Losing so much of my hair!

Have any of you experienced extreme hair loss after weight loss surgery? I don't even want to wash and comb my hair anymore. It is so upsetting to be losing clumps at at time. Any tips on what I can do to stop the loss before I practically go bald?

I am in the same boat you are... I have made a few jokes that I just want to cut it all off but my husband says he will not let that happen. My hair is down to small of my back but sever since my surgery it has gotten so thin and so much is lost after washing/brushing. I use a hair extension called a halo and it gives me additional body to allow me to feel normal and I can curl it and have styled it for an up-do as well for formal occasions. it has a fishing line thread so molds to my head. It was pricey, but so totally worth every stinkin' penny and it helps me feel confident (and I can remove it).

I have regrowth, but I am thinking that most of my hair loss is genetic since my mom's hair is fairly the same now. I get more than enough protein and I take my daily vitamins and all of my levels have been good since day one

I am sorry you are going through the same thing. I appreciate the tip on the hair extensions! No one else in my family has same issue and I do have siblings that have had weight loss surgery and they have no issues.

20+ years ago MY SURGEON traced hair loss after WLS to ZINC deficiency . Proven medically. zinc lozenges reverse it very quickly. I am on maintainence and use half one twice a week. sublingual. full absorption.. after WLS NOTHING fully absorbs. this is why YOU need labwork on a continuing basis.

I will check my last labs to see what my zinc levels were amd talk to my surgeon. Thanks for the tip!

Dee_Caprini, when you do labs for zinc levels. you get a blood level.. You need a cellular level. Zinc is necessary for the body. Yes, you can overload on it.

Here is what i found from my labwork..If I take a lozenge and it tastes as labeled ..like berries or lemon... MY level is low..If it begins to have a "off" taste..I remove the lozenge and save it for several days ( i wait,4-7)later. levels are high enough. It reverses the hair loss in a few days. works very quickly...When i first began zinc for hair loss i needed an every other day lozenge. now i am using 1/2 a week.

You know how much hair you want to loose, the ball is in your court.

I have used this since my surgery in 96. It is a common problem. So when you tell YOUR Doctor... you can also tell him who MY Surgeon was.... My surgeon was a professor of WLS. He was one of the 2 co writers of the book on IV Nutrition , that is used in medical schools to this day..His name is George Cowan.,Jr. He retired several years ago. His practice, The Obesity Wellness Center, was partnered with a medical team of nutritionists, lab trained researchers from the University of Tn in Memphis. It was this group that partnered together to do research and prove that there is a Gene that causes Morbid Obesity. It controls how your body processes carbs.

it is normal after having anesthesia, not just from wls but from any surgery.
google telogen effluvium.

Holly Kim , see post above i just posted to Dee_C.

Its a cellular zinc availability...researched and proven over 25 years ago. This is an OLD problem and it has a quick remedy.

Not washing and combing might make it a lot worse. I only got my hair back when I used Nioxin for close to a year. I was not sure if it would work but it did.

I was about two years out from surgery when I started using it and my hair was quite on top. It looks normal now.

My hairdresser had me start using Nioxin even before my surgery. I still had hair loss, it didn't seem as bad as others experienced who didn't use it. I considered it a success for me. I was also fortunate that I had tons of hair (very fine hair but tons of it) so the hairloss wasn't that noticeable except to me.

Hair loss started a couple of months after surgery and probably lasted 6 months before I started noticing regrowth at my hairline.