Gastric Sleeve Side Effects

[DanielleQ 3]

How were your periods after getting the gastric sleeve? Did they become regular or disappear all together?

Did you experience Hair loss? (tips on how to prevent please )

Last but not least. . . If you reached your goal weight and did not want to lose anymore weight how did you slow down your weight loss?

[summerseeker 1,848]

Hello Danielle. I am light years out from periods but can say from reading on here women get very fertile after this surgery. If you are in the right age bracket and do not want a pregnancy, you need to take extra care. As we release fat cells that stored our hormones our bodies and minds are in chaos. I felt as if I was in the early days of pregnancy. Tearful, nausea and had mood swings.

Yes I had Hair loss, many / most of us do. Mine begun at about 4 months out. It is upsetting, I began to think I would need a wig and then I stopped shedding. I had my very long hair cut into a pixie cut. I have never heard anyone on here say that any formula no matter the expense, has worked for them. Your hair is dead as soon as it appears out of your scalp. The surgery accelerates the normal shedding cycle and new growth takes a while to catch up.

I am still in the weight loss stage, its very slow now but I am still grateful for every pound. I have researched the next step and its a simple formula really. Eat enough calories each day for the daily quota your body needs. It seems 1500 - 2000 calories a day are where we need to be. You just need to find your own set point and stick to it.

Good luck going forward

[catwoman7 10,864]

I agree with summerseeker. I was already post-menopausal when I had my surgery so the period changes didn't affect me, but I read on here all the time about screwed up periods and mood swings during the first few weeks or months after surgery. It eventually all settles back down and regulates. But yes - it's supposedly due to the estrogen in your fat cells being released during the rapid weight loss phase.

I had very little Hair loss (not enough for anyone to notice) which occurred during months 5-9. It does happen to most of us. It can range from none at all to lots of shedding - although not like it does to chemo patients. It may or may not be noticeable to others. I almost never hear about people having to get wigs. At most, those with noticeable loss usually get short cuts so it's not as noticeable. Although again, you may not lose any at all or lose very little. And there's really nothing you can do about it. As mentioned above, it's already dead, and the shock of surgery (plus the fact we take in very few calories the first few weeks and months) is just speeding up the normal growth/shedding cycle.

your weight loss is going to naturally slow as you get closer and closer to your goal. In fact, those last few pounds can be a BEAR to get off. For some of us, the loss stops naturally. But if you're wanting yours to stop and it doesn't seem to be doing it on its own, you can always increase your calorie intake to stop it. Keep in mind that it's very common to gain 10-20 lbs after hitting your lowest weight, so you might want to factor that in. I intentionally went below my goal a bit to account for that. And also, it's more common to not quite reach your goal than to lose too much, so stopping the loss usually isn't an issue for many of us. But again - if you're in the situation where you need to stop it, it's just a matter of increasing your calorie intake.

[Arabesque 6,478]

It’s pretty common for your menstrual cycle to be a bit screwed up with your weight loss (longer, shorter, more or less frequent, heavier or lighter). Like the others have said it’s the estrogen stored in your fat being released into your blood stream as you lose weight. I was in menopause too & all my menopausal symptoms disappeared yay! - they came back though when I got close to my goal unfortunately.

You can’t stop the Hair loss. Your hair naturally sheds & after surgery your rate of loss temporarily accelerates (it’s quite common after bigger surgeries, pregnancy, stressful periods). It often starts around month 4+/- & lasts about 3+/- months. Some people say take Biotin or other supplements & use special hair treatments but their hair loss all seems to last the same 3 months or so. How much you lose is individual. Your new hair is growing as it always dies at the same time & at its usual rate.

I too cut my long hair to just above my shoulder. Shorter hair is bouncier & looks mor full than long hair. It also takes less time for your new growth to catch up in length to your shorter length than your long length so your hair will look & feel as thick as it always did more quickly.

Only way to slow your loss is to eat more calories. If you get to this point work with your dietician to ensure you’re following a way of eating that is healthy, still nutrient dense & is sustainable. Remember too, the surgery changes your body weight set point. We don’t always end at a weight we wanted or expected but is the weight your body is happiest at & is easiest to maintain.

Edited October 30, 2023 by Arabesque

[SuziDavis 544]

Man, I was all over the place for a while, I actually bought pregnancy tests because I was so late at one point, then the next month I was super early. But I evened out around 6 months in. I was so freaked out, my surgeon made a point to tell everyone how much more fertile you are after surgery... I wasn't ready lol.

[NCL04321 151]

I was also post-menopausal, but my hormones were still affected as i would just cry in the store trying to figure out what to buy as this was a new way of shopping after the procedure. We have to re learn how to shop, and cook and that felt overwhelming to me! I also am still in the process of losing my hair. It started at about 4-5 months. It falls out like crazy when i wash it. I like many others cut my long hair and opted for just above the shoulder length. I am 6.5 months post op so hopefully it will stop falling out soon!! As far as slowing weight loss, it will slow on its own. I dont think many of us on here have to worry about losing too much weight. There are a few, but a majority of us I believe are able to maintain without any more weight loss once we hit our set point. At least that is what I have read from other posts.

[ms.sss 14,670]

PERIODS:

I had my WLS when I was 47 and i *thought* I was already menopausal, as I hadn't had my period in a couple (few?) years before that.

Well.

2-3 weeks after surgery, I got my period...heavily...for like 8 days or something like that (which for me is an anomaly as when I used to have periods, they would only last 4-5 days max, and were very light).

Then I got my period like clockwork every 4 weeks after that for about 4 years. Go figure...I wasn't menopausal at all, I was just fat, lol

I am actually going through it now i think as my last period was in the spring 2022 last year (i'm 5 yrs post op now).

So yeah, i raise my hand for weird period happenings.

HAIR LOSS:

Yep, i lost a significant amount of hair. It all grew back eventually, and I feel like its actually thicker now...but that may be due to the fact that my diet is better? I dunno. Bonus as well is that my hair now has a little wave to it, which i love. Unfortunately, I don't think there is anything you can do to prevent it. My advice if it happens to you, is to just ride it out. its temporary and just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.

STOPPING WEIGHT LOSS:

My not-so-surprising answer to this: EAT MORE. lol. It took me few months of increasing my calorie intake until i figured out what calorie amount i needed to maintain. I lost 10+ lbs while i figured this out, but at least i did, ha!

Now in my case (and alot of others) my restriction was still very much in effect, so I had to invoke the strategy of eating more higher-calorie foods vs. just more food in general. It was a little bit of a challenge as I was still in weight-loss mode thinking so switching mindsets to allow myself eat things i avoided for 7 months was a bit of mind f*ck.

I'm really good at it now though, lol.

Good Luck! ❤️