What has been your weight loss? I went in for my appointment, and they wouldn't fill me because they said I was doing well with my weight loss. I was banded on 7/9 and have lost 55 lbs so far. My hair is falling out and I was told by my doctor that is from rapid weight loss. She said my wt loss is what she would expect to see at the one year mark for someone who had gastric bypass, not 4 months after a band. I have worked really hard for those 55 lbs. I want to see more! Does this seems excessive to anyone else in too short a period of time?

I think it would depend a lot on your starting weight.

You have really heavy hair.......just kidding.

You are doing really well. My heaviest weight was in march 312lbs. My current "unofficial" weight is 240.4lbs at home in the birthday suit.:eek: Thats 72lbs! I use my weigh ins @the dr office for consistency. every 4th friday @ 10am. Fully dressed, after I have eaten breakfast, I am usually 4.5 lbs heavier than my home scale. I have noticed very little hair loss......no more than usual anyway. The last time I went in they would not give me a fill because I lost 10 lbs in a month. I go on the 19th and I think I lost more than 10lbs, so im not expecting a fill.

Doesn't the protein prevent the hair from falling out? I was told that as long as I get enough protein that my hair will not fall out and that is a big fear of mine.

A lot of doctors have different rules and some just keep giving fills even when the patient is losing a massive amount of weight very fast. I was told to expect to lose about 2 pounds a week and that is normal but most people I know lose a lot more than that at first.

protein is supposed to help the hair from falling out but you must also realize that hormones and thyroid play a big part in it also. some ppl actually loose some hair after they have a major surgery. i make sure i have all my protein and my hair is falling out but my hormones are also out of kilter too. i've lost 44-45 lbs since may so 55 lbs is ALOT.

My hair was coming out- lots in the shower drain- so I went to my dermatologist. He told me your body goes into a kind of shock from rapid weightloss. To my relief, he informed me I will not go bald. He also said it could be thyroid, so I agree with the above poster.

I lost at least 12 pounds a month for the first 5 months and my surgeon was thrilled. After that point my rate of loss slowed but has not stopped. My doctor has never based my fills on my amount of weight loss but on how I feel and whether I think a fill will be beneficial. My doc says I'm in the 90th percentile with my rate of loss and we are both happy. I started at 286.

I was banded on July 30th and have lost 36lbs...I think you have lost alot but I wouldnt say its outrageous amount. I lost that much and barley have restriction so if I had good restriction I probably would have lost more. I get plenty of protein, over 100 grms a day and my hair is falling out over the past few weeks..not sure what is causing it.

Listen, we all lose at different speeds. I was banded 6/21 and have lost a total of 87 pounds.

I really wouldn't worry about losing to fast. As long as your eating and exercising as your supposed to just be greatful for the rapid loss and remember that it will slow down at some point.

I am 4 weeks post op and I lost 28lbs... I hope he will give me a fill though because I am starving...

My doctor doesn't base decisions regarding whether I need fill only on my loss. It's only one part of the equation. Why? Because if I eat the way he recommends, I will lose whether I have restriction or not.

He takes into account how I feel, as well.

It really is important to consider hunger in addition to loss.

hair loss really isn't due to rapid weight loss. It's due to an interruption of the hair growth cycle by trauma. In this case, the trauma is anesthesia and surgery. They interrupt the growth cycle, and the evidence becomes apparent a few months later.

It happens for most of us, regardless of how much we lose, whether we eat enough Protein, and so on.

As "insurance," it's not a bad idea to ensure that you do get adequate protein and Fluid, as well as Biotin and zinc. Using a shampoo/condition system like Nioxin can help, too.

But mostly, these things just let us reassure ourselves we're doing what we need to do to prevent undue loss; our bodies still go through the changes, and ultimately recover, and hair growth resumes as normal.

ETA: My loss is slowing now, but I consistently lost 10 pounds a month for the first 8 months I was banded. Now I lose that in 6-8 weeks or so. Because my doctor gives banding patients the same dietary guidelines as his bypass patients, this does not surprise him at all--it's what he likes to see. (Banding rates are slower because we don't have the malabsorption that bypass patients do, but your loss doesn't strike me as outrageously fast.)

Your loss is not what one would expect at the year mark for bypass. It makes me wonder how much experience the practitioner who does your fills has with either procedure.

Edited November 5, 201015 yr by BetsyB

What has been your weight loss? I went in for my appointment, and they wouldn't fill me because they said I was doing well with my weight loss. I was banded on 7/9 and have lost 55 lbs so far. My hair is falling out and I was told by my doctor that is from rapid weight loss.

Another doctor who doesn't know how to use the band. First of all, I lost 70 pounds in 3 months...without any loss of hair. There are many reasons your hair could be falling out.

Second, fills are not determined by how much or how little we lose. They're given based on whether or not we're hungry. I know some say you should be able to go 5 hours between meals without being hungry...which I think is true if you go low carb (carbs cause cravings and blood sugar swings that make you feel as if you are hungry). If you're not hungry, great...if you are, then you most likely need a fill...or maybe just a mid meal 'mini-meal' (hard boiled egg, an ounce or 2 of cheese) just to stabilize the blood sugars.

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I have been losing about 10lbs per month. I noticed hair loss about 2 months ago but it has tapered off.

No, my first four months after banding and 52lbs weightloss was without the benefit of fills. My Dr 's and I agreed was to wait it out as long as the weight continued to come off. Sometimes he explained the pressure from just the placement of the band causes that fullness feeling( every bander is different) After 6 months I had my first fill and have continued with 3+ and 6cc today. I am at a good spot now with good restriction and the weight loss continues. RELAX.............trust your Doc

I was banded July 14 and have lost 34lbs. Right after surgery with on fill I lost 4lbs. At my first fill I had lost 7lbs, second fill 10lbs, third appt 10lbs (no fill done due to weight lost and not being hungry between meals). Currently at 4.5cc in a 10cc band. I am scheduled every 3 weeks for an adjustment. I feel that I will need another fill when I go next week, due to being able to eat more and being hungry between meals.

It is strange how the weight comes off because my scale will not move for about two weeks and then that third week before my appt I will see this tremendous drop in weight. I can feel it in my clothes before I see it on the scale. Is anyone else experiencing this??? :frown:

My surgeon does a combination of how hungry you are and your weightloss. At first, I wanted to go in for a fill every few weeks, even though I was losing a minimum of 10 pounds a month. My doctor said that it was important to not become "addicted" to getting fills, especially if the weight was coming off. At the time I didn't really understand what he could mean, but now I do and its a good point. Having said that, we did a barium swallow under flouro and he did see that my band was a little loose, so he gave me a small fill. But I think its really important to balance the two. You don't want to rely on fills for weight loss if you're steadily (and even rapidly) losing weight but you also don't want to feel like you are starving all day everyday (because who can really keep that up for an extended period of time?).