Need some help....

Hi all... I have a question. A serious one. My hair is STILL coming out!! What can I do? I have tried the Biotin before with no change. Granted I have a lot of hair, but this is ridiculous. Every (and I mean EVERY) time I run my fingers through my hair, I get a handful. It is always on my arms, shoulders, clothes. The shower is awful and so is my pillow. The surgery/post op life has never been easy for me. My original doc made an absolute mess of me and I was reconstructed in June of 2004 to the best of the new docs capabilities. I have lost around 150 lbs. I weigh 134 this morning. The last bloodwork showed my B-12 was the only deficiency I had and it was in the floor. I have always dumped, but on any red meat and all breads and a few sugary foods. I still do 3 protein shakes a day and take all my supplements like a good girl. I just am at a loss with the hair. Can anyone help? I surely would appreciate it. I hope all is well with everyone. How is everyone doing here at past 3 years post op? How do you deal with life and all of our struggles? Pegi 283/134

Pegi, I'm doing horribly. My surgery was 10/22/03. I managed to lose 145 lbs before stabilizing. Nothing I did, not more exercise nor a further reduction in calories, would let me lose more than that. No matter, though. I was happy and far, FAR healthier than the 402+lbs I was before surgery! Fast forward to 3 years and 1 month (today, as a matter of fact!) later and I'm back to over 300 lbs, essentially having regained nearly 50 lbs. I'm disgusted with myself. I love food entirely too much. I'm so disappointed in myself and depressed over letting both myself and my surgeon down. I seem to have ZERO self-control and I have no idea what it feels like to be "full"/satisfied - I don't think I ever learned, to be honest . I've had my pouch size checked (in April this year) just to make sure and it's not all that larger than it was right after surgery. So why can I eat as much as I do? I don't know. And why do I make the crappy choices I do? Another good question! And the only answer I can think of is that I have no self control whatsoever. As for the hairloss, I, too, tried Biotin with little, if any, result. You might try Redken's CAT protein restructuring treatment. I LOVE the stuff! It helps improve the strength of your hair by as much as 65% - and I figure if the rest of our bodies need protein, no doubt our hair does, too! Sure couldn't hurt. Also, around the time I began losing my hair (approx. 4-5 months post-op) my hairdresser recommended a good OTC (like from Walmart) prenatal vitamin - that way, she said, I'd get all the extra vitamins and minerals my post WLS body needed PLUS the stuff my hair needed to grow back. I can honestly say that it helped me A LOT! Best of luck to you in your continued post-op journey. Keep us informed! Oh, and here's wishing very Happy Holidays to you and yours! Amy Y.

Dear Pegi, I know you wrote this post a long time ago. How are you now? I found that no hair cure is good for the long run, once you quit it is back to the drawing board.... Trim your hair and go as short as you can, the shorter, the thicker it is. Eating avacado once a day helped me. I had a baby girl in 2006 and had even more hair loss. I just keep it trimmed up and flush out the hair so I dont have to look at it...... it is finally coming around now. I take B12 shots and never have had a bad test result. After the baby I ran into iron deficency issues and took IV iron treatments and am okay now. Keeping your protein up seems to be the core of staying healthy. Your hair will come back I bet, just is taking time as all things worth waiting for do. Big hug and let me know how you are. Liz 280/120