Hair loss

Hi I had surgery in late November and wanted to know if anyone could help me. I have been loosing hair for about 2 months now and I need to know if this is ever going to stop. I consume 50-60g of protein shakes daily sometimes more. I eat well as far as vegis and eaten protein, low fat, no sugar and all the rules I know of. I am starting to notice my hair is actually thinner. I loose quite a bit of hair everyday when I shower. Am I ever going to get my hair back and is there ever going to be a time that I won't have to worry about my protein consumed so the fear of hair loss is gone? Please someone help me??? :bath

Hi, I was told for 6 months to increase protein to 80 grams. It seems to help I am still losing hair but much less now. I hope this helps. Good Luck

Yep me too! loosing small amounts each time I wash, I just colored it dark and cut it shorter and I must say It looks much healthier! I hope that it stops soon too!

Hair loss is normal and is a reaction to the trauma of major surgery and decreased calories. The hair shafts "reset" themselves and the growing/shedding cycle is screwed up for a few months after surgery. Hair is made up of protein and one of the tasks of protein in the body is to grown and maintain healthy hair. Although the hair tasks are way down low on the task list for protein -- it also heals wounds, creates new red blood cells, fuels muscles in the body (including the heart) and helps keep the brain functioning. So the lesser important tasks get pushed to the back burner. When I was 3 months out I started losing hair pretty bad. At that time I was eating about 60g protein per day. A month later I was tired of the hair loss so I bumped up my protein intake to 80-100g per day. Within a couple weeks the hair loss dramatically slowed down. I was still shedding, but not nearly as bad. Now at 6.5 months out I'm still getting around 100g protein per day and the hair loss has virtually stopped. Still a tiny bit of shedding, but nothing I can't live with. I also take the b-vitamin Biotin. It helps promote healthy hair growth. It won't stop the hair loss, but it will help the new hair grown in healthy and strong. At this point I'm just waiting for the new hair growth to start showing up. I expect to see new sprouts in the next few months. As for not worrying about protein. NO.... that's something you signed up for when you had the surgery. You'll always have to eat protein first and focus on getting enough nutrients every single day. Just part of life now. Pam

Thank you so much for the great information you gave. It reaaly helps me to see what I need to do. I like your idea of the B-biotin vitamin. Thanks again.

I think it can't really be helped. I get my protein in and take all my vitamins including Biotin. Mine has gotten so thin on top I see my scalp. I gave in and bought a wig and will wear it till the hair decides to start growing back in. My problem was slightly thinning hair to start with and this just made it worse.

Hi, my hair was thin to begin with.  My dietitian recommends 60 - 80 grams of protein a day plus 1500 - 3000 mcg of biotin per day.  I am 9 months out and my hair is now re-growing.  Hair loss is a natural side effect of by-pass surgery and rapid weight loss.  This is something that should have been explained to you at the very start.  While I was a little shocked at how much hair I was losing at one point - I  knew to expect it and I also knew that it would stop. 

I have a great health team. 

CathyJ