Hair loss

I have not had the surgery yet, however, I do read alot of bio's on the people that have. The one thing that I see alot of is people lossing their hair. Is this common? I imagine that as I progress through my journey they'll tell me but I thought I would throw it out there and see what everyone has to say.

Hi Sunshine,

Some amount of hair loss is relatively common. The amount varies greatly. I had some that was very noticeable to me, but to be honest, not really noticeable to anyone else. I had 'handfulls' of hair coming out  for a couple of months. That said, I have very thick hair to start with, so while it was 'unnerving', it really wasn't a problem. I honestly lost about the same amount of hair when I was pregnant with my children. They think it has something to do with the enormous stress of surgery, followed by low protein levels after surgery which also stresses your body. They have also noted that many people have this issue following any type of general anesthesia regardless of the surgery they have had. Some of my support group members that didn't have much hair to start with seemed to have more of an issue with it. Some people swear by 'Biotin', but you have to take Zinc to make the Biotin effective and you can only take Zinc for 30 days at a time without having toxicity issues, so that means that you can take Biotin and Zinc for 30 days, then take a 30 day break then start again. There are no scientific studies showing the efficacy of Biotin, but my nutritionist at Duke said it might help and it certainly won't hurt, especially if you make sure to take it in 30 day cycles with the Zinc. 

I must say that while the hair loss was unnerving for the couple of months I had to deal with it, it was transient and all of my hair grew back in. I'd do it again, even knowing that I'd have to deal with some temporary hair loss again. 

Thank you so much for the information, it was very helpful. I am starting my journey tomorrow with the seminar so I'll be on my way.

Sherry

I was sooo worried about my hair falling out and it did-----was it worth it? YES! I still take biotin and a daily vitamin and that seems to work. My hair is thicker now than it has been for years! I just cut it shorter and shorter as it fell out and plan to grow it longer this fall. I am 17 months out from surgery and down 123 lbs. So worth the "small stuff"- I just considered it part of my transformation----I was a big ol' caterpillar-then a chrysalis-now I feel like a butterfly!

Hi Sherry,
Yes many of us do loose hair.
I used to tell people that I would rather be bald and skinny instead of bald and fat.
For a while I was wearing a wig it was a pain in the butt to tell you the truth.
As of two weeks ago I found a wonderful new product from Avon Toni Brattin Hair Extensions.
Since I sell Avon I use many of the products so yes I got a hair piece and let me tell you I love it.
The color blends well with my own color and is so comfortable to wear.
My hair is coming back and has thined alot in front but it is returning and with my hair piece it has helped me feel more confident.
                                                               Annie

Annie you crack me up...........I probaly would agree with you about being bald and skinny over having hair and being fat. I guess I'd just have buy some big hoop earrings and be proud to be bald. By the way I'm going to the seminar tommorrow at Duke, so I guess it's the first step in my journey.

Congratulations on your first step towards better health.
I hope you can come to the Meetup on Saturday.
                                           Annie
PS I bet I could help you find some big hoop earrings on Avon

I was blessed with a super thick head of hair and 21 months after surgery I've still got a thick head of hair. Luckily I haven't had any problems - what so ever and found that the money I spent on special shampoos was pretty much wasted.

Make sure you get as much protein in as you possibly can in the early stages after surgery was the advice I was given.

Good Luck to you.

- Iris

Luckily I'm ok with wigs... I figure the weight loss is more important to me than my hair which is already thin and takes forever to grow.