HAIR LOSS

>>COULD IT BE THAT I'M NOT GETTING ANY PROTEIN IN? You're not getting ANY protein?!?!?  Seriously?  What are you eating and why aren't you eating protein?  This is the most important thing for you right now. Here are some tasks of protein: * Heal wounds * Repair damaged cells in your body * Provide energy  to the muscles in your body (your heart is a muscle) * Create red blood cells * Keep hair and finger nails healthy and grow new Obviously after surgery we have decreased our calories dramatically and the body is feeding off our fat cells for some of the energy it needs.  However, the body NEEDS protein for very specific tasks - especially healing your wounds after surgery and keeping your muscles healthy.  So the little bit of protein we feed it after surgery will go to the most important tasks first.  The lesser important tasks (like growing hair) is dropped down to the bottom of the list.  Thus, we will lose hair after WLS. However, if you are not giving your body ANY protein it is going to have to find it from somewhere.  It will begin to leach the protein it needs from your muscles -- this is called muscle wasting.  You'll be losing lean muscle mass and yes, that includes your heart and muscles that support your spin.  If you're really not eating any protein (through shakes or food) then I'm not surprised you're losing so much hair all of a sudden.  Normally when we lose hair it doesn't result in "baldness" like you describe.  Your castor oil and sulfur grease treatment isn't going to do any good -- it's protein and nutrients that you need (make sure you're taking all your vitamins too).  When's the last time you had your blood drawn and your protein levels checked?  Pam

hi pam , don't get me wrong i do eat some protein but not as much as i should be eating, also it is time for me to have my blood drawn again also i'm iron defiecient i take a iron almost evryday to keep my blood up to part, i drink a slim fast drink here and there but sometimes i feel like i'm eating too much and i find myself cutting back so that i won't gain any weight my mind is so set on not gaining any more weight i don't want to become fat i get upset when i put on a few extra pounds in which i realize that it's water weight, what have you done in the past or present from feeling like this?

Ok, glad you're getting some protein at least.   Your previous statement kind of scared me and had me really worried.   But it sounds like you still aren't getting enough overall.  Are you hitting the 60g/day mark regularly? As for feeling like you'll gain weight if you eat too much.  I know that's a common feeling and one you're going to need to get over.  It's a mental issue that you need to work through.  I think for me, personally, the 3 different local support groups and also the 10-week group therapy sessions I took at my psychologists office really helped me get a grip on some of the mental stuff.  I know that my body needs food to survive.  I know I have to eat what I am suppose to eat according to my surgeon's eating plan.  I don't feel hunger so I know I need to eat on a strict schedule.  I don't get "full" like I used to, so I know I need to measure my food and only eat what I'm suppose to eat.  I know that starving myself because I don't want to gain weight is not healthy.  The scale is evil.  I've finally learned that I do better mentally if I only weigh myself once a week.  Tuesday mornings (because that's the day I had surgery).  Some weeks I don't lose anything.  Some weeks I gain a tiny bit.  But mostly, I see at least a little loss -- even if it's just a half a pound.  I was driving myself nuts by getting on the scale every day - or several times a day.  I feel more in control now that I weigh just once a week.  Pam

do you know what pam that's my problem i find myself in the bathroom at least 3 times a day on the scale and if the needle moves forward oh boy am i on a crazy roller coster i fight the need to eat anything and i know that it isn't good for me, also the slim fast shake how many do you think is appropriate to consume as a protein drink a day and i was thinking about also drinking this whey protein mix that i also have as well maybe in between meals, i need to come up with some type of plan to keep my protein and iron moving in the direction it should be going

I can't really tell you what's right for you as far as eating and potein shakes.  What does your surgeon recommend?  I can tell you what my surgeon recommends for me at this stage (5 months out).  I'm suppose to eat 3 regular meals per day of about 1/2c of food.  And 3 protein shakes per day between meals.  But I've adjust that to fit my schedule and lifestyle and pouch-demands better.  Here's what I do: 7:30 a.m. -- protein shake & calcium 10:00 a.m. -- breakfast & morning vitamins, meds 1:00 p.m. -- lunch & calcium 4:30 p.m. -- food snack & calcium 7:30 p.m. -- dinner & calcium 11:00 p.m. -- tiny snack & evening vitamins, meds (snack just so my stomach isn't empty) If I were following my surgeon's schedule it'd be more like this: 7 am - breakfast 10 am - protein shake 1 pm - lunch 3 pm - protein shake 7pm - dinner 10pm  protein shake I don't use the slim fast shakes.  I always check them out when I'm at Wal-Mart, but can't seem to justify the price for how little you get.  Especially when you compare it to how many servings comes in a jar of whey protein.  Although I guess it'd be a good idea to have some cans of slim fast in the fridge for when I'm running late and can't mix up a shake on the run. HTH Pam

hi , why so many vits and calcium? i only take one vit a day and my surgeon moved away, by the way i had my rny back in jan 05- i started out weighing 336 and i'm 245 i had bounced back and forth for a while but lately i'm trying to keep things below the 250 mark i know that i can do this if only i just paying more attention to myself and let others come last i've always put others first before me, it time for me to concnetrate on myself and my health

Someone with a normal digestive system who absorbs everything they eat only needs to take 1 multi-vitamin per day.  However, because of our altered intestines, we need to increase our vitamin intake and should take 2 per day.  Just to account for the malabsorption. My surgeon recommends I take 1500mg of calcium per day.  My GYN has my on birth control so he had me add an extra 500mg because BC tends to leach calcium.  so I take 2000mg per day.  And I make sure it's Calcium Citrate ---- that's the kind that we absorb best after surgery.  My mom had RNY 5 years ago and was taking calcium carbonate all these years.  She was just diagnosed with osteoporosis a couple months ago because of calcium deficiency.  She wasn't absorbing what she was taking.  So now I'm VERY careful that I get all my calcium every single day. I absolutely agree that you need to focus on yourself first.  You can't take care of everyone else unless you are healthy and happy and in the mindset to handle whatever life throws at you.  And you can only do that by making sure you take time to be healthy. Pam

HI, I TAKE CALCIUM CITRATE WITH VIT D 600MG, PLUS A WOMANS ONEADAY MULTI VIT WITH ZINC/IRON IS THIS GOOD ENOUGH?SOMETIMES A VIT B

You should be taking at least 1500mg of calcium citrate per day.  Your body can only absorb about 500mg at a time, so you'll need 3 doses.  I'd also suggest 2 multi-vitamins per day -  morning and night. 

Just want to add what I was told... The hair "dies" on the day of surgery ... it starts the fall-out about 3 months later.  This may be a really simple explanation, but it seems to hold true for many people that I've talked to about hair loss.  My hair has fluctuated in growth and losses.  Right now I'm taking 3 tablets of Biotin and things seem to have improved.  I agree with the others on the importance of protein and other nutrients/supplement.  Good Luck.... Ro