my hair is gone :(

you've had some good responses, i can't add to those.

Just here to give you a virtual hug, and tell you that its going to get better.

maybe don't brush your hair too much. massage your scalp, that can't hurt.

There is a good reason why this happends, You are eating waaaayyyy less then you used to, not even enough for a fit healthy person.  So your body is thinking that your organs need the protein more then your hair so it is diverting all protein to your organs so you can live....ignoring your hair, which by the way IS protein.  This will stop but not soon enough, I too have very thin hair and it is getting thinner slowly (my surgery was on July 19th) I am expecting to have bald spots too as I can already see my scalp, (I could see it before surgery to but now even more) I know It is scary!  But rest assured it will grow back!! Just keep up with the protein>>>>VERY important!!! 60 - 80 grams per day.  It will get easier the farther along you get.  Don't cut your hair to short and don't have it to long, medium is good for it to look fuller (this advice is from the book "The Real Skinny on Weightloss Surgery"build your own cat kit chapter lol).  I just keep reminding myself that it will grow back!  In the meantime concentrate on protein, excerise and just getting healthy. 

Good luck!
Melissa!

 Hair loss is something that obsesses lots of guys.  Its kind of a guy thing, as early alopecia is common.  I have a number of friends who have tried everything from BBQ paint (well that's basically what that Ron Popeil hair spray stuff was) to plugs and finally minoxidil (sp?).  Adjusting to waiting for regrowth is about all one can do I think.

I had hair loss too and I'll be honest, it was more noticable to me (and maybe my hairdresser) than it was to the rest of the world. I lost about half my hair but I had very thick hair (which I often had to get layered and thinned out anyways). My hairdresser helped by creating a style that worked with what I had left and was easiest to style given the changes in my hair. I think that is a great first step. I personally stayed away from extensions because they fuse extensions to your own hair, so if you loose the strand that the extension is attached to, you've just wasted a lot of money (at least that's my understanding of it). I did take the biotin and bought a biotin based shampoo from the states that seems to be helping with the volume issue. 

One other product that worked wonders for me is called Toppik I bought at Sally Beauty Supply. It's fibres made from the same fibre structure your hair is naturally made from. You shake it on to any balding areas and pat it down, then just spray on a little hairspray to keep it in place. You can brush your hair through and style it and the product only comes out after you wa**** It looks really natural and I think was well worth my money during that phase.

Hope these ideas help! 

hey everyone thanks for the info.. and yes your prob right on the extensions coming out when i loose the hairs its attached too. haha i def gonna order that toppik stuff its the back of my head that looks worse kinda around where my crown is...

as for shaving my head... nop sorry hahaha

thanks everyone..

My hair loss has been awful...before surgery my hair was really long, and I have already went through some thinning due to thyroid removal and balancing medications for that...I'd say at the 3 month post-op is when I really noticed it was coming out more...I have cut my hair off to a pixie style cut to help with covering the thinner spots. Being 5 months out now I find the amount I am losing isn't as much but still quite a bit..it took alot for me to cut it all so I did it in stages and had 4 cuts to get to the length I have now...As for glued extensions well they would just put added weight on the hair and could make it fall out alot faster. I just keep telling myself its not going to last forever.

I'm sorry you're going through this - I think this is just one of those things everyone who does this has to go through.

And it's the one major thing (besides surgery itself) that I'm really not looking forward to.  I haven't cut my hair in maybe a year or so, and while it needs a good trim, it's grown out to a nice length.

I'm wondering whether a good way to handle it might be to get a really, really short cut.  That way there won't be so much weight to the hair to pull it out?  I have no idea whether that would work or not, but I think I'll probably try that myself when I get to that stage.

I am almost 5 months out and at about 3 months out, I experienced the same thing.  My hair is thin and fine to begin with because of my thyroid. I was told to get enough protein in (60-80 grams).  When I went to see the nutritionist for my follow up, she told me to take  50mg of Zinc citrate for only a month. I tried that and not sure if I noticed a huge difference.  I was taking Biotin (5000 mcg) prior to surgery and at the beginning.  Someone at my support group told me to take 10 000 mcg a day instead (one in the morning and one in the evening).  Since then, I have noticed a difference.  I am not noticing as much hair in the sink or tub.  You can only get the high doses at vitamin stores I think.  (Walmart and places like that sell only around 250 mcg).  I looked into extensions but not the glue in ones cause apparently they are terrible for your hair and where my hair is thin (top of my scalp, the girl said, you would see the clips.  Other option was a wig...I'm not ready for that yet.  It will get better.  Good luck.  Oh by the way, I was told that the hair loss is due to the stress to the body from the surgery and it is normal.