Hello everyone!

I'm new to this forum. I just recently started my WLS journey and find myself having more and more questions each day. My name is Kiley. I'm 29 (soon to be 30 in August), and hail from Ohio.

This coming week I attend my first support group but would like to get a head start on speaking with those who've already had the surgery or like myself, are in the pre-op period.

You know, it's a funny thing. I'm feeling pretty confident about the surgery itself, but the aftermath is what I'm concerned about. For instance, loose skin, saggy breasts and hair loss. Has anyone ever experienced any of these and if so, how did you deal with it? Is there anyway at all to prevent these things from happening? I really don't want to spend the rest of my life going under the knife. Any help is appreciated!

I hate to sound vain by asking these questions but alas, I can't help it, lol. :/

"For instance, loose skin, saggy breasts and Hair loss. Has anyone ever experienced any of these and if so, how did you deal with it? Is there anyway at all to prevent these things from happening?"

Hair loss - happens as your body reacts to the extreme quick weight loss. It goes on for a couple of months and then it stops and your hair comes back. I don't know anyone who has avoided it. It's temporary.

You don't say if you have kids, but if you do, your boobs already sag. Will this make them sag more? Yep. Any way to avoid it. Stay fat. But if you are going to have surgery, nope.

As for loose skin, that depends on many things - age, ethnicity, skin condition, amount of weight loss. I have some flab flapping around, but I lost 150 pounds. I wear those flaps like a badge of honor. I haven't had plastics. I'm about 3 years out from surgery and the mother of a 19 year old and a 16 year old. My boobs would have been sagging anyway because - GRAVITY. So, you don't need to go under the knife again. Get your head in the right place about why you are losing your weight. Adopt the plan early and exercise to the extent you can now.

Best of luck.

I didn't lose any hair. Most people do, but for the vast majority, they're the only ones who notice it.

as for saggy skin, yep - very common. Although if you ask most vets, they'll say that they'd take their saggy skin ANY DAY over being morbidly obese. In retrospect, I'm not sure why I wasted one brain cell worrying about it. i am SO much happier now that i'm normal weight!!! Plus, for most people, it's pretty easy to hide - you'll likely be the only one who knows it's there (other than your partner and doctor!)

I'm 28, had my sleeve done last year when I was 27. 7.5 months out...I had a lot of hair to begin with and have experienced hair loss, so it's not too noticeable for me. I also started to lighten my hair as having darker hair you can see your scalp more. I have lost nearly 140lbs and do have sagging breasts (went from a 42F to a 34 DDD) and sagging skin on my belly, thighs and a teeeeeny bit on my arms. I feel like if you have stretch marks, wherever those areas are, they don't seem to recover as well as other parts (my experience). I've posted about this before though, it all depends on your genes...I have very sensitive skin and scar easily. Some people have hair loss, some don't, some people have sagging skin and others snap right back. At the end of the day, I chose to improve my health and expand my wardrobe and live with saggy breasts and skin...I want to fix it eventually but, am in no hurry. Reach out to me directly if you have any questions too! I know sometimes it can be hard to post in a public forum. I attached pictures of my belly and thighs and then a picture of me today. No spanks, no special bra (one of those new lounge bras by PINK), no control top leggings just me today. It's easily covered up. Everyone's different. Hope I've helped and not scared you, but I can tell you 1000% it was worth it for me. Best of luck on your journey!!!!

Saggy Breasts? CHECK!

Hair Loss? CHECK!

Loose skin? CHECK!

I knew ahead of time that these side effects were an inevitable part of rapid weight loss, so I was pretty much prepared for when eventually happened.

Like @Diana_in_Philly said above, my boobs were already gravity-affected, so they didn't really sag much more, only deflated, nothing a good bra doesn't take care of. In all honesty, I do sort of miss some of the size (so does Mr.), but I wouldn't trade my smaller boobs for more fat. Neither would Mr. I'm way healthier now.

