It's finally happening... Hair thinning :(

Hi forum,

At almost 6 months post-RNY, I thought I had escaped the horror that is hair thinning/hair loss.

Alas, every morning in the shower I see more little clumps of strands than ever before. I know hair loss is a side-effect of surgery and things will get better, but it still sucks!!

The 80lbs weight loss though... That doesn't suck

Aww. I know it sucks. I also thought I'd escaped it -- in fact, my hair seemed thicker and more healthy in the first few months after surgery -- probably because I had begun supplementation that included biotin in the months before -- so I was actually a bit ****y about it. I was sure I had found the secret to avoiding the dreaded loss.

Um. No.

Mine hit almost exactly at the 4 month point -- so a bit earlier than you. At first my husband assured me that it "wasn't that bad" -- at it's height, he walked in from the shower, his face very concerned, holding what I thought was a small kitten that turned out to be my hair from the drain.

Ah, memories.

Anyhow, just some reassurance that it does pass and it does grow back.

In the meantime, here's some positive aspects of hair loss after WLS:

1. It dries a lot faster! You can use that extra time in the morning for things like learning a second language or making voodoo dolls of friends and family members with thick hair.
2. It can break a stall! If the scale hasn't moved, You can do a good brushing, and remove 1 to 2 pounds of falling hair. Voila! Instant stall breaker.
3. It can help keep you from having to cook dinner. It's amazing how fussy friends and family members are about clumps of hair in their food.
4. It can help keep WLS a secret. Bald spots give lots of support to the cancer hypothesis for your weight loss and work and with nosey family members.
5. It can keep you humble. Just when you start to feel really ****y about your emerging body, your Howie Mandel hair style keeps you in check.

Thanks for a good laugh! I know I'll lose hair, as I have done so every time I've intensely dieted. I'm not looking forward to it because over the past several years my hair, always before insanely thick, began thinning. This is one of the lovely side effects of hypothyroidism, oh joy! Now I can tell that my part is weirdly wider than it used to be, and I haven't started losing post-RnY yet. I hope it doesn 't get too bad, or I'll be investing in scarves, hats and turbans!

That made me laugh too!

So, mine started like the week after my 3 month check up. I was so proud to walk in there at my 3 month and tout that I had no hair loss! Then BAM... Karma kicks me in the butt.

Seriously, it was alarming... and I didn't think it would ever stop!

Luckily the bald spots were not an issue for me, and I Just cut about 8" off my hair when it started getting really bad, so that helped a lot too.

I do believe that by my 6 month appointment, I was slowing down to an almost normal amount of hair loss... and now, it's a distant memory.

Hang in there! This too shall pass!

Very nice. I laughed...I cried... I screamed in horror...

Something tells me if I wrote this I'd get some nasty responses. Cest la vie

Hmm.

Maybe you just aren't as funny as me.

Possible. Unlikely, but possible.

Thanks, Kat I needed that! Mine started about 6 weeks ago at 6 1/2 months. I had thought I had escaped it also - then came the gobs and gobs of hair in my brush and finding my hair everywhere. It seems to have slowed down, no scary amounts anymore - almost normal shedding amounts. I had a MEGA TON of very long wavy hair. After losing what feels like half of it, I was just thinking how easy it is to do my hair now! It DOES dry faster! Now to get working on those voodoo dolls....

Oh no! I'm at 6.5 months now and so far so good. I was sure I'd escaped it.