Question:
HAIR LOSS

Okay. I saw a very super good question on the message board and I would like to know the same thing. Is it true that POST OP after a couple of years you lose your hair?? I mean LONG TERM... thanks    — Marcy G. (posted on January 22, 2003)


January 22, 2003
I better not or else I will be way Peeved!! 110 lbs lost- post op 9 months
   — Sarah A.

January 22, 2003
ummm where did you find this information? sure post op at any time frame it is possible to get malnutrion from poor eating habits or lack of taking proper vitemins, lack of proper blood work as follow up. then your hair can fall out. or you can get some terrible illness and it can fall out. be exposed to radiation in some way that will make it fall out. but does it fall out years later becauuse of wls? no. only if a person does not do what they are told by the doctors, or some outside factor takes over. in some cases a persons hair might of fallen out anyway such as common alopecia, or some other alopecia disorder! so No is the answer, sort of.
   — janetc00

January 22, 2003
my understanding is thay typically 30 percent of wls patients experience extensive thinning within the first year. There are two shchools of thought on the matter, 1) that it is malnutrition and you can try to combat it with supplements and 2) it is a physiological trauma response to the surgery an you cannot control how your body responds, hope this helps!
   — r W.

January 22, 2003
My surgeon says that Hair loss is POSSIBLE in the first year while your body is going through all the changes and your protein levels fluctuate. He stresses that this can be avoided by getting enough protein. The ONLY thing he says that will thwart hairloss is protein, and that there are NO SUPPLEMENTS that will effect this except PROTEIN.
   — dkinson

January 22, 2003
ummm let me see....366 lbs with full head of hair vs. 160 (hopefully lol) with thin (or no hair)???? HEY DOES ANYBODY KNOW A GOOD WIG MAKER???????? CAUSE IM GOING FOR SKINNY AND BALd. Seriously though i would like to know where you heard this case like several of the other posters my surgeon says that some hairloss is possiable in the first year but that it doesnt last and the only thing to do is make sure you are meeting your bodys needs in the protein department
   — Becky M.

January 22, 2003
You misread the post on the messsage board- The person asking was 3 m post op- being asked by a friend that was 3 years out if she had lost any hair yet, and if not be prepared! It did not say that at 3 years she was losing hair- If you are going to have hair loss no amount of protein or high priced producets will stop it- it may slow it, redeuce the visual effects (hair maylook thicker, etc), but the hair loss comes partially from the anesthia and sone from the drastic diet change. This type of hair loss is common in other surgeries and/or if you have ever been on Optifast. You wont go bald- I have yet to see a BALD person at a support group- except the guy who shaves his head! My hair got pretty thin for a few months- but now it is healthy and thicker than ever!
   — ~~Stacie~~

January 23, 2003
I lost most of my hair at about 3 months, but it totally came back by 9 months. I am 2 1/2 years post, with all my hair.
   — Cara F.

January 23, 2003
The majority of those who have WLS lose some, not all, hair around 3 months post-op and it lasts for about 3 months and then starts to grow back in. I think it is from the trauma of surgery/anesthesia as I have had 2 previous non-WLS related surgeries and each time, at about the 3 month mark, the hair thinned noticeably. However, I also know someone in my support group who STARTED losing her hair again at about the 1 year post-op mark and was puzzled as she ATE lots of protein. Well, since protein is what sustains hair growth, it was obvious she was not ABSORBING enough protein, and the simple answer was to start supplementing.
   — Cindy R.

January 23, 2003
Hiya! I started losing hair in a BIG way at about 3ish months out. I mean I would shed a small critter EVERY day. Now at almost 8 months out its just about stopped and HOPEFULLY coming back in!~ Started at 304 now 180 and worth every flippin clogged drain I caused!!!~
   — Sassy M.




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