by women for whom weight management was an interest but for whom obesity was not an issue. One of them had a sister who was banded, but the rest of the guests were blank slates when it came to bariatrics. I want to share with you what I told this audience after announcing that I had weight loss surgery, something that I felt they needed to hear before I could tell my nitty-gritty obesity story: “I need to talk about the elephants in the room. The elephants are the beliefs that many people have, that obesity is a moral failing and that weight loss surgery is taking the easy way out. Obesity is not a choice, nor is it evidence of inadequate willpower. It’s a chronic and incurable disease caused by a combination of genetics, environment, and behavior. Weight loss surgery is the only effective long term treatment for obesity available in the United States today. And weight loss surgery is by no means the easy way out. Weight loss is hard work with or without the help of surgery. Has my weight loss been easier because I had bariatric surgery? Of course it has. That’s one of the reasons I chose surgery – because without it, my previous weight loss attempts had been so difficult and so ineffective. “I’m glad to have my Lap-Band, but it’s just a little piece of plastic, a tool that reduces my appetite. When I stick my hand in a bag of potato chips, my band doesn’t yank it out again. When my alarm goes off in the morning and I want to roll over and go back to sleep, my band isn’t what gets me out of bed, into workout clothes, and into this fitness studio. When I’m thinking that I need a 2nd helping of mashed potatoes, my band doesn’t shout, “Don’t do it, Jean!” When I’m sad and thinking that buying and eating a gallon of ice cream would make me feel so much better, my band doesn’t hide my car keys on me. “I am the one who makes decisions about what I eat and how I exercise. I am the one who’s responsible for making good food choices and changing my eating and exercise behavior. So I get the credit for my weight loss, and I’m the one who has committed to maintaining that weight loss for the rest of my life.” Looking back, I’m not sure how much of an impact that speech had on any of my listeners, but it had an impact on me. Hearing myself say those words affirmed my important and life-changing decision to have bariatric surgery. Whatever you do as you go forward on your weight loss journey, be proud of what you’re doing. It’s a courageous thing. If no one else congratulates you for the undertaking, you should still pat yourself on the back for it.

I have been banded for almost 4 months now and for about two months have expeienced hair loss. I'm really worried about this. I'm taking Biotin and trying very hard to eat more Protein. It's hard getting that much protein down without getting "the brick". Anyone had this problem? It totally freaks me out!!! Am I normal????:help:

I have the same- very long thick wavy curly beautiful hair. It is one of my favorite things about myself. I took Biotin and hit my Protein requirements thinking that would save me but anytime there is a large weight loss you are going to go through hair loss. I lost heavily from 3 months post op to about 6 months. The good news is my hair is still thick and you would never notice there was a shortage or that I lost so much of it- i am the only person who can tell it is thinner and i actually think it is more manageable. The bad news is from month 3-6 the hairs come out like crazy. I felt like i was pulling pounds out in the shower when i would wash my hair - scary amounts I would lose on the daily. I thought i would be bald in a week if it kept up. Everything I wore was covered in hair- jackets- chairs i sat in- my car. You don't think it's a problem until it's a problem! It was so crazy i contemplated cutting to a short cut for it to be less noticeable all over me but I hung in there. I am now almost 6 1/2 months post op, 70 lbs down and my hair loss has returned to normal. I am glad I didn't cut it off and I love it just as much as i did pre op. I was also very worried so I hope this gives you some insight. Hang in there!

Hi! Do not worry about the sleep study. As a previous poster said, the worst part is the goop..and getting it out of your hair the next day. It will probably not be the best night of sleep you will ever get, but you will survive. You mentioned that it seems that everyone that gets tested for sleep apnea is diagnosed. I know that it seems that way, but it is not the case. Sleep apnea tends to be weight related (but not always), so you will see alot of overweight people who are diagnosed. Good news is that with weight loss, people can decrease the severity of their apnea or even get rid of it all together. Hope this helps!

