Hair loss. Canvassing for Dates when it started/finished

[reading mom 85]

My Hair loss started almost immediately after surgery, sometime that first week or so. My hair guy said some people have that reaction to the anesthesia. It slowed a little around 1 1/2 till month 3. Then from month 3 to 6 1/2 I had very heavy hair loss! It seems to be back to a normal rate now. I am about 8 months out. I got a haircut yesterday and he said he sees hair regrowth coming in. My hair volume is about 1/3 of what I started with. But I was lucky and started with very thick hair. About 8 years ago I donated my hair to locks of love, and I was told they had enough hair to make 3 wigs. Now my hair is on the thin side, but still in the thin/normal range according to the guy who does my hair. I started with thick fine hair, and now it is thin and fine. I would also say it seems drier and more flyaway. It is not as shiny or manageable as it used to be either.

My post op diet was clear fluids only for week one, full liquids week 2, pureed and soft foods week 3 and 4 then solid food. I have been a very slow loser and have been getting between 75 and 90 gm of Protein everyday since week 3 or 4. I also have been taking a hair and nail supplement containing Biotin since 3 weeks prior to surgery.

My thing I found to cope with hair loss is a curling Iron brush with a 1 1/2 barrel. I think the big barrel is the key. It adds lots of body and volume. It is also helping with the flyaways.

[adargie 159]

Not on the hair topic but I am also a slow loser! Nice to see others out there that are the same! Yay for us. lol

My Hair loss started almost immediately after surgery, sometime that first week or so. My hair guy said some people have that reaction to the anesthesia. It slowed a little around 1 1/2 till month 3. Then from month 3 to 6 1/2 I had very heavy hair loss! It seems to be back to a normal rate now. I am about 8 months out. I got a haircut yesterday and he said he sees hair regrowth coming in. My hair volume is about 1/3 of what I started with. But I was lucky and started with very thick hair. About 8 years ago I donated my hair to locks of love, and I was told they had enough hair to make 3 wigs. Now my hair is on the thin side, but still in the thin/normal range according to the guy who does my hair. I started with thick fine hair, and now it is thin and fine. I would also say it seems drier and more flyaway. It is not as shiny or manageable as it used to be either.

My post op diet was clear fluids only for week one, full liquids week 2, pureed and soft foods week 3 and 4 then solid food. I have been a very slow loser and have been getting between 75 and 90 gm of Protein everyday since week 3 or 4. I also have been taking a hair and nail supplement containing Biotin since 3 weeks prior to surgery.

My thing I found to cope with hair loss is a curling Iron brush with a 1 1/2 barrel. I think the big barrel is the key. It adds lots of body and volume. It is also helping with the flyaways.

[livvsmum 2,370]

Mine started lightly around 2.5 months. I thought, ok, this is not bad. Kind of like after having a baby. But then between 3.5-4 months it started falling out fast and furious. I have/had thick curly hair so I don't think it's too noticeable, but I can DEFINITELY tell myself and mostly around the top and hairline. I am HOPING that it stops or at least slows soon and the regrowth helps. I hate even washing it because it freaks me out the amount of hair in my fingers after I am done.

[Beachbum2017 108]

I'm at 6 months out - mine started falling out at about 3 months and was falling out pretty rapidly - even my eyelashes were falling out. It has started to slow down now and my eyelashes are growing back in. I had very thick fine hair before and my hairdresser says that it's even finer now. I haven't noticed any regrowth on my head yet and it has gotten really thin on the top front part of my head. I can see my scalp (though others say they can't) and I've never been able to see my scalp without actually pulling my hair down to see a part before. I started taking Biotin 3 months before surgery and have recently started taking collagen hoping that it will help. I also have Bamboo Silica on order because I read somewhere that it really helps with hair regrowth - willing to try anything at this point!

[McButterpants 2,846]

I have a question beside Biotin what supplements did every one use to help with Hair loss.< /p>

My doc also said Folate in addition to the Biotin and to make sure you get the minimum Protein.< /p>

[Madam Reverie 2,958]

My hair loss started almost immediately after surgery, sometime that first week or so. My hair guy said some people have that reaction to the anesthesia. It slowed a little around 1 1/2 till month 3. Then from month 3 to 6 1/2 I had very heavy hair loss! It seems to be back to a normal rate now. I am about 8 months out. I got a haircut yesterday and he said he sees hair regrowth coming in. My hair volume is about 1/3 of what I started with. But I was lucky and started with very thick hair. About 8 years ago I donated my hair to locks of love, and I was told they had enough hair to make 3 wigs. Now my hair is on the thin side, but still in the thin/normal range according to the guy who does my hair. I started with thick fine hair, and now it is thin and fine. I would also say it seems drier and more flyaway. It is not as shiny or manageable as it used to be either.

