Worried about getting a bypass :(

The hair loss is temporary. For most people, the loss stops at about 9 - 12 months post op.

If all the benefits of WLS, the huge improvement in quality of life and health risks, are potentially outweighed by temporary hair loss, then you are probably not ready to have surgery.

I never lost hair, if anything it got better. Most people have a general thinning not bald spots.

If you keep your protein intake up to required grams per your surgeon and take your vitamins, then hair loss will happen, but it's minimal. It does grow back. it's a temporary inconvenience with long term gains. I would rather be bald then overweight and miserable with health problems any day and I love my hair.

I would pretty much say yes, hair loss and excess skin are pretty much inevitable. I wouldn't worry about hair loss, I haven't heard of anyone developing bald spots because of it. I think I lost about 1/4 of my hair (maybe 1/3). No one noticed and it's growing back out by now, meaning I just have a bunch of 3 inch long hairs all over my head lol

There are several factors that determine how much excess skin you will have, but as a rule of thumb, if you lose more than about 80 pounds you will have some skin. Characteristics that generally result in less excess skin are; young age, less time MO, non smoker, and less weight to loss. That being said, I was the perfect candidate for minimal excess skin and I still had 12 pounds of it removed via plastic surgery in May, You will have to lose the weight and see how much you have and how much it bothers you, a lot of people live with the skin no problem.

It can be difficult to get your water and protein in the first month, but most people figure it out quick enough and have no problems.

My diet restrictions at just over a year out are; I can eat a lot of anything very high in sugar or I will feel like I have a stomach bug and spend the next couple hours in the bathroom. It's been a fairly effective restriction.

Wishing you the best!

I am 4 years out from RNY and here is my experiences with the things you asked about...

• Loose skin has a lot of factors involved. You are young and therefore more likely to "bounce back" than people who are older, but a lot has to do with the amount of weight you lose, how many times you have yo-yo'd in the past, and genetics. Some people are luckier than others. I was pretty lucky and don't have a lot of issues there, even when I was at my very lowest, below my surgeon's goal.
• Hair issues happen in the first year for sure, but it is not unlike the side effects you would have from being under anesthesia from any multi-hour surgery. I noticed my hair thinning at about the 3rd month--not even close to bald spots, just thinned out. My hair was back to thick and full in just about one year. I don't think anyone except for me noticed the change.
• Water and protein intake will be a struggle in the first month, but you can do it! It might take some trial and error, but eventually you'll find a protein shake you like and you will find the habits to keep yourself hydrated. I literally set an alarm on my phone for every few minutes and I sipped every time it went off.
• Restrictions later in life are really not much, unfortunately. The surgery helps you lose a ton of weight quickly and set good habits while you are doing it. Then it helps restrict the amount of food that you will feel comfortable eating, but it doesn't really stop you. For example, at four years out, I can still only eat a few ounces of dense protein (like chicken) before I feel uncomfortable, but "slider foods" (like chips) will go down with noooooo problem. So the better I eat, the more help I get from the surgery, but when I choose to eat badly, I don't always get the cues to stop.
• I am not a dumper, but I do feel just a little queasy when I eat sugar. Not enough to stop me from doing it again, but just enough to stop me from really overdoing it. For example, I feel just right eating a mini Halloween sized bag of m&ms--nothing stops me from that amount...If I ate two of those little bags, it would make me feel a little nauseous. If I ate three of those little bags, I would feel sweaty. If I ate four of those little bags, I would want to lay down.

Hope that helps.

JB -soooooooo....YOU did the old "Halloween M&M bag test, too, huh??? I'll take your 4, and raise you 2...

And see you , after nap time...zzzzzzzz....

YUP!

I found this VERY helpful, thank you so much! This made me a lot less hesitant to fully decide on surgery. Thank you again!

to be honest, a vast majority of pre-op people (and early post-op people) seem to worry incessantly about hair loss and loose skin, and I would say that after a few months out, most of us wonder why we even wasted one brain cell worrying about either one of those. The weight loss FAR outweighs any hair loss or loose skin. I would take either/or/both any day over weighing over 300 lbs again. ANY DAY!

that said, I lost very little hair. The only thing I noticed were some extra strands of hair in my comb after I washed it from about month 5-9. I would not have noticed it had it not been for that - my hair looked exactly the same. So no one else noticed it, either. Losing clumps of hair - like a chemo patient might - would be very unusual. Most of us just shed - some a little, some a lot - but for many of us, we're the only ones who notice.

Loose skin - as others have said, it depends on a lot of factors. You have your age going for you. I had a lot of it (I lost over 200 lbs), but it was very easy to hide. I just tucked my stomach skin into my jeans or "tummy control" leggings and wore slightly oversized, long-ish shirts. I also stuck to elbow-length (or longer) sleeves to cover up the bat wings. No one knew that extra skin was there except for me (and my husband and doctor). I eventually had it removed because it was driving me nuts, but you can't tell from pictures which are before & which are after. It's just that now I have a much greater range of clothes that I can wear.

Many people never experience complications and of those who do, most are minor. I had a stricture at four weeks out and eight weeks out. About 5% of RNY patients do, and as such, it's considered a "common" complication (and at 5%, I'd hardly consider that "common" - but it's one of the ones they see most often). Easy fix - they just do an upper endoscopy and stretch it out. My eating has definitely changed. The first few weeks and months are pretty restricted and can be tough, but now that I'm in maintenance, I can maintain my weight as long as I stay within the 1500-1700 kcal range (some of us can't eat that much, though - it's a very individual thing). I eat more nutritiously than I did before - and definitely not as much - and I eat more protein now and fewer carbs - but it's really not any different than many of my normal-weight diet-conscious friends do. I doubt anyone watching me eat now could tell I'm a WLS patient. I'm more like a standard "light eater".

My only regret with this surgery is that I didn't have it YEARS ago (I had it at age 55). Although I think it's critical that you're in the right frame of mind for it. I wasn't years ago. I was when I finally had it. Because of that, I was able to fully commit to the program and lose all of my excess weight. I would have the surgery again in a heartbeat.

Thank you so much for your reply!