I know there are a million posts about hair loss. But I'm putting this here because I just want to whine about it.

I started shedding heavily at 3 months post op. The last two weeks have been so much worse. Literal handfuls in my brush, in my shower drain, when I run my hand through my hair, in my dryer screen, loose hairs all over my clothes (so professional looking!).

I'm getting my protein in. I've taken biotin since before surgery. I added L-lysine and zinc two weeks ago. I take a good multivitamin. I rarely blow dry or flat iron my hair. I feel like I'm doing everything right.

I don't think it is noticeable yet, in most circumstances. But I can feel it is significantly thinner. It is also thin at my hairline and temples. I was at a industry golf tournament last week, and I pulled my hair up into a pony tail. The thinning at my temples and hairline was completely obvious. I wanted to cry. I hope that my visor mostly covered it up.

If this continues, I'm going to have to do something other than whine. I've googled weaves for Caucasian hair. It seems possible, but it's not common. Seems like there is a serious upcharge vs. salons that specialize in AA hair (not that that is inexpensive!).

The only thing I can see that might be contributing diet wise, is my calories have been very low since surgery. I am almost always under 500 cals/day, except sometimes when I'm traveling and eating every meal out. Some days I'm well under 400 cals. I really don't want to up these cals, because I have a lot of restriction and mostly don't have physical hunger. I don't want to eat just to eat. That's a big part of why I needed WLS. I also want to get to goal as quickly as possible. I have a small window at the end of the year to have plastics. If I'm not at goal by that time then my work and travel schedule will make it very difficult to find the time in 2019 for surgery and recovery.

Ugh, thanks for listening

You can repetitively stress the follicle out to the point where hair won't grow from it any more, no matter what you do.
Lots of manipulation, wear and tear, so while its in a fragile state best to protect it

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

13 minutes ago, Tealael said:

Anyone trying Jamaican black Castor oil on their temple area for added protection of follicles , hot oil treatments, co washing only, washing and manipulating less? These are things done within the AA community to mitigate the effects of traction alopecia

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

What is co washing?

I've been to my dermatologist to discuss this extensively, I've researched it as well, the only thing I added was llysine, made sure my minerals were on point my iron ferritin stores were good, and prayer because at the end of the day genetically you get what you get. BUT... I don't wash and blow dry my hair every day, my hair stays up in a bun to prevent manipulation and the effects of gravity, I wear a silk scarf to bed and have satin pillow cases. I've made a very good effort to help telogen effluvium to move on ...

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

What is co washing?

Conditioner washing

https://www.babble.com/beauty/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-co-washing/

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

27 minutes ago, Tealael said:

Anyone trying Jamaican black Castor oil on their temple area for added protection of follicles , hot oil treatments, co washing only, washing and manipulating less?

8 minutes ago, Tealael said:

II don't wash and blow dry my hair every day, my hair stays up in a bun to prevent manipulation and the effects of gravity, I wear a silk scarf to bed and have satin pillow cases. I've made a very good effort to help telogen effluvium to move on ...

I have tried caster oil, hot oil treatments, no poo, co washing. I can't deal with those because my hair is straight and tends to oily already. All that just makes it oilier, and leads me to washing more often, which seems to defeat the purpose.

I definitely wash much less often. If I'm home, running normal errands, and just seeing close friends or family, I don't wash. So I can go days and days between washing, which I never used to. I have never really manipulate my hair much, usually wash and air dry. I'd only blow dry and flat iron for important meetings, or very special occasions. Day to day I usually keep my hair up in a loose bun. I started sleeping in a silk night cap. I'm tempted to wear it all day when I work from home, but I see too many neighbors, delivery people, etc. to be able to pull that off

I have tried caster oil, hot oil treatments, no poo, co washing. I can't deal with those because my hair is straight and tends to oily already. All that just makes it oilier, and leads me to washing more often, which seems to defeat the purpose.
I definitely wash much less often. If I'm home, running normal errands, and just seeing close friends or family, I don't wash. So I can go days and days between washing, which I never used to. I have never really manipulate my hair much, usually wash and air dry. I'd only blow dry and flat Iron for important meetings, or very special occasions. Day to day I usually keep my hair up in a loose bun. I started sleeping in a silk night cap. I'm tempted to wear it all day when I work from home, but I see too many neighbors, delivery people, etc. to be able to pull that off

You've run the gauntlet

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

27 minutes ago, Tealael said:

You've run the gauntlet

I'm just desperate and vain!