The hair falling out freaked me out at first, but then I just chopped all my hair off into a pixie cut, which I wouldn't have been able to rock with my former bigger face. I love my hair now

As for the loose skin, I am giving into my vanity and getting plastic surgery. For my arms and most likely my tummy. I could probably live with my stomach, its not so bad, really, but the arms are non-negotiable, which I hated even when I was obese. I have "un-firm" thighs and neck too, but I don't hate them enough to knife 'em out.

You need to figure out what's important to you, but really, the ultimate goal would be to get healthy and live longer, right? Even if you aren't as firm and have less hair for a while?

I’m 52 years old and was totally freaked with the idea of losing hair. My dr said if I got 100 g of protein daily I wouldn’t lose my hair. I did on most days and he was right. Didn’t lose any hair! Unfortunately I already had saggy boobs and that has not improved. The rest of my body is ok though. Not too saggy. I started yoga, light weight work and lots of walking. I’ve been pleased with the progress thus far.
Just wish I’d done it years ago!

Hair loss - for most its unavoidable but it is temporary

Saggy breasts and loose skin - THATS A BADGE OF HONOR. You have to get there first and successfully lose the weight and keep it off. Plastic surgery is the only way to deal with loose skin and its up to you whether it bothers you enough to spend the thousands of dollars on it. Insurance doesn't cover plastic surgery. Sometime the loose skin causes rashes and pain and then you can try to get insurance to cover it. Start saving now if you think you'll need plastics. $10 a day for 3 years should get you over $10K saved to afford something like a tummy tuck.

Edited June 1, 20197 yr by KCgirl061

Hair situation is temporary.

22 hours ago, kcf9889 said:

I really don't want to spend the rest of my life going under the knife.

No one goes under the knife lifelong. you’re being a bit dramatic. We get it, the loose skin is an unknown factor. It’s a bit unnerving to think about. The choice is yours if you want plastics.

For vanity sake what photo looks better to you? I'll take my loose skin, saggy boob and butt on the right. Never expected to be a bikini model after weight loss surgery. My skin is livable.

Thank you all for answering my question. While I can't say I feel better after asking, I do appreciate everyone's openness and honesty. Guess I better start saving for plastic surgery.

Edited June 1, 20197 yr by Guest

On 6/1/2019 at 5:26 PM, kcf9889 said:

Thank you all for answering my question. While I can't say I feel better after asking, I do appreciate everyone's openness and honesty. Guess I better start saving for plastic surgery.

I apologize for my post. I realize I can be an @ss hat somedays.

I do respect anyone’s choice to have plastics or live with the situation. I have a former obese woman’s body issue/chip on my shoulder. After many years of having people say negative things about my obese body. I have a hard time with people describing my current loose skin as something to be ashamed of.

Your fear/concern is legitimate. I had the same thoughts. I googled worst- and best-case photo scenarios. If your skin causes rashes or mobility issues some insurance companies will cover them. Many do self-pay

2 hours ago, Healthy_life2 said:

I apologize for my post. I realize I can be an @ss hat somedays.

I do respect anyone’s choice to have plastics or live with the situation. I have a former obese woman’s body issue/chip on my shoulder. After many years of having people say negative things about my obese body. I have a hard time with people describing my current loose skin as something to be ashamed of.

Your fear/concern is legitimate. I had the same thoughts. I googled worst- and best-case photo scenarios. If your skin causes rashes or mobility issues some insurance companies will cover them. Many do self-pay

I feel the same, and get where you're coming from. It's hard to shake the "chip on the shoulder" when you've made so much progress and felt shame for one thing and then another... You have some killer legs girl!!! I'm jealous!!! LOL My thighs aren't "short short" ready! I got some knee-length ones though that I'm comfortable in. We all learn to live with what we decide and while, I'd love to get some corrective surgery eventually. I'm relishing in the weight loss. The sag doesn't make me regret the surgery even for a second.

Once again I want to thank you all who took the time to reply to this inquiry.

I think the primary reason this subject is bothering me is because I can't shake this "I can't catch a break" feeling. If I end up with loose skin, deflated boobs and thin to no hair, I'm afraid I'll be perceived as unattractive as I was when I was heavy. You know?

