Help I'm losing my hair in clumps I had surgery June 9th with port revision in august now sept 24 my hair is coming out I am so nervous I am going bald has anyone on this site had excessive hair loss after lap band let me know I am freakin out big time help

Flower, for me this time of year I seem to lose alot of hair, maybe your body is just changing. My DH used to shake his head at the amount of hair he would pull from the drain, I mean LOADS and it would go on for a few months. Don't panic, it will grow back. Some times rapid wl will cause this. Also, are you getting enough protein?

The first thing you should do is call your doctor!! But I will tell you that my doctor told me that if I did not take my daily Calcium and Vitamin supplements and get 60-70 grams of Protein every day that my hair would fall out. Please make sure you are doing all these things, but even if you are call your doctor.

Good luck!

flower, MollyMolly posted this on another thread about hair loss...sorry for the Search highlights but I copied and pasted. Hope it helps!!!

quote:

Here is a post from a Yahoo group, I hope it helps. Basically, the surgery itself is probably the cause, and yes, it takes a few months past the surgery before you actually see the hair fall out because of how your hair cycle works. You're saying 6 months instead of two to four, but every person's body is different.

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Telogen Effluvium

? What Is It?

? Symptoms

? Diagnosis

? Expected Duration

? Prevention

? Treatment

? When To Call A Professional

? Prognosis

? Additional Info

What Is It?

At any given time, about 85% to 90% of the hairs on the average person's head are actively growing (the anagen phase) and the others are resting (the telogen phase). Typically, a hair is in the anagen phase for two to four years, then enters the telogen phase, rests for about two to four months, and then falls out and is replaced by a new, growing hair. The average person naturally loses about 100 hairs a day.

In a person with telogen effluvium, some body change or shock pushes more hairs into the telogen phase. Typically in this condition, about 30% of the hairs stop growing and go into the resting phase before falling out. So if you have telogen effluvium, you may lose an average of 300 hairs a day instead of 100.

Telogen effluvium can be triggered by a number of different events, including:

* Surgery

* Major physical trauma

* Major psychological stress

* High fever or severe infection

* Extreme weight loss

* Extreme change in diet

* Abrupt hormonal changes, including those associated with childbirth and menopause

* Iron deficiency

* Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism

* A new medication

Because hairs that enter the telogen phase rest in place for two to four months before falling out, you may not notice any hair loss until two to four months after the event that caused the problem. Telogen effluvium rarely lasts longer than six months, although some cases last longer.

Although losing a great number of hairs within a short time can be frightening, the condition is usually temporary. Each hair that is pushed prematurely into the telogen phase is replaced by a new, growing hair, so there is no danger of complete baldness. Because hair on the scalp grows slowly, your hair may feel or look thinner than usual for a time, but fullness will return as the new hairs grow in.

Symptoms

If you have telogen effluvium, you'll notice more hair than usual accumulating on your pillowcase, on the shower or bathroom floor and in your hairbrush. Your scalp hair may feel or look less dense than usual. Often, though, the hair loss is subtle, and other people may not notice anything different about your hair.

Diagnosis

Most cases of telogen effluvium can be diagnosed based on medical history and an examination of the scalp and hair. If the hair loss has been occurring for several months, there may be visible thinning Patches, but often the hair loss is not dramatic enough for a doctor to notice. If you have large bald patches, you probably don't have telogen effluvium. If the doctor gently tugs on some hairs on your scalp and four or more hairs come out, you probably have telogen effluvium. Also, the hairs will look like hairs in the telogen phase - they will have a white bulb at the end that was in the scalp, and will not have a gel-like covering around that end of the hair.

You may be asked to gather all hairs that fall out of your head over a 24-hour period, and count them to see if the hair loss is truly excessive. Losing fewer than 100 hairs in a day is considered normal. You also may be asked to gather and count lost hairs every one or two weeks to see when the shedding starts to decline.

In some rare cases, if there is reason to doubt the diagnosis, a biopsy of the scalp may be done. In this procedure, a small piece of the scalp that includes several hair follicles is removed and examined under a microscope. Your doctor also may do blood tests to check for conditions such as thyroid abnormalities that may be contributing to hair loss.

Expected Duration

Typically, hair loss begins two to four months after the event that triggered the problem, and lasts approximately six months. New hairs begin growing immediately after the hair falls out, but significant growth may not be noticed for several months.

Prevention

Nothing can be done to prevent most of the types of physical shock that can start telogen effluvium. Some cases may be caused by a poor diet, and these might be prevented by eating a balanced diet that provides enough Protein, iron and other nutrients.

Treatment

No treatment for active telogen effluvium has been proven effective.

Some causes of the disorder can be corrected. For example, if you have a poor diet, consult a dietitian to help you balance it. If the hair loss began after you started a new medication, talk to your doctor to see if the medication should be discontinued. Many times, however, the cause is a specific event in the past, and you can expect that the hair will grow back. In cases where hair growth has not returned to a satisfactory level, your doctor may prescribe minoxidil (Rogaine), a lotion applied to the scalp that stimulates hair growth in some people.

When To Call A Professional

See your doctor if you experience excessive hair loss or obvious thinning patches on your scalp.

Prognosis

The outlook for telogen effluvium is very good. Most cases run their course within six to nine months, and the hair usually grows back. In some cases, the disorder may last longer. In other cases, not all hairs grow back.

Additional Info

American Academy of Dermatology

http://www.aad.org/

Last updated July 14, 2005

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there's also lots more than just protein your body needs to keep your hair growing and healthy - your diet needs to be balanced all round.

At any salon, get a proteinizer shampoo and leave in conditioner. Seems to work for me.

Flower -

I had surgery on June 9 and in the past two weeks I've started losing my hair too. I follow a high Protein diet and take my Vitamins. It's starting to clog my drains and the roller on my vacuum cleaner is getting stuck because of the hair rolling around it. I've started taking zync and if it doesn't stop within a couple of more weeks, I will have my blood work done to see if I'm low in Vitamin B12 or something else.

Tricia H

Several previous posts have suggested Biotin which I began taking, and it seems to have slowed the fall out. But, also I added a good multi at the same time.

Wow. I have very long hair and have just noticed in the last month or two that my hair seemed to be coming out a lot more. I just got banded a week ago, so the surgery isn't the cause of mine, and I'm not sure what is. But it freaks me out. I was told awhile back that I was iron-deficient, so maybe that's my cause. If so, the Centrums I started taking (chewing) after surgery should help.

I use a shampoo, conditioner, scalp spray from Nioxin found in hair salons. I have lost and continue to loose alot of hair also. protein is good, might be the fat in my diet, really cut it out when weight loss slowed down, but increasing to see if hair thickens and quits falling out. hope this helps

I have posted several times about hair loss. Nobody knows how scary it is until you go through it. Truely, th eonly answer that helped me was one from Molly. Th ewhole analyitcal answer about hair growth/cycles etc. No shampoo or conditioner is going to help when your hair is falling out faster than you can imagine. I just kept saying that therre had to be an answer. A medical answer. Heres my last word on hair loss....SHAME ON EVERY DOCTOR OUT THERE!!! Why is it that I had to get my answers from a fellow band person? Why couldnt one doctor address this problem? I must have asked 5 doctors. Even some of everyone heres beloved ones. No answers!

My hair has stopped falling out so fast. Still disturbing.

Christine

Truely, th eonly answer that helped me was one from Molly.

This is the answer I copied and pasted above...from your hair loss thread, Christine. I thought it was a very helpful explanation, as well. Glad to hear it's getting better.