@@Martene81, I was crazy with worry until about a month before my procedure. I just knew I would be some new breed of human in which the gastric bypass would not work. In addition, I was going to die from anesthesia so it didn't matter anyway. And if by some stroke of luck I made it out alive, I was going to be permanently paralyzed from hair loss, broken bones due to losing the mineral density in my bones due to the malabsorption!!!! My mind was insane! As I said this process has been great! I hate being nauseous and I told my doc to send me home with strong anti nausea meds! I've used them once, when I *thought* I was getting nauseous. My nose has gotten sensitive so it has pretty much been spot on with what NOT to eat. If it sounds or smells like a bad idea then it probably is. I just go with that now. Many people don't have complications with the sleeve and some do. I've have 3 people with sleeves tell me they wish they had had the bypass. All do to GERD and reflux complications. There are pros and cons and risks to every surgery. The benefits should outweigh risks. Success can be achieved with any surgery. Good Luck!

My best advice would be to get a wig now especially if your hair is prone to thinning or breakage . I have a great wig that I have been wearing for the last two weeks. I was trying to grow out my hair as it's in an awkward in between stage but also I wanted something to hide the hair loss when it does happen after my surgery on the 4th . I can now rest easy knowing that I will not have to worry about when and how bad my hair will thin. I've also been taking biotin religiously for about the last two years and I'm hoping it will help. I lost my hair after childbirth and due to chemical relaxers at least three times in the past so I'm not overly concerned about it but I have been growing my hair out ( African American natural hair) with such care for the last 15 months I really want to keep as much as I can.

Hair loss sometimes occurs even when eating enough protein I had it for a few months then started taking hair skin and nails from GNC and it worked for me. If you have a lot ot lose sagging skin is not an option unless you are young and have good skin tone. But it is going to happen. You have to give up some things in order for results. As long as I can cover it up with clothes until I can get a tummy tuck Im not worrying about it at all.

No complications here. No nausea, No vomiting ever, hungry sensations never went away still the same , had gerd for many yrs before and had it till about several months ago. I followed my surgeon protocol still do. It took me 4 months to get my strength back. And a good 4 months to get more then 4 bites in . swelling in tummy can take 6 months to go down. My internist said it takes 6 months for tummy to heal properly it's major surgery. No hair loss here. Wasn't problem here. It did take me a good few wks to get all my protein in. I had already made dietary changes for me a few yrs before hand so no problem there. I am 10 months po over 100 pds down. Been in a stall the past month..no worry. I stopped my nexium few months back and doing great. I pop a rolaids a few times other then that I take liquid biotin,b12, folic acid, my armour thyroid, liquid d3 and bw has been great. I see my surgeon the end of this month for chk in. Best thing I ever done! Not going to lie first month is brutal! It was for me. Went thru the normal stage of withdrawals. Crying spells bitchiness..my surgeon warned me but said if I can make it thru first month you have it made. He was right for me. Despite the feelings of what the heck have I done during that month and working thru the emotional part at 4 wks it all disappeared! I'd do it again! Benefits are huge! I'm the best Iv been since my 20s! I'm 52 this yr! ????

I feel the same way you do, Ian. I am setting my VSG surgery date for this December and am beginning to wonder why. Everyone says that you have to eat right and exercise. Well, if I could do that I wouldn't be fat, in the position I'm in and needing the VSG! So I'm very worried and scared that the surgery will be a big flop for me. My only encouragement is that apparently everyone else who's had the VSG that is successful wasn't eating right or exercising either yet they seem to be doing it after the surgery. I have always been able to lose weight when I really wanted to BUT I always gain it back and more. That is what I want to stop...the yo-yo weight. I'm also very concerned about losing my hair. My BMI is 36 so I'm wondering if people with a lower BMI experience less hair loss since there won't be such a drastic drop in weight nor as much weight loss. Does anyone know? I believe Sleevie Wonderland is absolutely correct when she said after 2 months or so you will probably gain back the weight that you've lost on your own. I'm sure you are a lot like the rest of us and lose weight only to gain it back. The VSG is going to help prevent the yo-yo effect and help you maintain a slim presence long term. I wish you the best of luck through your journey. Please keep us posted as I intend to do as well.

