VSG doubts over hair loss-advice please!!!!

I have been thinking of getting VSG.  I've been overweight since I was about 8 or 10 years old.  I just turned 40.  By the time I graduated high school I weighed 240 lbs. I'm 5'7".   The year after high school I took fen-phen.  While I know that drug killed some people... for me it was an absolute miracle drug.  I got down to 185 and then my doc told me he couldn't give it to me anymore bc it was being pulled.  I got down to 170 on my own...just spurred by my success so far and I had started exercising.

I stayed at170-175 for years...about a size 14.  But while I always wanted to get smaller...I was happy there.

I was engaged and broke it off and got up to 200.I couldn't seem to get it off.  Some years later I hired a personal trainer and got down to 170 again...but I was a size 12 because I was more tone.  I went through another bad break up and went back up to 200.

Then I was assaulted and got depressed (not wanting to exist depressed) and ballooned up to 250.    A dr gave me qsymia.  It worked great...I was losing 2 lbs per week.  I got down to 225.  But then I'm pretty sure i had a small seziure and I started losing my hair badly. (I had already experienced some thinning due to hereditary like my mom...but she's 72 and still has hair...we both just started with a way more than normal amount and it started thinking in early thirties...but the medicine made it come out drastically...it was devestating.  My dr confirmed the medicine can do that) I lost probably half of my hair.  It never came back fully.  I struggle with that a lot.  My hair was always my best feature...my identity really.  People told me thst.  My nickname is based on my hair.  My boyfriends always loved my hair best about me it seemed.  Now I dont have even that....at least not how I used to

If I lose even 5 lbs I won't qualify for surgery.  I qualify because I have sleep apnea.

So I have to make my decision now.  I think I can lose some weight on my own... but I honestly think it won't be enough.  So I feel like I have to accept maybe always being a bigger girl and not choosing the surgery.  I have pcos...have sine I was a teenager, and since my depression became insulin resistant.  And now it's hard because I'm just so out of shape...and mentally can't seem to get in  the right spot.  Even when I hired the person trainer...I exercised twice a day, stuck to my diet religiously, became the strongest girl in the gym...but I never lost more than 4 lbs a month.  Anyone else doing that work was losing 10 a month.  My body does not like letting go.

I think the surgery would give me the results like the fen-phen did to get in the mental place I need again.  I think I could get to where I never could on my own.  And I think I could exercise easier because my knees and back wouldn't hurt from the weight.  

But...

I'm terrified of losing my hair.  I've seen some  women that lost a lot.granted most said it came back....but I have read a very few that said it didn't recover fully or not at all.  While I know this is a small percentage... I've inherited from my mom that my hair is easily affected by everything.  So I know this surgery will affect it.  Ive only had surgery twice.  Appendectomy when I was 10.  And my hand when I broke it about 5 years ago.  They used a nerve block on my hand...but when it made me loopy and I kept talking the surgeon had them put me out with anesthesia.  I think it was very light...because I woke up again at the end of the surgery.

That didn't affect my hair.  I've heard anesthesia can.  But this surgery is bigger and then the eating so little....

I just need feedback..because I don't know if I can handle gobs of hair in the shower again not knowing if it will return.  But I also don't want to settle for what feels like a life half lived because of my weight holding me back...and me holding me back because of my weight.

When I have a bad hair day..I think "no way, I can't do it".  But when I look at other's before andc afters...I'll think I've got my mind made up to do it for sure!!! ....but I can't seem to stay there...because I'm scared I guess.

Any hair feed back???   Any regrets?!?!   Any advice?!?Please?!?!?!

It's never certain who will lose hair and who won't.  Google telogen effluvium to learn more about the hair loss that we can experience post-op.  Basically, your body thinks it's dying and stops sending energy to unnecessary functions - like hair growth.  Once your body realizes it's not dying, the hair will start growing again.  But this is interpreted as "loss" because there's a delay where current hair falls out and when new hair will start to grow.  

I cheated - I shaved my head to raise money for St. Baldricks about 6 weeks post-op.  So if I did suffer from telogen effluvium, I never noticed.  

And you know what?  Ultimately, you CAN always wear a wig to cover up your hair loss.  But there's nothing you can do to cover obesity or to prevent it from killing you.  

Hi,

I'm so glad you posted this.  I think many of us had fears about hair loss.  Personally, I didn't realize it was a concern until I was committed to the process, so I just decided to tough it out - part denial, part wishful thinking. 

I did lose hair, but it was temporary, and it was never so bad that I felt I looked bad.  I just had to put extra work into my hair for a few months.  by one year post op, I was well on the way to normal hair again.

My hair loss started at about 3 months post op, and went thru maybe 7months post op. At 5 months post op, I got my hair cut in a reverse bob - a cut that I love and still have today.  Then I started using a bodifying moose on my hair when I blow dried it.  This was enough to give it the body it needed to look ok.  It was a bit of effort, but it was so worth it to be thin now.

At 8 months post op, I had a head full of new recruits, about a 1/2 inch long, sticking straight up.  I was so happy to see them that I didn't even mind that I looked scruffy. (smile)

The hair issue will pass, but the new health, energy and mobility will last for years.  I lost 225 pounds, and went from a BMI of 60 to BMI of 24.  I've been maintaining with 10 pounds of goal since, and I am so happy I had the weight loss surgery.  It wasn't easy.  You have to follow the rules and stick to the plan.  But after the surgery I was able to do so, where I never could before surgery.  The surgery really changes things.  Its more than the restriction. 

