Scared with my hair loss

[EmmaWang 0]

For the past 5 weeks, I’ve been losing lots of hairs everyday, I am very concerned with it.

The Hair loss started in my 3rd month post-op. I don’t know what caused it.

I haven’t had good restriction with my band even though I've had 6 fills.

I eat almost 2 cups of food each meal and I consume around 100-120 grams of Protein everyday together with plenty of vegetable. I take Biotin 3 times per day, also drink benefiber so I wouldn’t have the Constipation issue.

I mean, I have been consuming more than enough nutrients everyday and my weight loss is kept at a slow pace (around 1-1.5 lbs each week), why am I losing so much hair? This is so scary! Another thing is I’ve been staying on the birth control pills before and after the surgery. However, when I had the surgery in March, I stopped the pill on the surgery day and a couple of days after the surgery, therefore it broke my cycle. I don’t know if I should attribute the hair loss to that or the surgery.

Edited July 1, 2009 by EmmaWang

[spudgirl 0]

I'm not sure if I can help you, but I do have a similar story. I also started losing a lot of hair about 3 months after my surgery. I was eating all kinds of Protein and my doctor was even having me take Protein Shots twice a day, and that still didn't seem to help. I'm still losing the hair, but I don't feel like my hair has gotten any thinner, if that makes sense. I also feel like my hair has stopped growing. Even my husband has said that it doesn't look like it's getting any longer. So, I'm scared, too. If you happen to find out anything about what we might be able to do, please let me know.

[EmmaWang 0]

The only advice from my doctor is to take 3-5 times of Biotin everyday. By doing this, it still hasn't stopped my Hair loss. If your hair doesn't look any thinner, that must mean the new hair has replaced the lost ones. I dont' think you should worried so much about the hair loss then.

[RestlessMonkey 7]

My surgeon covered this in his preop seminar. I'll paraphrase here:

Almost ALL my patients will start to lose hair, and lose hair, from about 3 to about 6 months post op. supplements like Protein or Biotin don't seem to effect it. NO ONE but a lady who owned a wig shop has "needed" a wig or toupee, and EVERYONE has had it grow back. It seems to be related to the trauma of surgery, as best we can tell. So don't let it bother you, buy pricey supplements if you think they'll make you feel better, and wait it out. It will pass.

I could tell I was losing hair but my hairdresser (who is GREAT and been doing my hair 20 years) said it never got thinner where she could even tell. At almost 1 year out I'm back to "normal" anyway.

So...hang in there. It will pass.

[EmmaWang 0]

My surgeon covered this in his preop seminar. I'll paraphrase here:

Almost ALL my patients will start to lose hair, and lose hair, from about 3 to about 6 months post op. supplements like Protein or Biotin don't seem to effect it. NO ONE but a lady who owned a wig shop has "needed" a wig or toupee, and EVERYONE has had it grow back. It seems to be related to the trauma of surgery, as best we can tell. So don't let it bother you, buy pricey supplements if you think they'll make you feel better, and wait it out. It will pass.

So...hang in there. It will pass.

Thanks lots for the info. Really hope this passes soon.

[maryrose 2]

Hi Emma,

I agree with restless monkey. I also find two years out I go through phases of where I start losing my hair again, but then it stops.

I use Rogaine for women. I have used it since the beginning because I can't afford to really lose a lot of hair. My hair is already baby fine.

If you have nice thick hair to begin with, I would not worry about this.

[EmmaWang 0]

Thank you Maryrose. I do have fine thick hair to start with. But it just freaks me out when I see handful of hair falling off just when I run my fingers through. My Mom has also noticed that my hair had gotten a little thinner.

[WaistBand 0]

Two things: first, are you getting enough good-quality (heart-healthy) fat?

And secondly, stopping birth control pills may play in to this hair loss. I don't know if you've ever been pregnant, but if you have, you know how luxurious Hair growth can be. Really, it's not growth, but the retention of hairs that ordinarily are shed on a daily basis. For the duration of pregnancy, many women do not shed these hairs. They are dismayed when, post-delivery, hair seems to come out in handfuls. Really, they're simply losing hairs that would have been shed little by little over a long period of time, and they wind up with the same head of hair they had pre-pregnancy---but it's really alarming when it's happening to your head!

Birth control pills can create the same sort of phenomenon, and stopping them can result in a sort of mass-shedding.

[sandiegokate 0]

A friend of mine recommeded a tablespoon of coconut oil daily in a Protein shake. It has numerous benefits but is also a good fat.. hair follicles need fat and Protein. In the first couple of months after the band there is very little fat intake which "could" be a contributer. It could be just the "way it is" too!

Not sure if it will help.. I plan on trying it myself! :tongue_smilie: