Does the Hair Grow Back??? - Take 2

Sorry about deleting the last post!  I'm still a newbie to this message board stuff and still trying to figure it out!  Anyways....

I am almost 5 months out of Lap Band surgery, and my hair is coming out in handfuls!  I was warned that this was a side effect following surgery because we just can't eat enough protein, but I still wasn't ready for this amount of hair loss!  It's been like this for a month or 2, and I'm just wondering, at what point does the hair loss stop, and does the hair grow back???  Can someone give me some help and some hope here.  Thanks!!

Meredith

Hi Meredith!! Welcome to the boards :)

I had RNY March 5, 2008 and my hair started falling out 3 months post op, at about 9 months post op, it started slowing down and I went a few days with no loss and thought FINALLY...well it was only a few days and now 10 1/2 months post op I am STILL losing my hair :(  so it has been falling out for almost 8 months!!! I am ready for it to end, if I do not curl the ends, it looks really unhealthy and thin!!! I think that is kind of a long time to be dealing with hair loss, I really need to talk to my nutritionist about it, but haven't yet!  I do have lots of little wispy's growing in on top, some are a good inch long, so yes it does grow back, but I am not convinced that we will have a full thick head of hair...LOL But you are NOT alone!!!
Congratulations on your journey so far!!!

JAMI

Jami,

Your renewed hair loss might be due to some 'other' hormonal reasons ;-) ... At least mine was when I was in your lovely 'condition.'

Hugs,

Hi Meredith,

It should start slowing down pretty soon and yes, it does grow back, but I must say that my hair is curlier than it was before. Mine is now quite thick again. I would say that I suffered the most hair loss from about 3 months to 6 months or so and then it slowed and started to come back in.

Hang in there,

Hey Meredith, my hair has been falling out since before Christmas and seems like it is getting worse everyday, the nut upped my protein to 80 grams liquid protein a day and additional 20 grams of protein from food plus take a Bioten everyday and it's not helping any.

Hi, Meredith !

I knew that hair loss was a possibility so I had started taking the B 12 dots before surgery.  My hair still fell out - after each shower I would have a small pile of hair.  I switched to taking Biotin 5000 mcg daily when I ran out of the dots.  I also increased my protein and a friend who has a hair salon said that Vitamin E caps would help.  So I have been doing all 3 and finally my drain is less hairy.  Actually I think that it has been nearly a month since I had fallout !  Now I can't tell that I have any new hair growth, but I have hopes.  I bought the Biotin and Vitamin E at WalMart.

As it is always said - take what you want from this post and certainly check with your doc.  Thyroid problems will also cause hair loss.

Good luck !
Shelia

I am almost 6 months out and my hair is falling out like crazy! I have enough hair on my bathroom floor each morning to make a small cat! Thankfully, I have alot of hair and it's pretty thick, so the only person that can tell it's thinning is me. I sure hope it slows down soon!!!

As you've read previously, not getting enough protein will increase the hair loss, but it is common with surgery and dramatic weight loss, even with lots of protein and supplements.  I know as a lapbander we get all the nutrition we eat/drink, so I'm not sure if we need to consume as much as gastric bypass patients.  I had my surgery 1/4/08 and noticed my hair loss starting around the end of March.  A year after surgery, I have a bunch of regrowing hairs that are about 3 inches long.  My hair is also very dry(FRIZZY).  I'm hoping that I can get my natural curl back and not this wild frizz thing that is going on.LOL  It will get better!  Just try and moisturize your hair and be gentle with it.  AND MAKE SURE YOU KEEP TAKING YOUR VITAMINS!!  Be blessed!
Andrea

Thanks to everyone for the information and the advice!  I have appointments with both my doc and my nut next week, so I think I will talk to both of them about what they suggest.  I also have a support group meeting next week, so I'll ask for other suggestions there.  My hair is pretty thick, but I still hope that this stops sooner rather than later!  I am getting pretty tired of the "hairy drain" problem, if you know what I mean?!  I know I lost a lot of hair when I was pregnant with my daughters, but it definitely grew back after that.  I know I'm getting a good amount of protien, so I'm hoping that this is just a hormonal thing and will be back to normal soon.  Thanks again for all of the input!

Meredith

 I am just slowly hair by hair growing a chrome dome. I figure I will make it one way or the other but after having very long hair for a man for over a decade it is so wierd having it to fall out like my hair and I were finalizing a divorce. My wife had the same problem and wound up with a new shorter "do" as I wound up doing as well. If I had to weigh in great hair over health being bald would be very cute on anyone. I only got mine cut when I started seeing so many fuzzies poking out of the long stuff it became more of a brillo pad effect than what I was used to. Talk to your beautician and try the vitamins as well. It could be just a new style will work miracles.