Hey people.. I'm 5 months out of surgery 109.8lbs down but the hair loss is crazy, does anyone know what I can take to stop this other then the Vitamins I've been prescribed xx

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There's nothing you can do NOW to prevent hair loss. It is a result of trauma and events that took place months ago. The good news is, if you have been getting your protein in and taking your vitamins, then you should see it slow down pretty soon and the new growth start soon after. I lost hair from about 3.5 months out until a little over 5 months out. Then the new growth started right away.

Right now all you can do is eat your Protein and take Biotin, although the latter of the two is debatable as to how well it works. As your body recovers from being terrified that you cut out your stomach and only fed it liquids and soft food for awhile, it will eventually divert resources back to your less important areas, like the skin and follicles in your scalp. In theory, losing hair as a result of stress or nutritional changes is your body trying to save you from death- it sends the important resources to your vital organs. I suppose its rationale is that you can be bald and alive, or you can have hair and be dead, and while it's kind of an extreme analogy, that's the "thought" process of the body when it goes through major trauma and nutritional change.

That being said, now that you are done traumatizing your body it will eventually realize that you are not trying to kill it and it will slowly give you back your hair. The better you feed yourself and keep up with your nutrition, the more quickly your body will relax and think "ok cool, we aren't dying, let's have pretty hair again".

My body did not decide to give me back my hair again for awhile, lol. I lost hair I think around 5 months, and it stayed thin for awhile, probably almost 18 months. Then it started growing back and at 2 years, half of it fell out again, although I'm pretty sure that was more just stress hair loss than anything to do with my sleeve. It has now been about 8 months since my last "omg I'm going bald" incident and I can feel that my hair is thickening. When I brush it there is a giant poof around my ears where the new hair has grown in and the older hair is still thinner. I've also paid a lot of attention to Vitamins the last few months because my thin hair bothered me. I'm not sure if biotin works or not but I've been taking a lot of it and it's not like it's hurting me, so maybe it's working.

At any rate...your hair will slowly start to grow back and the best thing you can do is eat well, be kind to your hair, and maybe invest in a hat. Jk on that last one, lol.

Right now all you can do is eat your Protein and take Biotin, although the latter of the two is debatable as to how well it works. As your body recovers from being terrified that you cut out your stomach and only fed it liquids and soft food for awhile, it will eventually divert resources back to your less important areas, like the skin and follicles in your scalp. In theory, losing hair as a result of stress or nutritional changes is your body trying to save you from death- it sends the important resources to your vital organs. I suppose its rationale is that you can be bald and alive, or you can have hair and be dead, and while it's kind of an extreme analogy, that's the "thought" process of the body when it goes through major trauma and nutritional change.

That being said, now that you are done traumatizing your body it will eventually realize that you are not trying to kill it and it will slowly give you back your hair. The better you feed yourself and keep up with your nutrition, the more quickly your body will relax and think "ok cool, we aren't dying, let's have pretty hair again".

My body did not decide to give me back my hair again for awhile, lol. I lost hair I think around 5 months, and it stayed thin for awhile, probably almost 18 months. Then it started growing back and at 2 years, half of it fell out again, although I'm pretty sure that was more just stress hair loss than anything to do with my sleeve. It has now been about 8 months since my last "omg I'm going bald" incident and I can feel that my hair is thickening. When I brush it there is a giant poof around my ears where the new hair has grown in and the older hair is still thinner. I've also paid a lot of attention to Vitamins the last few months because my thin hair bothered me. I'm not sure if biotin works or not but I've been taking a lot of it and it's not like it's hurting me, so maybe it's working.

At any rate...your hair will slowly start to grow back and the best thing you can do is eat well, be kind to your hair, and maybe invest in a hat. Jk on that last one, lol.

Lool thankyou for you advice, it just scared me because I had very thick hair and now it's thinned out a lot, I've never heard of biotin so yes I'll try them!! And seriously I am thinking to invest in a hat ????

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Cut your hair short. This will minimize your noticing hair shedding when you wash your hair.

Otherwise, nothing will really help. I don't even think Biotin helps because hair shedding for bariatric patients is caused by hormones and the stress of losing weight.

When your weight stabilizes it will grow back.

Edited April 26, 201610 yr by Proud2BMe

I've definitely seen no evidence that biotin does anything to prevent hair loss. But there is some support for the idea that it helps with regrowth. So it might be worth taking for hair strength and thickness when it does eventually regrow.

Cut your hair short. This will minimize your noticing hair shedding when you wash your hair.

Otherwise, nothing will really help. I don't even think Biotin helps because hair shedding for bariatric patients is caused by hormones and the stress of losing weight.

When your weight stabilizes it will grow back.

I couldn't cut my hair short cos it wouldn't suit me lool but thanks for your advice anyways

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I've definitely seen no evidence that biotin does anything to prevent hair loss. But there is some support for the idea that it helps with regrowth. So it might be worth taking for hair strength and thickness when it does eventually regrow.

Thanks for your advice.. I'm gonna have a look in to some hair growth stuff

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Just keep your Protein high. My hair shed like crazy but as soon as it stopped, it started coming back very rapidly. Focus on creating an environment for regrowth, trying to stop the shedding is pointless.

There are a ton of threads on hair, if you use search you might find some good suggestions.

I'm at 6 months with no hair loss. Low BMI - only lost 45 lbs so far but it's thrilling. I put these drops in my Water every day - heard this from a WLS veteran who claimed it worked for her 100 lb loss with only slight hair loss. Worth a try. Cheap too.

It's important to get the Protein and using quality Vitamins. Most vitamins only have about a 15% absorption rate in your body, but there are vitamins that have been proven to have a 95% absorption! I found switching to these vitamins as well as making sure I get my protein in has helped with the hair loss and I also noticed my fingernails got weak as well but this also changed that too! Good luck on your journey!

eggs are a good source of Biotin and Protein, if you're looking for a food source.

I started taking prenatal Vitamins and it stopped completely.

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Use Nioxin 2 shampoo and conditioner. A miracle worker for me!

I found a great product for the interim. It doesn't grow your hair back, but it camouflages thinness and covers the scalp. I have used it personally and find it to be a fantastic product. It isn't a dye or spray. It's actually teeny tiny hairs that match your hair color, and the teeny tiny hairs stick to the downy hair on your scalp. Undetectable. Doesn't run. Makes your hair look so much thicker. I love it!

Edited May 8, 201610 yr by JupiterinVirgo