I'm 3 and a half months out and I've been experiencing hair loss for about a month and a half. Has anyone else gone through this? If so how long does it last? Also, how much do you lose? Do you have bald spots? I'm scared!

Mine started about 3.5 to 4 months out and July 1 will be 5 months and it has started slowing down this week.

I have yet to see a post where it says I am bald. Let your body do its thing and yes it will slow down and stop being so dramatic soon.

It grows back, and no one has ever written on the two support forums i'm on about any bald spots - this too shall pass

It's perfectly normal, and something that's posted about regularly. If you do a search on "hair loss" or "hair falling out" I'm sure you'll get a ton of hits.

Here's a high level summary:

Extreme weight loss and shock to the body (like, oh, major surgery ) often result in a fair amount of hair loss a few months after the surgery, and it generally continues for several weeks to a few months. Most people find their hair gets thinner, but generally speaking most don't develop bald spots. There's not much that you can do to prevent it, although ensuring that you take good care of yourself nutritionally, getting your Protein in, getting plenty of rest may keep it from getting worse than it has to. You may find that taking Biotin will assist in getting it to grow back in more quickly, and some people swear by other treatments, but in general, it will happen, it will run its course, and it will grow back.

I'm 11 weeks out today. I am noticing when I shampoo that I'm losing more than normal. From what I've seen on here, it's normal. I had this happen years ago when I went on a diet(basically starvation) and I lost a lot of weight pretty quickly (and yes, I gained it back)! My hair stylist recommended taking zinc and Nioxin shampoo. It seemed to help and eventually stopped. Going out of town this weekend but plan to start doing this next week to see if it helps. Thank goodness that I have thick hair!

Thank you all so much!

I'm waiting for the hair loss to start with me (I'm 5 weeks out)....seems inevitable regardless of what supplements you take or shampoo you use. I know that at the first sign of it I will try this stuff called Toppik that was mentioned on a post by another member. I went to toppik.com and found out it's basically a camouflage for thinning hair just to use until the new growth starts.

I noticed significantly more hair loss at about 10 weeks post-op. Now at 19 weeks post-op, it is about the same. I am using Nioxin, which may be keeping it from getting worse, and have been taking biotin since right after surgery. My surgeon said the biotin probably doesn't help but it can't hurt. He says the amount of protein you consume 2 weeks post-op helps predict hair loss a few months later, but I got plenty of protein my first 2 weeks and still have hair loss. While it's a bit distressing, I just think about how it's as a result of something good for my long-term health, not like when someone loses hair due to chemo or illness. that must be horrible. Even though I lose so much hair, my part still looks okay and I don't think people can tell. I did have a few inches cut off my hair and colored it darker. Luckily I had a lot of hair to start with. I have a bad habit of touching my hair now to check for loose ones and I really need to stop doing it, especially in public.

I am 5 months out and mines have been falling out for the past 2 months. I dont know when it will stop but I surely hope it will be soon. I am tired of the balls of hair and I am sure you are too. I keep thinking is all my hair going to fall out. But I hear it gets better with time so I guess just be patient and hope it stops soon.

Mine started at about 2 months post op. No bald spots, but I had extremely long hair which I opted to cut short because the way my hair was falling and parting was making it look like I had bald spots. After I got my hair cut short, it wasn't even noticeable. I am now 5 months post op and the hair loss has slowed. I can tell because I vacuum a whole lot less than I used to a month ago. I used to vacuum several times a day because I have a white ceramic floor and I could see all the hairs on it and it would drive me crazy!!! Not because of the mess necessarily, but because I was reminded of how much hair was actually falling off my head! I don't need to vacuum every day anymore so that is an improvement.

I'm 5 wks today and my hair has begun falling off.