Question:
Is it a good idea to start taking hair, skin & nail vitamins pre-op?

My hair stylist advised me to go ahead and start taking hair, skin & nail vitamins now to get them into my system as they take time to work (I'm HOPING to have surgery in early-mid March). Has anyone else done this, and, if so, did you have good results with it?    — cherryswitch (posted on February 11, 2003)

February 11, 2003
Marcia, opinions are a dime a dozen...I have never taken any SPECIAL vitamins for my hair, skin or nails, my vitamin of choice is 80+ grams of protein per day...I have NO HAIR LOSS, my skin looks better than before surgery and my nails are fine (I go to the salon weekly)...If you want to, go for it, but, I don't think theres any scientific proof they work. Good Luck. Heather (OPEN RNY 8/15, 305/213/150)
   — heathercross

February 11, 2003
I have been taking three (3) Hair, Skin, and Nails tablets daily. I started taking this immediately after surgery. I lost lots of hair prior to surgery due to phen fen days and this has helped me to regain the hair that I have lost and also helped build up my nails. As for starting them before surgery, yes that would be an excellent idea. I'm actually undergoing surgery for a hernia repair and tummy tuck on 03/03/03 and am going to increase them as I know that I'll go through another stage of hair loss. (RNY 08/28/01 -105 lbs)
   — trtorrey

February 11, 2003
I have to agree with Heather. I have seen so many posts from people who used various methods to prevent hair loss and still lost lots of hair. I have also seen posts from people who didn't do anything and didn't lose any hair. Of course, there are those who swear that the fact that they took 'preventive' measures to not lose hair will swear that that's the reason they didn't lose any. I personally think it's a crap shoot. Some do and some don't and I don't think there's anything guaranteed to prevent it. On the other hand, isn't some hair loss worth it in the larger scheme of things?
   — garw

February 11, 2003
Remember, they were made for normies, so sure, you can take them any time in your life. Some people are convinced they had much less severe hairloss than they would've without the HSN. I'm not convinced it's magic, but, um, I've been taking it since 1995
   — vitalady