I heard that a possible side effect is your scalp hair falling out and your body growing excess hair. Has this happened to anyone??? I'm attached to my good hair, it scares me to think of losing a lot of it.

Hi Kristina,

I am 2 weeks post op and I will say that some of my hair has been falling out, but not in big pieces like strands when I am washing my hair and more seems to come out when I brush my hair. I will say though that my hair was healthy but not 100% healthy due using chemicals in my hair like relaxers and hair color, but before the surgery I had it pretty much under control. I been taking Vitamins and hope that it will help and I have also read on here that the Vitamin Biotin is suppose to be really good to help with hair loss however I haven't been able to find it in chewable or liquid form.

As for excessive body hair I have never heard of that and have not experienced it and I really hope I don't lol.

Hope this helps you out.

Thank you so much for the information!! I take a hair skin and nails vitamin and biotin every day. I'm actually a hair dresser, but I don't have any clients who have had a weight loss surgery.

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I really hope that this doesn't happen. I take vitamins right now religiously and plan to continue obviously after the surgery. I had a good friend that's had the lap band for 2 years now and has not lost any hair but has also not told me if she's been growing extra body hair! haha.

Any time your body goes through a trauma you'll shed the hair that is ready to be shed (hair sheds in 3 phases), so you may lose a fair amount all at once, but it's completely normal and to be expected. Biotin can help, but only if you take it daily and for the long term.

The amount of hair you lose will not be noticeable in a few months.

I dont have first hand experience as it hasnt happened to me but my Dr said hair loss for WLS patients is from a lack of Protein. If you are taking Biotin and eating enough protein you may not have the problem.

Just my 2 cents!

You guys are awesome! Thank you!!

I don't take Biotin or any Vitamins at all. I haven't lost any hair as a result of surgery or my postop diet. From the day of surgery, however, I have made sure to get in at least 60gm of Protein a day...even if I have to drink it in a shake or Protein Drink. I use EAS Protein powder (Sam's Club) and it has 25gm of protein in one scoop of powder. I also bought a bunch of concentrated protein in fruit flavors from my bariatric clinic and would put 1/3 of the concentrated liquid in my Water glass. A full tube was about 40gm. That was when I was still on a postop diet.

Now, I either eat 2 eggs and 2 sl of bacon or my Protein Shake for Breakfast and then 3 oz of protein, 1/2 cup of vegies and 1/4 cup of starch (maybe) for lunch and dinner and easily meat 60gm of protein per day.

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I had some hair loss after about 3 months but it seems to have stopped.

I am currently having some hair loss issues. I was banded in Sept. 2010. From what I have read, this is pretty normal due to the trauma of the surgery and should stop within 3 months. I get all my protein in and am taking my bariatric vitamins along with Biotin. Hopefully it will stop soon.

I am five months out and recently I have definatly been losing hair. I have started taking Biotin to try and fight the loss.

I have lost weight in the past and lost hair as well. It is sad as I don't have much to spare but I figure there are lots of things I can do...new style, color, hats...lol. It's worth it, it will eventually stop. As a prev poster said, it only makes you lose that which would have come out gradually a little quicker, the new stuff is still always growing.

I was losing my hair really bad at about 4 - 5 months. I talked to my dr. about it. She said that it is not falling out, it is breaking off... ? Still not sure about that, but the hair loss has slowed!

I was banded Dec 2010, so I'm about 13 1/2 months out ... lost 110 pounds so far. I have had a lot of problems with the hair loss since about month 8 or so. I had a few friends even comment on it (yikes). Since then, I have really started making sure that I get in all of my protein (60 grams) daily (I was really slacking in the protein department) ...taking my multi vitamins and another supplement which is Biotin (Hair, Skin and Nails) daily and also I just purchased a shampoo and conditioner called Nioxin (sold by salons, but I bought mine on line thru Amazon)... which is supposed to stop hair loss and actually re-grow lost hair in 6-8 weeks of continued use. I just used the shampoo this morning for the first time, so I'll keep you all posted over the next several months if I see any improvement.

My chewable Bariatric Advantage VitaBand vitamins have 300 mcg of biotin for two tablets. I got the lemon cream flavor which was pretty gross at first, but I have totally got used to them. I chew one in the morning and one at night.

Thanks so much for all of the comments!! I appreciate your time!