I logged in tonight to ask this same question, so that you. Whether it be the obesity (LOL Mangopickle) or not, I've had super thick hair my entire life. You could floss with a strand. I'm kinda nervous about losing some. I am not looking at a severe calorie deficit prior to surgery...just after. Wondering how bad it will be.

Mangopickle is right, it happens to most of us and is unavoidable. Like she said, it's going to happen about 3 months out and go for a few months. However let me tell you, I wasn't hitting my protein goals for a couple of weeks at 3 months out (vacationing and forgot to eat. A lot!). That's when mine started falling out, and I thought that was why. But my loss lasted closer to 6 months because of that lack of protein at 3 months out (per my doctor) and I was really getting scared! Point being you can lose a lot more than you need to if you aren't eating right and getting your protein consistently. The good news here is that it does stop falling out and in most cases does grow back. I'm 3 years out now and it's really close to where it was prior to surgery.

I heard the shampoo Nioxen (not sure of the spelling) may be helpful for people who are losing hair. I have extremely thick hair and when I mentioned losing hair after my surgery (which should be w/in the next 2 mos) to my stylist she said I would be the first person she would be happy to see lose some hair She then said all kidding aside, hair is protein so the best thing I can do is to make sure I consistently meet my protein goals from day 1. I won't be too excited to see a dramatic hair loss, but if I can keep it to a 3-4 mo period of loss, I guess that is worth the long-term weight loss that will come with it. Good luck to you.

I have NO idea why that photo is so large. LOL. I'm sorry twin!

I went the other way. Being already follically challenged, I didn't want to lose any more, so in July I started shaving my head. I had wanted to try it for a while already. I figured if the hair is reacting to the surgery and nutritional issues, I would remove the challenge.

I only had one person connect the baldness and weight loss and ask if anything health-related was going on!

Being thinner with a bald head (and the obligatory mirrored sunglasses) is a better look!

Rob

I thinned a bit. Enough for me to know but nobody else noticed, or said anything anyway. My thinning was overall so no patches to worry about. It was just like getting a new haircut, you notice it a lot at first when you wash or brush your hair. After a while it just becomes normal. I am 7 months out and I still lose a little hair but not as much as the 3-5 month stage. In fact I think it is coming back now. Protein intake is not and has not been my major priority the way it is with most VSG'rs (different medical advice). Some days I have a fair bit, others I just don't. But I don't think I've lost more or less hair than most folk on here. I have not used biotin. I die my hair as well about once a month to cover the many grey hairs. I worried about that early on at the time my hair started thinning but I haven't seen any major consequences of that tbh. But yes, the hair thinning is well worth it if the pay off is the weight loss.

For those of you with noticeably thinning hair, try a fill-in product such as Toppik or Nanogen. They work really well. I used them even before surgery since I lost about half my hair years ago just due to bad genetics.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4bamB1j9f5Y
https://youtube.com/watch?v=BHsZ0ncWRfk

clcesari wrote: »

I have NO idea why that photo is so large. LOL. I'm sorry twin!

It's large because if reflects the pride pictured. Great job!

Don't blame yourself.

Honestly, I don't know how much you can do about thinning hair. I know we all hear, "getting your protein in!" will prevent hair loss, but proteinemia is not the only reason people lose hair. Honestly, I ate more protein post-op than I ever did with my prior diet. I still lost some hair, and it was patently not due to proteinemia.

I think hair loss in this situation is probably caused by extreme fat loss (and fat loss causes extreme changes in our bodies that we are completely unaware of, such as fluctuations in hormone levels). I started thinning at 2 months post op, and it stopped at about 3 or so months post op. My protein intake was ample. I was taking the recommended vitamins. My labs were improving, not showing anything wrong.

The biggest change in me was my size and fat loss. When my hair began to thin, I was more than 20 lbs down, which was 1/4 of my excess body weight lost in 2 months (I started at a relatively low obese BMI and had about 80 lbs to lose, at the outset, to get to a normal BMI). I had already begun reaping the other benefits of WLS and weight loss, including resolution of my T2 diabetes, PCOS symptoms, and HBP. Clearly, more was going on inside of me than met the eye.