I'm still young, never been in a relationship before and really want to experience that. I especially want to marry and have a family. So I'm sure you can understand why I would feel the way I do. I want to look as good as I feel.

I will admit that since going to my first in-person support group last night, I do feel considerably better about things than I did a few days ago. Hopefully, this newfound optimism sticks with me throughout this whole process. Fingers crossed!

Also, a very big congratulations to all of you who've been through this journey and have kept the weight off.

On 6/3/2019 at 1:00 PM, Healthy_life2 said:

I apologize for my post. I realize I can be an @ss hat somedays.

I do respect anyone’s choice to have plastics or live with the situation. I have a former obese woman’s body issue/chip on my shoulder. After many years of having people say negative things about my obese body. I have a hard time with people describing my current loose skin as something to be ashamed of.

Your fear/concern is legitimate. I had the same thoughts. I googled worst- and best-case photo scenarios. If your skin causes rashes or mobility issues some insurance companies will cover them. Many do self-pay

I understand, no worries at all.

I admit last week I was a bundle of nerves and anxiety as I just started this whole process. I was overthinking every possible scenario and starting to doubt my decision to get this done. Especially when you take that first step, you get bombarded with information, different scenarios and of course, tons of mixed feelings.

I appreciate your comment and congratulate you on all your success.

Edited June 5, 20197 yr by Guest

14 minutes ago, kcf9889 said:

Once again I want to thank you all who took the time to reply to this inquiry.

I think the primary reason this subject is bothering me is because I can't shake this "I can't catch a break" feeling. If I end up with loose skin, deflated boobs and thin to no hair, I'm afraid I'll be perceived as unattractive as I was when I was heavy. You know?

I'm still young, never been in a relationship before and really want to experience that. I especially want to marry and have a family. So I'm sure you can understand why I would feel the way I do. I want to look as good as I feel.

I will admit that since going to my first in-person support group last night, I do feel considerably better about things than I did a few days ago. Hopefully, this newfound optimism sticks with me throughout this whole process. Fingers crossed!

Also, a very big congratulations to all of you who've been through this journey and have kept the weight off.

the hair loss is temporary - if you even lose hair at all (I did not). Even if you do, if you're like a majority of us, you're the only one who'll notice. It's rare for it to come out in huge clumps and leave noticeable spots.

the saggy skin isn't ideal, but it is WAY better than being morbidly obese. Most of us can easily hide it -- but you can't hide being obese. I obsessed constantly before surgery about the loose skin and the hair thing. In retrospect, I can't believe I wasted even one brain cell on either one. In the grand scheme of things, both are extremely minor. I am SO MUCH happier being normal weight!! I would take temporary hair loss and saggy skin ANY DAY over being morbidly obese!

3 minutes ago, catwoman7 said:

the Hair loss is temporary - if you even lose hair at all (I did not). Even if you do, if you're like a majority of us, you're the only one who'll notice. It's rare for it to come out in huge clumps and leave noticeable spots.

the saggy skin isn't ideal, but it is WAY better than being morbidly obese. Most of us can easily hide it -- but you can't hide being obese. I obsessed constantly before surgery about the loose skin and the hair thing. In retrospect, I can't believe I wasted even one brain cell on either one. In the grand scheme of things, both are extremely minor. I am SO MUCH happier being normal weight!! I would take temporary hair loss and saggy skin ANY DAY over being morbidly obese!

I know, now that I'm starting to think a bit clearer, I can't believe I'm worrying about it.

You make an excellent point there. Loose skin can be hidden, obesity cannot.

Congratulations on all your success.

Kiley I am also a Buckeye, born and bred,live in Mount Vernon, so almost in the exact,center,a proud veteran of 9 months,had an RNY but many Sleeve and ESG friends, older than dirt (63) but not ready to be counted out,IF ever you want to Talk I am almost always around here! Looking forward to see how your JOURNEY goes! And I do bleed Scarlet and Gray, even had my Surgery at Ohio State, so you can see what I mean. Have a Beautiful and Blessed Day!