The big Hair Loss question again

So I've hit my three months and sure enough I'm losing my hair. Today it was so much that I'm pretty close to tears . So I've done a bunch of research this morning and thought I would share. Apparently about 1/3 of us who have had surgery will lose approximately half of our hair. From everything I've read there isn't a darn thing we can do about it, even if one was to use something like Rogaine it doesn't work for at least two months by which time mostly likely our hair would have started regrowing on it's own. Now that I've actually done some research on it apparently it doesn't have anything to do with nutrition (which is what I've assumed this whole time) and it more has to do with the fact that we had major surgery and our bodies just kind of go into shock. All of the information said that approximately 3 months after any major surgery people will start losing their hair which will last until about 6 months after surgery when the body will restart the natural hair growth cycle. The only silver lining I've come up with is that I don't have shave my legs and underarms nearly as often right now Well...that's my uplifting news for the day... Corinna Q PS I guess I should mention that I only have 4 pounds to go to hit the 100's so that's helping mitigate the hair loss issue and I'm super excited about that.

Congrats on almost being to ONEderland..... I noticed the other day that I am starting to lose my hair... I could not believe the wad of hair that was left in the drain after I showered and then the amount that came out in the comb... I have short hair too, so it was a lot.... I also have very very thick hair, so it is not bothering me as much as I am sure it bothers others... Although I did notice a huge patch of gray that has come in... I don't know if that is from the surgery or the battles I have been having with my teenager.. LOL.... Thanks for all the info on the hair loss.. I know I have been getting my protein in and taking my vitamins, so I didn't think it would have been from nutrition... I have heard that any stress the body goes through, like a major surgery can cause hair loss.... Thanks again for posting this... Shawn M.

shawn, Sorry about the grey That is never fun. My hair started getting grey about 3 years ago. I cried for an entire day when i found my first one!! I think it is just one of those rights of passage we have to go through. Keep taking your protein and vitamins. The hair you shed today was from 2-3 months ago. Likely that first week after surgery. It takes up to 100 days for your hair to come out once it dies. So you won't notice the immediate effects of eating good and getting in your proteins. But in 2-3 months from now your hair should stop shedding and you should start to notice more growth. Yes regular stress can cause your hair to change too. Also medications. The hair is the first thing the body kills off in order to save itself

OH this was far from the first grays.... I found my first gray hair when I was about 17 years old..... I started really getting more about 5 or 6 years ago... but alll of a sudden I got this patch that is right there.... I used to be able to style my hair to hide it... not anymore... LOL... Shawn M.

awe. I had a friend in high school that had gray hair. She colored it but she was born that way. I think i would have died to have it at 17. Heck it almost killed me to have it at 30! oF course maybe at 17 you just think oh that odd, whereas 30 i was thinking Oh god i'm old.

I don't know if anything actually prevents further hair loss other then just taking care of yourself and reducing stress; however my neurologist recommended taking Selenium which is just a vitamin you can buy over the counter. It forms some type of protein.. a seleprotein or something of the sort in your body and helps promote hair growth. I've taken it. I don't know if it actually helped with future growth or not. I'm a little skeptical as there is no way to really tell if it was the vitamin, or a change in my medications or such. But if anyone feels the need to take something it might be an option.

Corinna, I am losing my hair also, Even in clumps in some areas. I have been through this several times before due to medications. But it sucks just the same. I never get used to pulling out hands full of hair. All the doctors and my research have told me the same thing as you said, there isn't much we can do about the shedding now. It takes up to 100 days to shed once it dies. We are normally shedding around 10% and the body pushes us up to around 40% of shedding or Telogen cycle. So the shedding we have today was caused 2-3 months ago. Everything I have read says that it is due to lack of protein after our surgery. It takes protein to grow our hair. The body basically kills off the hair in an attempt to reserve it's protein levels. It's actually pretty amazing that our bodies know to do that. That would make sense why it would happen after other major surgeries to. If the body were using up it's protein levels to try and repair the body where it had surgery. I think we get extra though because on top of our body using up our protein we are also not resupplying it with more protein. So your assumption as far as I can tell was correct that it does have to do with our nutrician as well as the surgery.

p.s. I hadn't thought about it Corinna, but i've got less shaving to do to. LOL. thanks for pointing that out. It's great to get a positive spin on this sucky situation.

Hi Corrinna, My hair is coming out too...kinda scary. Everyone I tell keeps telling me thank goodness I have thick hair, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I've also noticed that I have to shave my legs and underarms less,,,maybe that's the silver lining !! This may be too much info, but I'm also loosing pubic hair,,,kinda funny to notice a big ol' bald spot there....hahaha. Keep up the good work. Loretta

Oh my god you are tooo funny to share that !!!! Think of it this way. Lots of woman pay lots of money for a brazilian wax! Your getting yours without the pain or money.