The only other times my hair thinned was after I had each of my two children, and with both of them, I lost a staggering amount of "baby weight" within the first 1-2 months - upwards of 20-30 lbs in that short time period. Again, hair loss started at about 2 months.

So... back on track. What can you do to help your thinning hair:

Be gentle with your hair. Use gentle shampoo every other day or as needed, and use a generous amount of leave in conditioner (on the hair shaft not on the roots) every time your hair gets wet. Don't squeeze your hair after you rinse in the shower. Don't comb through your hair with your fingers in the shower. Don't aggressively towel dry your hair, instead, get a turbie twist or super absorbent towel, wrap it around your head gently, and leave it on without squeezing, rubbing, or blotting for at least 10 minutes after you shower. You give the conditioner a chance to suck in and the excess water a chance to come out. Use a gentle brush, like "The Wet Brush" to comb without breakage. Consider not styling your hair and letting it dry naturally. If you must blow dry your hair, make sure you use a gentle brush to get it mostly dry, then style with a round brush at the very end. Don't use pony tail holders, head bands, or clips, as they increase hair breakage. Ease up on coloring your hair, especially if you lighten it, and doing other such treatments. If you have grey that you need to cover, there are some great hair color sticks and wands that can help with touch ups and roots, but don't harm your hair and wash out easily.

Yeah, I'm really confused about why nobody had mentioned Biotin or the Hair, Skin & Nails supplements to help with hair loss. I was told by several people that this helped them, my doctor and nutritionist suggested it too.. Does nobody else's doctors suggest these things? My operation date is Tuesday, but I'm going to be loading up on the Biotin as soon as possible to see if it will stave off as much hair loss as possible.

boomerkae wrote: »

I tried biotin for about 2 months, and didn't notice any improvements in my nails....so I'm not dumping more into it. My surgeon said it was mixed results with biotin.

So have you seen change for the worse, or just no change at all?

I had almost given up, I continued to lose hair for months and months. I was eating over 100 g of protein daily, taking biotin etc but I still was losing a significant amount of hair. As a last ditch effort, I tried Journey hair balance vitamins. I was skeptical but thought it was worth a shot. These vitamins really work for me. My hair loss did dramatically slow down and I have lots of new hair growth. The recommended dose is 4 a day but I think that might be for gastric bypass patients. I have been taking 2 a day and have seen a huge change. Here is the link

https://shop.bariatriceating.com/Journey-HAIR-BALANCE-CAPSULES--Nutrient-Boost-for-Hair-Nails-120_p_160.html

hope this helps some of you

boomerkae wrote: »

jamezln wrote: »

boomerkae wrote: »

I tried biotin for about 2 months, and didn't notice any improvements in my nails....so I'm not dumping more into it. My surgeon said it was mixed results with biotin.

So have you seen change for the worse, or just no change at all?

I'd say no change. I was hoping for stronger nails, as currently, I have pretty thick hair. they still split and aren't super strong. The pills were cheap enough at Walmart, so I'd only spent maybe $3, so it wasn't a total waste, just not what I'd been hoping for.

Me too. I tried biotin/keratin supplements. You can get store brand at Target. No obvious improvement.

4 months post op and just noticed my hair thinning....the panic is insane. My hair is thin to begin with...hoping what I've read about it only lasting a little while and then growing back is true. Crossing fingers, toes, and what remaining hair I have

commissionette wrote: »

renovagirl wrote: »

I had almost given up, I continued to lose hair for months and months. I was eating over 100 g of protein daily, taking biotin etc but I still was losing a significant amount of hair. As a last ditch effort, I tried Journey hair balance vitamins. I was skeptical but thought it was worth a shot. These vitamins really work for me. My hair loss did dramatically slow down and I have lots of new hair growth. The recommended dose is 4 a day but I think that might be for gastric bypass patients. I have been taking 2 a day and have seen a huge change. Here is the link

https://shop.bariatriceating.com/Journey-HAIR-BALANCE-CAPSULES--Nutrient-Boost-for-Hair-Nails-120_p_160.html

hope this helps some of you

I just ordered this so I'll let you know if I see any difference when I start taking it.

I hope it works for you. I am the biggest skeptic and never expected it to help me. But I'm a believer now!