My post op diet was clear fluids only for week one, full liquids week 2, pureed and soft foods week 3 and 4 then solid food. I have been a very slow loser and have been getting between 75 and 90 gm of Protein everyday since week 3 or 4. I also have been taking a hair and nail supplement containing Biotin since 3 weeks prior to surgery.

My thing I found to cope with Hair loss is a curling Iron brush with a 1 1/2 barrel. I think the big barrel is the key. It adds lots of body and volume. It is also helping with the flyaways.

I hear ya.. Just bought myself a 'Babyliss Big Hair'.. Hoping that will improve things.. Although, i don't know how a rotating brush with ceramic barrel will be that good for my hair.. But, worth a shot. If it's going to go, it's going to go. Then, it'll be Madam Revs, circa 2007 - Short bobbed hair again... Hurrumpf...

[reading mom 85]

My brush doesn't rotate. If someone can tell me how, I'll post a pic of it from my iphone.

[Redwillow13 29]

I have dreadlocks that I've been growing for four years. It's been quite a commitment and I'm soo afraid of any of them falling out. I'm hoping somebody who's been out of surgery for a while with dreadlocks can post here so I can hear about their experience.

[Madam Reverie 2,958]

Out of interest and as we're talking about about it...

Has anyone here used Minoxidil for their hair loss?

I bought 5% Spectral UHP a while back and pre-surgery, in preparation, but have been reading that it accelerates hairloss in the short term, that it works, but the hair is fine and downy and then, as soon as you stop using it, the new hair falls out?

Anyone had any experience of this?

[loseitsoon 157]

I have fine, thin hair it started falling out around month 4 and stopped about month 11 when I upped my calories from 800 to 1,100-1,200 a day. I started taking Biotin before my sleeve and have always gotten my Protein in. It's coming in curlier than before, I don't think it will ever be what it was before the sleeve. I think that's a small price to pay for being thin and healthy!

[LuckyT 58]

For what its worth I have luckily not starting losing my hair yet and I am at just over the 3 month mark for surgery. I attribute this to the use of Wen hair products. I survived a pulmonary embolism in December 2009 and was on blood thinners for 2 years!!!! As you can see by the exclamation points wasn't very happy with that Anyways, the blood thinners made my hair come out like crazy so I started using Wen because while recovering from embolism I watched QVC - a lot! LOL. So fast forward 2 years since I came off the blood thinners and my hair is almost twice as thick as it was before I began taking the blood thinners. I also take Biotin (5000 mcg) everyday - started that several months before sleeve surgery. I am keeping my fingers & toes crossed that the hair will stay in my head but like Madam if it starts to fall then I am going for a very short bob, except my style will be circa 2009

Edited January 25, 2014 by LuckyT

[gmanbat 5,889]

My hair is thin, brown, and straight now. I was born with thick, curly red hair. At 65 I am still not grey at all. My beard is grey but I color it so it doesn't look like I color my hair, which in warped macho reasoning seems the more masculine thing to do.

Off the subject, do you guys notice the hair ads at the side? The content driven ads are pretty interesting. I wonder if we could start a thread about vampires and get ads from the Transylvania Tourist Bureau?

Edited January 26, 2014 by gmanbat

[Nikiw2008 50]

Mine started last month at 4 mts out. I'm going crazy...when will it end?! Mine comes out in clumps, especially when I wash and blow dry and when I run my hand they my hair! I've also noticed my eyebrows are going away, so much that I have to pencil them in! I have very thick hair (thank goodness), so only me and my hairdresser see it! Geez, I hope it ends soon!! It's frightening!!

[Heyher 581]

Mine started around 8-9 weeks post op. Stared slow. Then around 4 months it really picked up. 9 months post op I chopped it into a pixie to get rid of all the damaged hair and haven't had any issues since.

[BelindaK 11]

Mine started at about 3 months out (early January) and was pretty bad for about two weeks. Now the loss has let up a little, but a lot still comes out. I don't wear my hair long anymore, its bobbed to about chin level. I'm a little bummed that its thinning but I'll survive. The Biotin will help the quality of regrowth and I'm going to add Omegas to help also. Also fresh fruits and veggies. I do notice my skin (hands, especially) is looking kinda dry and wrinkly.