Question re: Hair loss! For those post-surgery -

This has been brought up numerous times in the various sessions with people on the Bariatric team. It seem an inevitable side effect. I won't lie, worried about extent and breadth of hair loss. Anyone who has experienced this, I would love to hear from you about how this impacted you and whether it was catastrophic, minor or simply not too bad. It's not, obviously, a make or break thing, but I have long, thick hair so if I start losing a LOT, then I would prefer before it reaches a no going back point, to cut it off and send it to Angel Hair for Kids (which my daughter and I have both contributed to before). At this juncture, I could give them a very long, thick braid - it would be a shame to lose all the hair for nothing. Thoughts on hair loss, friends? I will admit, I have an emotional attachment to my hair and it would be hard to lose it at this point, but as I said, if it is going to be lost, I would prefer to act sooner and let someone benefit from it!

I lost a lot of hair. I had medium length thick wavy hair and you really can't tell visually, but it is much thinner. I was a year out in March and I have a lot of 2 inch regrowth right now. Keeping the length has helped me feel like myself, I hate my hair short so I think that would have been very hard to cut it all off. But what a amazing thing you are thinking of doing!

Thank you so much - my hair is thick too - and right now a little past my hips - and yes, it represents in many ways who I am - it is my one vanity. I know it is crucial to keep protein intake high (not just for general overall health after surgery, but also helps with hair loss)- I'm torn - may wait a bit and then once surgery is best, be vigilant ... if I feel I"m losing a lot of hair I'll take a deep breath and cut it! It's only hair, right? To this point (not sure about post-surgery) my hair has always grown very fast but I feel that might change - we'll see. Thank you and congratulations on your fantastic success with your surgery!

I lost a lot of hair as well. Being lucky enough to have thick hair it's not noticeable to anyone else but it is definitely much thinner then previously.

Thank you - it confirms what I've heard .. it is almost an inevitable result of the surgery :(- is yours starting to grow back in?

I have not noticed that it is growing back but in all honesty it's kinda nice to have thinner hair for a change. I will enjoy it while it lasts as I'm sure it will start growing back in soon.

Just out of interest, have been doing research into Biotin - has really solid promising results - but it does show up in bloodwork- so after surgery (2 weeks TODAY)- I will speak to the doctor about taking a supplement of it to help keep my hair!