My extreme hair loss experience...

***My experence is not typical...*** (just mine...)

So... I know lots of people deal with this... and I just want to show how extreme it can get, but that there is still hope! I have ZERO regrets... and I am SO grateful for the amazing people at Madeline's Hair Replacement Clinic... (http://www.mainehairreplacement.com/) and the fact that my insurance covers it! (not advertising, promise! I live way up in Maine anyhow, so probably not close to many of you any how... but I do LOVE them!!! I bet there are places like it all over and it's good to know that insurance does sometimes cover... they paid about $1,000 for my first system!)

I've included one picture here, but I have an entire album on my profile...

My doctor's have run ALL the blood work, thyroid and hormones are fine... iron a little low, but not where you'd expect to see this rate of loss... I'm a good girl with protein and vitamins... I'm afraid it just is what it is...

I'm 5 months out... it started right away, but I did extreme low carb for 3.5 months before surgery and lost 66 lbs... plus I had anesthesia 4 times in 4 months... 2 of those times within 24 hours due to sleeve complications... and I have PCOS, so there are some contributing factors for sure...

I have high hopes that maybe Summer 2013 I'll be able to sport my own hair in a cute short cut again...

My hair loss has gotten so sever that the partial system I've had since September has all it can do to stay secured... I had to order a full wig on Thursday... I'll have to wait and see if I want to chop what's left of my hair... I'll keep you posted...

I'm so sorry for this :( I have battled hairloss for years. It has not gotten to the extreme that yours has but I understand the pain that accompanies it. It is one of my major fears going in to this. I didn't know it could be this extreme from the surgery. I also have PCOS, which is how my HL was triggered...

I have a question. Your surgery was in mid-late July and you have a picture where you put that your hair was thin but you hadn't started freaking out yet and that it was in late July. Is this timeframe correct? Did your hair start pouring out immediately after surgery and get extremely thin within a few weeks? Did you notice anything beforehand?

Have you been to heralopecia.com? It's a great hairloss forum. It saved my sanity for a few years.

P.S. I love your positive attitude!

Yup... my hair started to fall out within weeks... I think because I had been treating my body almost like I'd already had surgery... If you count from when I went REALLY low carb/low calorie in late March it was right around the 4 month mark that everyone talks about... once I hit the 4 months out from suregery mark it got even worse... I can run my fingers through my hair (whats left of it) and pull out what used to be a weeks worth of hair you'd see in a brush in 15 seconds... being gentle.... it is way beyond "shedding" :-(

I'll have to check out that site... thanks!!!!

You look great! Thanks for sharing your photos. I'd be upset, but you sound like you're handling it well. I hope it grows back in soon as I know wigs are expensive and you don't want to have to do that longterm.

Thank you for being so courageous and sharing your journey.  I am so afraid of losing my hair, because it has already gotten thinner as I have gotten older. But you have  shown  me that there is hope. I just had surgery a few days ago, but you have really helped me realize that there are solutions. Thank you, and the best of luck to you. God bless you, Rosie

 YOWZA!!  waiting for my Jets to kick it in and this boiled beer to cool down ...Kanga I have never ever seen this kinda HAIR LOSS on VSG FORUM,....EVER!! Ya MUST have had this PRE-VSG..please do NOT scare these VSGrs into thinking THIS KINDA HAIR LOSS is TYPICAL...CUZ IT AIN'T!!!

Some other disorder...goin on sides solely VSG related hair loss...anesthesia alone does NOT do this kinda damage...yer not menopausal, ain't thyroid...iron? man this is terrible!!!  no wonder you were buyiing full wigs  MONTHS ago!!!  What does that Hair replacement place yer going to SAY is WRONG!


If they say it is SOLELY VSG related I would be shocked as all get out...our hair loss is a VERY TEMPORARY HORMONAL sit the MAJORITY oif us have.  this AIN'T ACUTE diffuse hair loss, Acute telogen effluvium....I for one would love to know what YOUR DIAGNOSIS IS!! What the treatment consists of!  $1000 for FIRST system??? WTH ?? what is it finesteride?  VERY VERY strange

just hang in there PRETTY LADY!! Im hopin they can help ya!!

I know it isn't typical, but it has been the experience for me :-(  Of course, I was also the lucky one who had my new sleeve "kink" right out of surgery... couldn't really find anyone else with that complication either... lol.  I still say that I'll take the stuff I've gotten over so many of the others!  I totally consider my VSG a blessing!!!

I will edit my first post to make sure people realize this is extreme... and not typical...

My surgeon just pats my shoulder and says it will grow back (but he hasn't seen how bad it is yet... he didn't care to see me take my wig off... I will when I see him in 2 weeks!).

My PCP and my ob/gyn have run slews of tests and all they can come up with is iron is a little low... they feel it is mostly nutritional and hopefully tempoary.... And I am TOTALLY on top of my nutrition stuff 90+% of the time...

The hair replacement clinic just does that... they don't diagnose anything... tho the girl I work with did say she had a woman with RNY who had a similar pattern, but she is much older.

I am 31, so not menapausal... if anything losing 130lbs has kicked my system into high gear....

Just for comparison I'll show a pic of me a year or so ago...

This shows me last October (2010) and then 3 weeks before surgery, so late June of this year... there had been some thinning (I has been doing really low carb for 3 months by the second pic), but nothing like the past few months.



SOOO... while I do know there are probably someother things at play, the doctors can't find them.  I blame PCOS/VSG combo...

The $1,000 covers a fancy human hair wig and about 6 hours of time with the place getting it set up, teaching me, doing stuff to it (like perming it) and stuff like that...

You don't have to re-edit your first post. you made it very clear that it was anomalous to you. Any side effect experienced by anyone who has had this surgery is welcome here.  I'm so sorry you're having this situation.  I was wondering how on earth you got insurance to pay for your hairpieces?  At least that's one worry you will not have.  Best of luck but they do have some rockin' pieces these days that you just cannot make the difference.

So sorry for your hair loss Kanga.....Im pre surgery, but Im afraid mine is gonna do the same thing! I also have PCOS and it is very thin as it is. Im curious to know how your Insurance paid for the Wigs? Also, which insurance company do you have and what did you need to get them to cover the wigs?

I have Athem BC/BS of Maine... I had already reached my insurance and deductable with surgery and all... My PCP diagnosed me with alopecia (which I totally have) and the hair replacement place got approval and submitted it... no problem. 

THey said that sometimes they really have to fight for it, but that my insurance had never given them trouble with it in the past as long as the ducks were all in a row...

I really hope that it will grow back, but I am thankful there is another option out there....