Why Do We Lose Our Hair?

[ooffa511 506]

Is it bc we had surgery or change in diet??

[bikerchick519 202]

Good question, mine has been falling out in handfuls since about 3 months out and I took Biotin from 2 weeks after surgery until just recently. Thank goodness I had a ton of hair to start with or I would be bald by now.

[ouroborous 519]

It is common to lose hair after any surgery, it is called telogen effluvium (see for example: http://www.follicle.com/section2/5.html). This is unfortunate, but unavoidable. The good news is that it is completely reversible; if you can live with its effects for a few months, your hair should come back as thick as before.

It's also possible to have thinning hair (technically a slowdown in the regrowth portion of the hair cycle) after weight loss surgery due to Protein and Iron insufficiency. This is avoidable as long as you make sure that your blood levels are sufficient; generally speaking, if you follow all of the doctor and nutritionist guidelines to the letter, you should be able to minimize this variety of Hair loss.< /p>

Biotin and silica, unfortunately, don't do much for telogen effluvium, which is the initial hair loss after surgery that most people complain about. They MAY help (studies are inconclusive, IIRC) long-term after WLS to keep your hair healthy. But they won't really slow down that initial, alarming hair loss. Best thing is just to try to cope with it and realize that it's temporary, and adopt an attitude of "okay, my hair isn't as pretty right now, but that's just temporary, and every OTHER part of me is improving in health and appearance."

And also try to take good care of yourself

[Pennie 66]

Great post, ouroborous!

My hair started falling out at 3 months past surgery. I took Biotin, but it really did nothing to change my Hair loss. I never had a bald patch or anything, but I was really shocked by the handfulls that would just fall out. My kids were always finding "mommy hairs" all over the house.

My surgeon said the reason was due to the drastic dietary changes and the rapid weight loss. People that dont have the surgery but go on very low calorie diets can experience the same thing. Some people do lose hair as a reaction to the anesthesia, but that tends to happen earlier.

[ouroborous 519]

Yup, telogen effluvium is usually from 2-12-ish weeks post-op. After that it's more likely due to dietary changes.

[lessofme2010 25]

I haven't lost any hair. I have had many surgeries and not lost hair.. Who knows why??

I did lose some hair when I had my children many years ago.

I am 6 mo. Out today and no hairloss so far.

Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Julie

[Swimmer 199]

Mine started really falling out at three months. I don't like it at all and wish it would stop, but I'm still so happy with the weight loss and I thankfully have thick hair and a lot of it. I started taking Biotin months before surgery, but admit I don't always get my Protein in.

[spainter2009 12]

My hair falls out like that now before surgery, I am wondering if it will be worse after my surgery and if there is anything that I can start doing now to try and keep it from falling out any more than it all ready does. I have ALOT of hair so loosing some would not be to bad but i dont want it all to come out.

[Wheetsin 714]

For some people, it can be a reaction to the surgery: the anesthesia, or the trauma to the body.

For most people, it's the dietary change, primarily, and probably the fact that it's coupled with the physical trauma. The delay (why it seems to fall into a 3 month pattern, but not always) has a few contributors. For one, the hairloss is a systemic symptom. Nothing happened to the hair itself, so when it falls out it is a symptom of a larger problem. Systemic problems take a while to establish. For our post-op bodies, hair is just not a priority. I'm on my 7th week out and of the 500ish calories I might be able to manage in a day, I can pretty much guarantee that my body isn't prioritizing supporting my hair's lifecycle. (Actually each follicle has its own, independent lifecycle. Your body doesn't care about the hair so it triggers it to go into the telogen/dormant stage. It'll switch back on eventually).

Just surgery/body trauma is not often enough. Example:

My lapband put in - hairloss around 2 - 3 months (I'd also lost about 70 lbs by then)

My GB taken out - no hairloss

My lapband taken out - no hairloss

My sleeve done - we'll see when the hairloss begins.

This is just me as an example, but the only surgery(ies) after which I had hairloss was the one where I also had a severe nutritional deficiency, significant weightloss, etc.

[Wheetsin 714]

There's no research that I know of that indicates Biotin makes any difference. It's not even one of the major nurtients associated with hair growth/loss. IIRC Iron is actually the nutrient most strongly connected to hairloss/growth. It doesn't hurt to supplement though, as long as you're low on what you're supplementing. A girl I know who took Biotin trying to ward off hairloss ended up with really, really hairy arms - no joke.

Mine started really falling out at three months. I don't like it at all and wish it would stop, but I'm still so happy with the weight loss and I thankfully have thick hair and a lot of it. I started taking biotin months before surgery, but admit I don't always get my Protein in.

[Less of Leslie 90]

Mine started at 4 mo po. It is ALARMING! I knew to expect it, but when it happened I was like WTH?! Handfulls in the shower, shedding all over the place. Luckily my hair is thick so I can afford to lose some hair. I just want to stop "molting" already!!

[Wheetsin 714]

Yes, I think I truly went into shock when I first started losing my hair with my band. I just washed my hair one morning, and happened to see my hands as I went to rinse them off under the showerhead, and froze. One of those moments where the hair on the back of my neck stood up and everything else just went a little dark. It is so alarming. And at the time my hair was really, really long (about to my waist) so it really looked like a lot of hair. I can clearly remember my first thought being, "So this is what people who have chemotherapy see..." it was that startling. And I too knew to expect it. I just thought I'd see a little more hair caught in the drain, or more strands in my comb or something. I didn't think I'd see furry hands!

Mine started at 4 mo po. It is ALARMING! I knew to expect it, but when it happened I was like WTH?! Handfulls in the shower, shedding all over the place. Luckily my hair is thick so I can afford to lose some hair. I just want to stop "molting" already!!

[june13sleever 223]

Month 11 no regrowth yet . Still losing, but it seems to be the normal loss now. Just waiting for it to come back. Heard some people never get their hair back. Bought some clip in pieces

[spainter2009 12]

I have went through chemo and total know what the shock is all about one min you have a full head of hair and the next day you are bald. I hope that it is not that bad. I was at least some hair on my head

[fluffylibra30 323]

Mine started falling out fast at 2 months. My NUT recommended a month of zinc. Not sure if it worked but I am 4 1/2 months out, it is still falling out but it has slowed down drastically!! I don't hyperventilate when I wash comb and blow dry my hair anymore and my hair balls are smaller.