I am being banded on Jan 10. Someone had mentioned to me that she had heard that after banding you could loose your hair. Has anyone heard of this? If so, is it a lot or is it a thinning hair? Also why? I don't go to the doctors untill December 18. Don't want to be worrying about something if it is not true or could be avoided.

It is possible but highly unlikely if you look after yourself. This can happen because once banded you will be eating very little, and not getting the amount of nutrition and vitamins you need. You must take a multi-vitamin and keep checking in with your doctor so you don't get sick from lack of nutrients. Not sure if there is anything else you can do but that's all I was told to do

This was a huge Inverness for me too. I was told that if I follow docs orders and get in my protein and vitamins daily, it won't be an issue... So far so good! I have heard some people take biotin to help or prevent hair loss but I am not sure the details of how much or how often. I have read that any hair loss is more of a thinning and is temporary, not a permanent thing. Congrats on your upcoming surgery!

I lost what seemed like an enormous amount of hair a few months post op. Thank god I have really thick hair. I lasted for a month or so then it stopped and all came back.

It is very likely this will happen but it is temporay. The statistics say you lose less with Lapband than you do with gastric bypass but it still happens, I take bioten from GNC even at 2 years post op, I had a fast weight loss in the beginning and mine seemed to thin quickly but the biotin helped. Just google the amount to take for hair loss. I chew two a day.

It's also can be a side affect of rapid weight loss

My doc says Biotin as a precaution

Thinning is due to lack of Vitamins and or Protein.

Well I take both vitamins and get enough protein I also lost hair for the first 5 months. Not sure if the loss stopped because I started to take biotin or because my body just recovered from surgery. But since you can get biotin on sale I prefer not to find out by stopping taking it. I take 5000 milligram daily. The ones I buy are the size of a tic tac or smaller. You can often find buy 1 get 1 free sales at the drugstores. Its also good for your nails and my nails have always been very brittle anyways. My sister who has not had weight loss surgery was also experiencing some hair loss so she's been taking biotin as well.

Biotin 5000 mcg.

I began to loose my hair at around 3 months post op, and it continued for around 2 months. My stylist of 20+ years estimated that I lost 10% of my hair, which is fine and I was depressed about the loss.

About 6 weeks ago my hair began to grow back, and I have not noticed any additional hair loss.

I attribute to most of my hair loss to the shock your body goes through post op with adapting to a new diet and level of nutrients. Following my surgeon's advice, I now take 5000 mcg of Biotin daily.

I also went through a phase of losing hair.... Lasted for a couple months.... Haven't taken any additional supplements other then my daily vitamin and the hair loss stopped and it is starting to grow back... I did not lose enough hair to make it look like my hair was getting thinner.... Not sure if that's because I have very thick hair and A LOT of it or not.... Best of luck to you!

I have been losing my hair at a pretty rapid pace for about 3 months now. It only just recently slowed down. I hit a plateau in my weight loss and now the hair loss is slowing down rapidly. I can also see that lots of new hair is starting to grow back. I think I have probably lost 1/4 to 1/3 of my hair (via thinning). I have/had a lot of hair. My doctor told me that they don't really know why some people lose hair while others don't. I eat my protein and take my vitamins. My blood work looked good, too - but my hair was still falling out like crazy. Huge handsful at each shower!! The good news is that it does grow back. I had also heard that hair loss meant that you were difficient in some vital nutrient or protein or both. Apparently all folks who are deficient in these areas will lose hair, but not all who losehair will be deficient. If you are losing hair, the best thing to do is ask the doctor to check your blood!

It does grow back, no panic!