I want to know if EVERYONE experiences hair loss. And if so what percentage of people have major/minor hair loss.

how about testosterone?

for some reason, i have always thought i had more testosterone than most woman. dont get me wrong, i am not masculine. but just from different things like my sex drive and my menstrual cycle headaches.

but maybe if i do have stored up testosterone and it is being released now---then maybe i am getting "male pattern baldness" especially now since i am menopausal and dont have any estrogen.

i have had tests done for thyroid levels and estrogen levels but never testosterone levels. i wonder if that is ever checked on a woman?

it is a long shot, but i am like you--i would like to know.

I don't think hair loss is a direct consequence of the band. My father is an anaesthesist and he knows from experience that several patients complaint about hair loss after a surgery.

I don't think it has to do much with protein intake either.

When we get banded we should make an effort in doing correct food choices from nutrional point of view, we're not supposed to starve, we have to replace all those wrong foods and eat our veggies, lean meat, fish, etc. And we should be taking multivitamins, too.

Biotin, zinc, all those B vitamins, Vit.E, fatty acids (Omega 3, etc) are fundamental for keeping your hair healthy, even if you're not banded.

i did a search for "testosterone in women" and one website said that one of the symptoms of too much is baldness and facial hair.

i have noticed that whereas before i used to have one hair on my chin and now i have 5 or 6.

so who knows. aesthesia, protein, hormones?

the only consolation is that is usually stops.

I have to agree. I hope it stops. At almost 11 months past surgery, I can say it's slowing down, but not gone.

i have, but they told me it was because ofthe fact i wasnt getting enough nutrients during the day. and my hairs so thick, ive lost a LOT but you cant even tell

Mine is still falling out. It has slowed down, but it's still coming out. I do finally see little hairs growing in. It would be nice to know what causes this. I didn't lose any hair with my C section and my appendix out and I had anesthesia then.

i ventured into a wig shop today for the first time in my life.

was still in enough denial that i did not try any on. but i did see some i liked. they really werent very expensive. i was surprised. but eventually it is going to come to that.

who knows maybe i will like wearing a wig and having different styles.

No hair loss. 31/2 months since band

Mine started falling out after 4 months and here it is a year later and it's still falling out. I can't figure out why. It never fell out when I had any other surgery, or lost 90 lbs on the Atkins diet.

It did fall out when my husband had an accident and was killed instantly. I think it falls out from a shock to the body. So maybe this surgery was a shock to my body.

Denise, I think that definitely is part of it, if not the entire issue! I was banded in April, in May my DH was diagnosed with a bad heart valve, and with one complication after another---it was a horrible year...blood clots, open heart surgery, massive GI bleed, more heart surgery....and then, as his issues tapered off, so did my loss of hair. Now whether it was just the standard time line for loss, or whether it was connected, I have no idea, but it may well explain it.

So sorry to hear of your loss, regardless how long ago it was....((((big hugs))))

Kat

Thank you! It's been 20 years but it definitely was a shock at the time.

It sounds like you went through an awful lot too.

I have had a ton of hairloss and it freaks me out. I am about 4 1/2 months out. I have very thick hair naturally but every day in shower and when I comb my hair after it comes out in handfuls. I can tell it is thinner when I put it up in a pony tail but I dont think anyone can tell hen it is down - it just looks limper.

Hope it stops soon.

so far no casual observer has said "gee, you are losing your hair" but i know it is lots thinner. i have to wash it every day or it gets real greasy and today i must have lost at least a 50 more hairs. one of these days i am going to collect them all up and actually count them. maybe it will be reassuring. maybe it just looks like a hundred hairs.

my D-I-L asked what i want for christmas. i told her a wig.

she thinks i am kidding but i'm not.

Not anything unnormal.. Lose some, grow some..

I think I have lost about half of my hair. I used to not be able to wear baretts in my hair because it was so thick that I couldn't get them to close. Now my hair is so much thinner, that they fall out.

Nobody can tell, because I did have really thick hair, but I can sure tell. My pony tail is half the size it used to be. I sure wish I knew when it was going to stop. It has definitely slowed down

(thank you God!) but there is still way more than normal when I wash it and comb it wet. I use a very wide tooth comb so I don't pull on it, and besides all that there is in the shower, the comb is still very full. I am SO sick of this. I should have 100 lb weight loss to lose all of this, IMO!