hair falling out!

My sister had wls surgery in march of this year and her hair is falling out in clumps. Can anyone tell me what is going on? Has anyone experienced this before and what can she do? Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you

First let me say I have tried absolutely EVERYTHING to keep my hair from falling out. Vitamins, increasing my protein, special shampoos, supplements, not washing it so often, not brushing it so often. Nothing worked!! Once it started to fall out - about 4 months ago - I redoubled my efforts. But alas, absolutely none of the so called "preventatives" or "remedies" has worked. After gretching and moaning for 6 weeks or better about my hair I came across the article I've included in this post. Now I know I can't blame myself for my massive hair loss. Either you're gonna lose your hair or your not. Most of us will/are/have lost some/most of our hair. Thankfully at this point my hairloss has all but stopped, almost exactly 100 days. Once it starts there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it, it just has to run it's course. Hope this helps! Happy thoughts, Va 232/147/130 -85 pounds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Excessive shedding occurring after gastric bypass surgery would be a typical example of a telogen effluvium. The name "telogen effluvium" explains the nature of the hair loss very well. All hair follicles in humans run through cycles of activity. During anagen, they produce hair fiber. During telogen, the follicles are dormant and there is no further growth. The hair shaft is shed at the end of the telogen phase. Effluvium is a Latin word that means "letting loose". So the term "telogen effluvium" describes hair follicles entering a dormant stage and shedding (letting loose) the hair shaft. Telogen effluvium forms of hair loss are generalized and diffuse over the scalp. Telogen effluvium is not normally a permanent form of hair loss. Eventually, the hair follicles recover and return to normal hair density usually within one year. In a normal, young, healthy individual up to 90% of hair follicles are in an a growing phase (anagen) and only 10% are in a telogen (resting) phase at any one moment in time. If your body experiences a systemic physiologic upset, such as a gastric bypass surgical procedure, many of the anagen hairs can be shifted into telogen. At the end of that telogen phase, which is typically about 100 days in length, those hairs will all shed. Rarely are more than 50% of the hairs of the scalp ever involved in a telogen effluvium. The severe shedding rarely lasts more than the length of the telogen phase, which is about 100 days. There is no treatment for telogen effluvium. Once the hair follicles entered the telogen phase, the hair shafts were destined to shed in 3 to 4 months and there is no way of preventing it from taking its natural course. However, you will be encouraged to know that the hair follicles have not been damaged and that all of the hair will grow back in. If you would like to read more about the phenomenon of telogen effluvium, please access the article at http://www.minoxidil.com/journal.htm#Telogen Richard Lee, M.D."

Lack of protein. I am almost 11 months out and am just now starting to see my hair come back in. I lost a lot of hair. You could see my scalp. I started keeping it short and it did help my hair look thicker. I too tried many things. But from what I have read and been told it is lack of protein. Tell her to hang in there.. It will come back but it is different for everyone. I work for my surgeon and asked him if any of his patients had gone bald. He said "NO" that made me feel a lot better.

There are a NUMBER of things that cause this; anesthesia, deficiencies, stress, hormones; and we are going through all of it! I lost a ton of hair when I gave birth to my oldest son~ im talking clumps. But it DID grow back! dont stress over it; its normal and MOST bypass patients go through it!

I was told the drug Librax would help. One of the side effects of this drug is hair growth. The drug is actually for your stomach. Hang in there, I am 11 weeks out and am starting to notice an increase in hair loss. Janie