I don't want to make it sound automatic or easy, because its not.  But it is do-able, whereas before surgery it wasn't. 

best of luck with your decision. 

Carol

You might want to look into therapy. I understand that you don't want to lose your hair, but you do know the health benefits that can be gained by losing the weight will be so much more than temporary hair loss. Also by your post it seems that whenever there's a life stressor you turn to food & end up gaining weight. Surgery won't solve that, but therapy can help you not to turn to food to get thru stressful events.

You're more than your hair. 

First, I never lost any hair. I never did anything special. I washed my hair with bars of soap. No special shampoo, pills, nothing.

Second, everyone who does lose hair has it grow back. They notice it themselves while it's falling out, but usually most other people never notice.

And last, you can skip having surgery if you want. But two things will happen. You'll never be able to both lose and keep off the lost weight without surgery. The odds are vanishingly small in doing so. But you will have more and more problems. More comorbidities. Heart disease, diabetes, arthritis. One day you'll be nearly bedridden. You'll die young. And people will come to your wake and say "Wow. She had really nice hair."

I had super thick hair going into surgery. I did lose quite a bit, but not enough so others would notice. I ended up getting a shorter haircut, and it went from wavy pre vsg to downright curly. It didn't grow for a little while, but eventually resumed. I have tons of hair now and it is longer than it has been in years. Don't let your hair dictate your decision about surgery. The health benefits drastically outweigh temporary hair loss. 

Little story: I lost a ton of weight in my early 20's- 310+ to 155 in a little over a year. I was young and dumb, and just went 800 cal, not paying attention to nutrition. I lost a TON of hair. I went to an endocrinologist, it had gotten so bad.. Granted, I have female pattern baldness in my family. I started on men's Rogaine foam. I still use it.

Fast forward a decade plus, I'd regained most of the weight, up to 280.. decided I'd had enough and wanted to get WLS. Had it, and was much smarter- and payed more attention to nutrition. I still lost hair, but not nearly as bad as my "crash diet" days, even though my body had been assaulted by surgery and living on even less- 600 cals for several months.. Still using Rogaine.. My hair is thinner than in my teens and twenties- but not hugely so.. however, for once in my life- 6yrs post-op, I AM thinner than I was ever able to maintain, WITHOUT feeling like I am starving myself or continuously dieting.. am I a size 8?.. no, but I am a normal size, happy and healthy, and still have decent hair (and still using my Rogaine 2x a day.) :)

I would do this again in a heartbeat.. I was almost 38 when I had surgery. I had lost and gained well over 300lbs in my pre-op life. I have never felt able to maintain a healthy size before surgery. That's what WLS gave me.. the ability to MAINTAIN some control. My hair will go grey, and everyone gets thinner hair as they age.. priorities. My thinning hair never made my knees or back hurt, and being bald will not kill me by long term effects of cardiovascular issues or diabetes.. So, yeah.. no regrets.

would you be having this problem worrying about hair, of all things, if it was a life saving heart surgery?

I'm not a woman, so I'm sure that the hair issue has a different set of problems for women vs. men.

I haven't read all the replies, but I'm sure I'm repeating at this point.

That being said -- my hair has been thinning for the last 10 years.  I'm sure that in another 10 years I'll have wispy remnants of what used to be uncontrollably thick hair on the top of my head.

Would I be willing to go completely bald for this surgery.  Yep.  Deal with saggy skin the rest of my life?  Sure.  Deal with pretty much anything cosmetic?  Yeah.  I, like a lot of other people, arrived here after feeling like they exhausted all their other options.  I could work on my hair, and still pass away sometime in the next 0-20 years because of obesity/D2/sleep apnea/hypertension.  Or, I could deal with some cosmetic stuff to make that 0-20 look more like 15-50.  I figure when, hopefully not if, I hit 75 -- I'll won't give 2 doodoos about my hair, or saggy belly.  I'll be more concerned about whether or not Matlock or Columbo is on and whether or not I have any grandkids nearby that I can spoil.

My immediate concerns were making it through the surgery and back home.  That was one of the few long term things I concerned myself with.  The other main long term concern was whether or not I would be able to commit to this long term and get the results that were appropriate for the level of risk I put myself through.

I'm not losing as fast as I want, but even if I never lost another pound and stayed at this weight, I am far more healthy today than I was 3 months ago.  I need to understand that that has been worth it.

In my youth I had super thick hair. I lost 60# on a crash diet in 1999, and lost about half my hair. It never came back in as thick, but is still okay. Of course, I gained all that weight back, and a lot more. Had VLS in June 2015. Knew going in I would lose hair due to anesthesia. Did the biotin thing (shampoo/conditioner/daily supplements) and still lost hair. But it all came back.

My BFF has genetic hair loss. It got to the point where you could see her scalp all over her head... and she has always defined herself by her hair. She now has human extensions glued in that make her hair look wonderful: full and thick. She spends a fortune on it, but it makes her happy.

Me: being a normal BMI and knowing I have a tool that I can use to control my intake makes me deliriously happy. I like my hair, but I don't define myself by it. I've had too many friends (starting with all three of my college roommates, and another very dear friend last year) lose ALL their hair in cancer battles.

Best of luck, whatever you decide!