Hair loss

[KimEndoRN 33]

I had a gastric bypass on April 8th. Total weight loss since starting the process.... 120lbs. That's fantastic, even if I do say so myself! Lol. But I'm going bald. I'm losing so much hair! I'm taking the bariatric multivits twice a day, bariatric Calcium wafers twice a day, B12 two a day & Biotin. I bought $40 Nioxin Shampoo & conditioner to help with thinning hair. Protein intake is great, usually 80 + a day. Have any of you found anything to help?

[shelly75 35]

I had the sleeve on April 10th. Only taking a Multivitamin a day and an Iron supplement every other day. My hair started falling out after 2 1/2 months. I started taking Viviscal 3 weeks ago and I think my hair is not falling out as much. They say it takes at least 1 or 2 months before it starts working. I was also told to get a haircut and keep my hair short for a while, which I did. I notice that my hair is thinner, but it's not noticeable to other people. Hopefully, this keeps working. My friend also had the sleeve and she was losing a lot of hair. She started doing a treatment with coconut oil and lime every week and she says it got better. I wish I could help you more, but that's all I have for now. Congrats on your weight loss, that's amazing. You loss twice as much as me.

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

I started losing hair at 5 months and at 8 1/2 months am still losing. I did everything right, have lost weight slowly, ate healthy, and nothing made a difference. I think I was dumb enough to think it would not happen to me. Biotin, I am convinced, is a placebo.

[McButterpants 2,846]

According to my doc, if you're going to lose your hair, you're going to lose it. Whatever you lose due to surgery will grow back. She approved taking Biotin and Folic Acid - this is for regrowth, not prevention. I used Nioxin Shampoo and conditioner as well.

I lost a lot of hair - between months 2 and 7...it was horrifying, especially when I got to the third month. I would lose a lot in the shower, then more when I fixed it. You could see the hair on the floor in front of the mirror. I saw some new growth around month 5 even though I was still losing. I lost a bunch up front and on top at first, then started losing it on the side and in the back.

I have a lot of new growth now - lots of really short little baby hairs. My bangs are finally growing back. I had to go to a shorter cut to try to mask the loss. I also used a product called Toppik to try to hid the balding spots - it works great!

Even though I lost a lot of hair, I am so glad I went thru WLS. It was totally worth it. It's not easy, but you will get thru this.

[Jessica.O 47]

I saw another thread about Hair loss and someone said something that really put it in perspective for me:

If shaving your head would make you lose your excess body weight, would you do it?

Of course you would.

[Moxy 58]

As i hair stylist who is loosing her hair i can sympathise. Nioxin will not stop our hair from falling out due to surgery That product is meant to cleans the scalp of a certain hormone that causes thin hair and baldness. We are losing our hair due to the shock of surgery. It will grow back once our body adjusts. I have found that if you go a lighter shade of color it will mask it a bit against the scalp. or you can buy a powder to apply to the scalp at most beauty supply stores to match your own hair color to camouflage the thinner spots.

I started loosing mine at the 4 month mark and im now at 8.5 months. im still loosing but i have noticed i do have a lot of hair that is around 1/2 inch long around my face and bang areas. My doc told me on average it starts to regrow at the ten month mark.

[KimEndoRN 33]

Thanks all for the advise & your story. I knew I wasn't alone, but I'm telling you this sucks!!

[beverlyfox 3]

I am only 2 weeks post op so I haven't experienced this yet. But was told to expect it. I was told the Hair loss is due to the fact that we are basically on a starvation diet. It is our bodies response to slow the growth of hair to conserve energy.

[finediva 979]

I started losing hair at 5 months and at 8 1/2 months am still losing. I did everything right, have lost weight slowly, ate healthy, and nothing made a difference. I think I was dumb enough to think it would not happen to me. Biotin, I am convinced, is a placebo.

OK, I have to say it....you are funny as hell. Some of the things you say just crack me up........"Biotin, I am convinced is a placebo"......ha ha ha ha

[LindafromFlorida 1,542]

OK, I have to say it....you are funny as hell. Some of the things you say just crack me up........"Biotin, I am convinced is a placebo"......ha ha ha ha

Olde..... age does this to you Fine LMAO. If I am not laughing I am crying! Emotions, crying, you name it. My poor husband .... Loves me, despite! Hahaha

[JustWatchMe 7,117]

I just posted about Hair loss as well. I know for a fact it's not due to extreme weight loss because I did that once without WLS and didn't lose any hair.

[barriej9 61]

Does anyone know if you lose body hair as well? I have been wondering about this one.

[terry1118 1,274]

Does anyone know if you lose body hair as well? I have been wondering about this one.

I lost my hair by the handful between four and nine months following surgery. Then it stopped falling out and began to grow again. I now have about two inches of new growth. I'm keeping if cut short until the new growth catches up.

As a happy bonus I have not had to shave my legs or underarms since last fall. :-)

[Avryv 26]

I have always had extremely thick long hair and about 3 months post OP it started falling out by they handfuls. I've been dealing with it for about a month and although no one else can tell both my husband and I can. I hate that this is a side effect but do hope it all comes back! I'll keep trying to be as healthy as I can and take care of it the best I can.

[NewSetOfCurves 1,553]

My doc told me it takes your hair about 18 months to two years out to go back to its normal thickness. I'm almost 14 months. My Hair loss started at 3 months post op and stopped at about the 9th month. My hair is slowly thickening back up.