Hi there all,

I was wondering about the extent of hair loss with the DS procedure as I have had a gastric bypass in the past that had to be reversed and with theBypass I lost a lot of hair although taking biotin and all vitamins. My assumption would be that since this is the surgery that seems to have the highest rate of malabsorption it will be worse.

Edited June 19, 20206 yr by Ronnysgal

I had the sleeve, so I can't speak to your exact question.

But I was googling around about the hair loss issue a few months ago, and found that actually hair loss is common a couple months after lots of surgeries. It's something about the shock to the system. The protein/vitamin deficiencies of WLS surgeries can make it worse, but it's not the main cause. That's why people have hair loss even after a sleeve. So it will probably happen it again if it happened to you before, but it won't necessarily be worse.

Thank you. I lost almost half my hair with the last surgery. I bought this hair regrowth stuff that was pretty awesome and helped. So if it gets bad I will try that again. Hopefully it will not be horrible,

I have had multiple surgeries but the Gastric Bypass was the only one I had hair loss with so I guess I was fortunate with other surgeries

Thank you for the input.

the above poster is right - it's due to shock/trauma to the body, and it can happen with lots of different types of surgeries. It happens to some women after giving birth, too.

I started losing it alarmingly at about four months. So I just got it cut really short--think Carol on the Walking Dead--so now that it is growing back in it's not crazy with a lot of short hairs and long hairs-it's all short!

5 hours ago, Ronnysgal said:

Hi there all,

I was wondering about the extent of Hair loss with the DS procedure as I have had a gastric bypass in the past that had to be reversed and with theBypass I lost a lot of hair although taking Biotin and all Vitamins. My assumption would be that since this is the surgery that seems to have the highest rate of malabsorption it will be worse.

Can I ask why you had to reverse a Bypass? I've not heard of that. I'd also love to know what you took that helped your hair regrow. Wishing you the best of luck with your next surgery!

Nothing helps to stop the loss or speed up when your regrow begins. Sorry.
The surgery is a shock to your body & speeds up your natural hair loss cycle. You may notice a change in texture too. As @catwoman7 said it is common after a lot of surgeries & pregnancy & can happen after experiencing excessive stress or trauma.

All the vitamins & minerals supposedly for hair growth will only help the new hair growth not the hair you have now - it’s all ready dead. Special shampoos & treatments may help the quality of the hair you have (make it smoother or shinier) but they won’t stop it falling out.

You just have to go through the process & it will be different for everyone. Mine started at about month 3 & lasted a good 6 months losing close to 50%. I have several inches of regrow now.

Shudder, shudder, I’m a bit over 3 months and so far no hair loss...but trust me, every day is suspense “will this be the day that clumps come out?”? I’m admittedly a bit terrorized by the thought of losing 50% of my hair?!

Arabesque, SO happy for YOU that you’re in the new growth phase!

54 minutes ago, Lily66 said:

Shudder, shudder, I’m a bit over 3 months and so far no hair loss...but trust me, every day is suspense “will this be the day that clumps come out?”? I’m admittedly a bit terrorized by the thought of losing 50% of my hair?!

Arabesque, SO happy for YOU that you’re in the new growth phase!

not everyone loses that much. In fact, 50% is probably on the high end. I lost hardly any. The only reason I knew I was losing any is I noticed extra strands in my comb (after washing my hair) from about months 6-10. Just looking at my hair - no - I couldn't tell. I know others who lost quite a bit more than I did, but still, they're the only people who noticed.

21 hours ago, Ronnysgal said:

Hi there all,

I was wondering about the extent of Hair loss with the DS procedure as I have had a gastric bypass in the past that had to be reversed and with theBypass I lost a lot of hair although taking Biotin and all Vitamins. My assumption would be that since this is the surgery that seems to have the highest rate of malabsorption it will be worse.

My hair loss began at about 4 months and lasted till about a year, year and a half. In addition to what the other posters mentioned, with the DS you’re malabsorbing a good deal of protein. Protein helps hair grow but the body uses it in more vital areas first, especially in the first year.

Thankfully, mine was most obvious in my hairbrush and shower drain.

Edited June 20, 20206 yr by Postop

On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2020 at 5:43 PM, MaybeMeow said:

Can I ask why you had to reverse a Bypass? I've not heard of that. I'd also love to know what you took that helped your hair regrow. Wishing you the best of luck with your next surgery!

Sure you can ask. I had to have it reversed as I would not stop developing ulcers even though I was on three different medications and long story short would not stop losing weight, I lost 200 lbs in a year and a half and another 10 before they could schedule the surgery and reverse. I have quickly gained back 100 and that is good and bad as I lost 50lbs below where I was supposed to have stopped. I was throwing up blood and was just a sick lady. Unfortunately, now I have developed a severe case of GERD and some of the other health issues have came back. My doctor is a wonderful surgeon and thinks that the MDS will help the GERD as you should not be able to have it nor ulcers from this surgery, I hope he is right as every time I eat I get to my stomach and the neds don't seem to be assisting at all.

Edited June 22, 20206 yr by Ronnysgal

On 6/19/2020 at 5:43 PM, MaybeMeow said:

Can I ask why you had to reverse a Bypass? I've not heard of that.

this isn't the issue with the poster who originally wrote this, but i've heard of other people who've had it reversed because they decided to revise to a DS. The DS has a sleeved stomach - so they have to reverse the bypass, then do a sleeve, and then do the intestinal part of the DS. There are only a handful of surgeons who are really experienced in doing these RNY-to-DS conversions, and it's not common - so you don't often hear of people who'vee had this done, but they're out there...

Thank you for the response.

I ended up shaving my head due to the amount of hair loss. My hair was already thin prior to surgery. Biotin did not help. I kept it buzzed for about 9 months. Unregulated vitamin levels are the biggest contributing factor up to a year post op. I am 13 months post op and it is starting to grow in and not be brittle and is truly healthy. It is a completely normal side effect of any bariatric surgery.

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