3 Years Post - LOSING Hair Now?

[RichardVST 20]

I am 3 years post surgery, lost around 150lbs. I have settled on a meal plan that is not overly neurotic about all the stuff they said we must do at the beginning. I eat 2 - 3 meals a day. I try to eat mostly Protein - meat, fish, chicken. I don't eat much vegetables and I eat no fruit - it upsets my stomach too much. I will eat carbs when I feel like it, including sweets, and when my weight moves I adjust accordingly. I gave up all alcohol completely. My weight has gone up a max of 10 lbs, but I easily got it back in line.

The whole attraction to the sleeve was that it simply gave me a smaller stomach, hence smaller ability or need to overeat. Supposedly us sleevers don't have to worry about all the mal-absorption issues of bypass surgery. Supposedly we can eat like normal people and as long as we eat a balanced diet, we should get all the nutrition we need. Which is why all the obsession over tons of Protein, tons of Water, doesn't make total sense to me.

I am not sure how much protein I get every day. If I had to guess my protein intake, I would probably say 40 to 60 g/day. I just eat my 2 to 3 balanced meals and I watch my weight, which has been relatively stable - certainly more stable than any other period of my life. By the way, I do aerobic exercise (elliptical) 45 min x 5 days/week. I do drink the required daily Water.

All seems good, except for uncontrollable heartburn, but that is another issue - maybe related, but all my doctors have given up on the heartburn.

Anyway, my hair all of the sudden (last 2 months) is seriously thinning. I figured that this was probably just my time to lose my hair - I am a 58 year old male. But I have always had very full hair and never had any signs of receding or thinning. I didn't have any Hair loss after surgery. In just two months, my hair is falling out rapidly and my hair thickness is visibly different.

I'd hate to say I was wrong about my laid back approach to my eating - because, I really found it tedious to obsess so much about every little thing I ate, but I do like having hair! I guess what I am saying is that I would go back to the obsessive diet route prescribed by all the Sleever experts if it would get me back and keep my hair, but if there is no way that 3 years post surgery my new hair loss is from my diet, I'd rather stick with a diet that seems to be working for me. Could this be about too little protein? Or is it wrong to say that us sleevers don't need to think about mal-absorption and not sufficient for us to eat like normal people is smaller portions.

Thoughts?

Thanks

[Christinamo7 4,042]

there are other reasons you could be loosing hair - and I think I would want to speak to my PCP about it.

at this point I would not think it had anything to do with the weight loss surgery.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

Are you taking your Vitamins?

It's true that sleevers don't have to worry as much about malabsorption, but reduced food intake means reduced nutrient intake. You may be fully absorbing all of the nutrients you eat, but if you aren't eating enough of them, that's no better than malabsorption. You said you don't eat many fruits and vegetables, which is why bariatric multi-vitamins are critical.

You should probably aim for closer to 80 grams of Protein a day minimum. Your stomach size was reduced, but your Protein requirement wasn't. The daily recommended allowance of protein in the US is 50 grams, but conventional wisdom is that is on the low side because our food pyramid is a joke, putting way too much emphasis on carbs.

Have you had blood work done recently? That would be the next logical step.

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

I agree with everything @@JamieLogical said.

I'm not as far along as you. I'm 19.5 months post-op. But I do take my Vitamins / minerals / supplements daily. I push hard to eat my veggies and fruits, but I can't get as many down as I once did pre-op. So eating fewer of them (even if there's no malabsorption) nets me fewer of those kinds of nutrients.

And I probably average at least 90 grams of Protein each day. I don't know what else causes baldness (could be lots of things), but not enough Protein is one thing that does contribute it.

BTW, your elliptical exercise regimen sounds great. Congratulations!

[JamieLogical 8,727]

So a quick Google search tells me that the minimum recommended Protein intake is 0.36 grams per pound of body weight. If your profile is current and your weight is 213, you need 76.68 grams of Protein per day. That's for a sedentary adult male though and it sounds like you aren't sedentary. This same article says "If you have a physically demanding job, you walk a lot, run, swim or do any sort of exercise, then you need more protein."

https://authoritynutrition.com/how-much-protein-per-day/

[FocusOnMeNow 599]

So is it falling out in a patch in the back in the "male-pattern"? Or all over? If all over then possibly due to nutrients. Usually Iron and/or Biotin and of course, Protein. If its coming out in the "male pattern" then dude - go get some rogaine and put it on there every night if it means that much to you. And yes, go see your PCP get your levels checked and also your hormones.

[RichardVST 20]

Thanks for all the comments, except for maybe (slightly) sarcastic but probably well-intentioned "FocusOnMeNow". I'm fine going bald eventually. When it occurred to me that it was a relatively quick onset, thinning all over, and not classic male pattern - I thought maybe worth exploring, especially since if sleeve related, it could be a sign of nutritional deficiency. Just wondered if this was normal old man stuff or something related to my sleeve.

As I mentioned, my heartburn problem is a big bummer and limitation. Vitamins and most food really aggravate my discomfort. My last physical and blood draw was about 9 months ago and everything was fine then. I plan on working on my Protein, and will check with my Primary.

Thanks again for the good advice and support.

[JamieLogical 8,727]

@@RichardVST What have you tried to control your acid? Might be worth revisiting that with your PCP as well.