Gallbladder is a consiquence of weight loss. At least that was what I was told after emergency surgery to remove mine. I had been on a weight loss diet and dropped 30+ lbs. (2003) I had a steak for dinner and then threw up all night. went to the hospital in a ambulance. So much pain! I had a gall stone stuck in the duct. The surgeon said it is the most common mis-diagnosed problem in the U.S. I had been taking Alka-selsers, pepto bismal, and acid reducers for months. sleeping sitting up, or, with a "wedge" of pillows. I had complained of sever pain under my right boob. My PCP never picked it up. Had words with him about that. Once the gall bladder was out and I had recovered, I felt so darn good. I lost more weight and kept it off for about a year before it started creeping back. We do not need our gall bladders to function. So, if you need to get yours taken out, go for it. It is not worth the pain, and drastic measures necessary to keep it. Oregon daisy, I am so sorry you have to go thru the pain, you will feel so much better when the gall bladder is gone. try not to worry about your hair, it will grow back. Can you ask for proteins in your IV? Just kidding. Get well, be healthy. I am sending Angels to be by your side. God bless.

You make several great points. Truth is, I would NEVER want to hold her back from trying to better her health. In fact, for months, I have been a proponent of this route when it became clear it was our best option to get the issues managed to improve her quality of life and as I said in my OP- enjoy growing old together and hopefully having a great back 9 in life with one another even though we are still both 39. So that’s completely off the table. Same thing with change- we never go out to the same restaurant twice on a date (before COVID) or somewhere on vacation for that matter. I was completely open to relocating outside New England for her medical residency and fellowship even though we both have lived here our whole lives (we ended up staying put). I love when she changes up her hair to something new to keep things interesting- I ask her to actually when she wants to know what I think. And frankly, despite this being solely about health and quality of life (otherwise this procedure would have never crossed either of our minds) of course I’m excited to see how she’ll look and dress and all that after the weight loss, she’s my wife- I’m mad for her! When it comes to personality change, I guess that does worry me a bit. She’s already very assertive and strong willed, so from what I read in articles- that doesn’t really bother me, it’s one of the reasons I love her. We are both just really down to earth and humble people, I would hope THAT doesn’t change about her. We put our family and our marriage first- THAT I hope doesn’t change. It’s one of the reasons we got married in the first place- we share basic core beliefs. That said, I know people change. She changed quite a bit during and after all her medical training. I changed a lot after my younger sibling who I was close with got ill and passed away swiftly. But we loved each other through it all. I just hope that’s the same here. Am i a little threatened or intimidated? Well, I know she’s a catch, I’m not too shabby myself, but I know she is someone really special. So yes, I’m quite protective of her and our relationship. I guess the one thing that makes me feel better is the extra lengths she has been going to to be affectionate and reassuring right now knowing my concern. She’s incredibly nurturing and sweet. So like I said, when hormones and self image and such shift. I just pray that she is still my wife at the end of it all with all the qualities I’ve been listing.

I did the Atkin's diet years ago and lost 60lbs. I worked/strived to get into ketosis. That was the whole point, as far as I was concerned, about the diet. I had a metallic taste in my mouth, but no pain, when I was in ketosis. I tried to keep my carbs under 30g a day. Besides the taste in my mouth, the only bad side effect I noticed was some hair loss, not too bad, but I remember worrying about it. I eventually stopped the diet, due to boredom. From what I read, it was ok to be in ketosis for periods of time, but not for long periods, as it was too much stress on kidneys and liver.

Hey, Ive only been banded for 2 1/2 weeks and Im worried about hair loss. My hair has thinned out on top a lot and dont really want to lose any more. Can I hear from those NOT losing hair and what theyve done?

You know, I think hair loss and loose skin is probably one of my top three concerns about the surgery! But hey, we're entitled to worry about that. In my case, I've already spent years dealing with thinning hair after having to have part of my thyroid removed. I compensated with a cute, short haircut that makes my hair look waaaay thicker than it is. So there's something to consider. I was just telling my husband, I feel like, around two or three months out from surgery, I'll look like one of those latex balloons that's been hanging around a couple of days - still round, but not as big as before and kinda wrinkly.

I was "interviewing" a friend of a friend via email about her experiences with RNY (she and her husband both had it) because I only know one person who's had it who is alive and well (and I hadn't yet discovered these forums). This lady was a very matter-of-fact 50-ish woman who basically said "why on earth are you worried about THAT?" to every question I asked about possible side effects. She and hubby had no side effects. She has very thick hair, and when I said I was worried about hair loss she asked why! I told her it was a common side effect, and she says nope, neither one lost their hair. She didn't even know it could happen. Her guess was it was because they were very adherent to the nutritional requirements. After reading endless accounts of winning and losing the hair loss games, my guess is that they won some genetic lottery.