I've been slowly losing hair for years - it's hereditary in my family for the women to have hair loss. So I'm thinking that after the surgery, when I start losing my hair, I'll just shave my head. I did it before for St. Baldrick's Brave the Shave, and I actually really loved it. I never had to worry about how my hair looked, and I was pretty cute bald!

Edited July 20, 20188 yr by Someday

21 minutes ago, Someday said:

I've been slowly losing hair for years - it's hereditary in my family for the women to have Hair loss. So I'm thinking that after the surgery, when I start losing my hair, I'll just shave my head. I did it before for St. Baldrick's Brave the Shave, and I actually really loved it. I never had to worry about how my hair looked, and I was pretty cute bald!

Look at you, and I'm afraid to go short, much less bald!

Edited July 20, 20188 yr by sillykitty

37 minutes ago, sillykitty said:

Look at you, and I'm afraid to go short, much less bald!

Lol, long hair just slows me down!

Edited July 20, 20188 yr by Someday

On 07/20/2018 at 14:10, sillykitty said:

Look at you, and I'm afraid to go short, much less bald!

Don’t be afraid. You might end pleasantly surprised, I cried when I cut my hair but a cute short cut actually hides how thin my hair has gotten. It did a great job of making my fine thin hair look thicker, which I wasn’t expecting.

I'm just desperate and vain!

Me too, why do you think I have this much info lol

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

18 hours ago, Tealael said:

Anyone trying Jamaican black Castor oil on their temple area for added protection of follicles , hot oil treatments, co washing only, washing and manipulating less? These are things done within the AA community to mitigate the effects of traction alopecia

In the first few months I used an oil pack treatment, and I usually wash my hair every two or three days - shampoo then a leave-in conditioner. My hair had been feeling dry post-op and that generally seemed to fix it, but I knew that if a shedding cycle had started then there was no real fix. My hair's long and I either wore it down or up with a wooden hairpin, which reduces any hairline-traction pull compared to barrettes or elastics. And yet...

Matt, judging from the staggering of surgeries (sillykitty's first, then mine, then yours) you may start to notice loss soon. Then again you also have MUCH shorter and lighter hair than I do, and I probably wouldn't have noticed this if I wasn't pulling long dark strands off of everything I own and getting masses of hair wrapped around my fingers in the shower. It's only because I'm aware of how much hair I'm losing that I'm examining my hairline in the mirror. Colleagues would be unlikely to notice right now, and once I cut my hair short, it should be pretty invisible. It's not like I've got scalp shining through anywhere.

Tealeal, is your hair still in braids (going by the profile pic)? If so, how often do you have it re-braided?

Edited July 21, 20188 yr by sideeye

In the first few months I used an oil pack treatment, and I usually wash my hair every two or three days - Shampoo then a leave-in conditioner. My hair had been feeling dry post-op and that generally seemed to fix it, but I knew that if a shedding cycle had started then there was no real fix. My hair's long and I either wore it down or up with a wooden hairpin, which reduces any hairline-traction pull compared to barrettes or elastics. And yet...

Matt, judging from the staggering of surgeries (sillykitty's first, then mine, then yours) you may start to notice loss soon. Then again you also have MUCH shorter and lighter hair than I do, and I probably wouldn't have noticed this if I wasn't pulling long dark strands off of everything I own and getting masses of hair wrapped around my fingers in the shower. It's only because I'm aware of how much hair I'm losing that I'm examining my hairline in the mirror. Colleagues would be unlikely to notice right now, and once I cut my hair short, it should be pretty invisible. It's not like I've got scalp shining through anywhere.

Tealeal, is your hair still in braids (going by the profile pic)? If so, how often do you have it re-braided?

My hair is in locs, as in dread locs, 20 years this year.

VSG2017 HW 249 SW 238 CW 167

6 hours ago, Tealael said:

My hair is in locs, as in dread locs, 20 years this year.

I've got pretty limited knowledge about locs, but how would you know if your hair was shedding with that hairstyle? Would it show as patchiness on your scalp rather than active shedding (since I assume the shed hairs would be wrapped into the locs regardless)? Or would you mostly know when regrowth starts and there are suddenly a lot of very short hairs that haven't been integrated into the locs yet? What's the indicator you've looked for to determine whether or not you're losing hair?

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not sure I would've noted that I was losing hair if it wasn't coming out in my hands all the time - it's only very recently I'm looking at my hairline and thinking it looks thin, and if my hair was already sectioned I'm not sure I would've noticed at all until a regrowth stage. And now I'm just being proactive with the full-on chop (and I've had short hair before and don't mind it).