A year and a half in--hair still thin

 I'll be the first one to tell you that this surgery was well worth the hairloss.  And luckily I could spare it.

BUTTTT I would much prefer to be this size AND have my presurgery thick, long, healthy hair.  I lost hair from about 4-6 months.  Now the hair regrowth is about 3-5" long but all that short breakage leaves me with kind of stringy hair.  I really prefer not to cut my hair unless it's what must be done.  I didn't do anything while losing the hair beause I didn't buy into that.  But for the past 3 months or so I've been taking prenatal vitamins per the recommendation of my hairstylist.  Any other recommendations?

I'm pre-op and I'm trying to pretend that this does not happen. I wish I could be more helpful.

Hi there,

I'm only 1 month out and was actually at my dermatologist today regarding another issue. I explained that I ad just has WLS and she said when I start to see the thinning, start using Rogaine. She said that will definately help grow the hair back. Hope this helps. You look AMAZING!!!

Be careful with Rogaine. When I was dealing with hairloss and researching it on forums, what I remember reading were a few MAJOR things. #1 there is a MAJOR shed associated with it's initial use called the "dread shed", which is the same type of hair loss we experience with wls... so why do that to our heads again? #2 when you stop using it, the hair it helped stimulate falls out, therefore it should be used permanently #3 the men's formula is the most successful, however it can be associated with facial hair growth #4 it takes months to work #5 it is used for androgenic alopecia, not usually telogen effluvium (which is our type of hairloss).

All in all, Rogaine is definitely not something I would for this type of situation. I also wouldn't recommend trusting dermatologists when it comes to hairloss either. When I first started seeing them for mine they all told me to reduce my stress level and have a nice day. They also told me to do the rogaine thing. I ended up having to bring them research and forcing them to do biopsies of my scalp. They didn't know what they were talking about.

i feel your pain! I'm 1 year and 3 months post op. My friend told me to use natural shampoo sulfate free to help it from thinning/falling out so much. I have been for about 2 months and its better..but not completely resolved.

My understanding is getting adequate proteins and taking Biotin can help. I have been taking Biotin for several months before my sleeve.

Ahhh. I miss my hair too. I agree that it was worth it, but I dislike my hair these days still- and I am over three years out. It appears my hair is permanently different...

That's not breakage, that's regrowth from everything that fell out :) That's a great thing! Taking vitamins (they don't have to be prenatals...), biotin, using amazing shampoos and whatnot is going to help with making any new hair that comes out of your hair be stronger and more beautiful and it can also help it grow faster. It definitely won't hurt to do it. If you want all of that new hair to stay down or for your hair to look less stringy at the bottom maybe look for some products to keep the new babies down or have some clip ins or something in the lower part of your hair to make the bottom look more full. You don't have to cut your hair because nothing is breaking off. It just appears that way. Wait it out. All of that "breakage" is really a great sign. Your hair will be thick and the same length soon enough! 



Side note about prenatals: people have this idea that prenatals make your hair and nails magically grow but the truth is that the increase of hormones during pregnancy are what make your hair and nails grow so shiney and strong. Most women have post pregnancy hair loss. If you look on the back of prenatals, they are very similar to regular women's mult vitamins.