Now I'm scared about hair loss !

I have thin hair now so when I read other stories I get worried, I don't want to be bald and I have a feeling I will, I can see my scalp now because it's thin. I can hear people now saying what is wrong with her she must be sick. Does anyone wear a wig? I don't want it to irritate my head and be itchy. I know it's just hair but what I have I'm already self conscious. Have not had surgery yet but working on it .

I've heard of a few getting a wig, but more-so I've heard people getting extensions to make what they have look thicker. I've also seen a lot of people on here getting a shorter haircut while it's thinning, I guess the thinning isn't as noticeable when it is shorter and styled. At least it's only temporary !! :)

I've never heard of anyone going completely bald.  I did have a small bald spot in back.  I think my hair loss was worse than normal because I did a terrible job of getting my protein the first couple of months.  Partly that was due to complications - I developed severe pneumonia a couple weeks after my RNY and was in the hospital for three weeks, unconscious and on IV fluids but with no protein for several days, and then for part of that time they kept trying to give me Ensure which was very high in sugar and I kept explaining I could not drink that or I would dump, but that's what they kept bringing me.  I finally had someone bring me some protein drinks from home, but anyway, for a few weeks I had very little protein.  And I had a really hard time finding a protein shake I liked, so even when I was back home, I didn't get as much protein as I should have for a while.

Anyway.  I've heard a few people say they wore wigs.  Most people don't lose enough hair to feel they need a wig, I don't think.  Some people lose very, very little hair, though most do lose some.  It generally grows back after a few months.

I struggle every day to get enough protein in, yet, at almost four months out I have not experienced any hair loss--not everyone does. Of course, I don't know what tomorrow will bring...

I am 10 weeks out and ahve done a pretty darned good job of getting a minimum of 60 grams of protein evertday except for the first week.  I am just know in the last few days noticing some hair loss.  Scary and upsetting but I knew it would happen...just hoping it doesn't last long.....

I had my surgery on April 15th and have noticed a loss of hair, pretty drastic, but I've been working on getting more protein in - really don't like many protein powders, but have started using Unjury non-flavored.  I luckily have thick hair so it hasn't been noticable yet.  Best of luck.

I understand your concern. My hair was never thick and after my surgery I lost a third to half of the hair I had. I had diffuse thinning so no bald spots, just thin all aver. It was horrible and I didn't think it would stop. I made sure I got all the protein I was supposed to and my multivitamin has 5000units of biotin in it. I tried to get extensions because I had a wedding to be in and I spent $600 to go to a local hair replacement place and it didn't work. The place where they joined them to my hair was totally visible and they fell out very quickly. I can offer some hope. My hair seems to be growing back in. It has been 9 months and I have a lot of about one inch hairs growing in so I am hopeful. I think cutting your hair as short as you can tolerate is the best solution. I wouldn't get extensions unless you have money to burn. I have never tried a wig but if you have the money to get a good one I've heard great things but they can cost thousands. I firmly believe I made the right choice. Losing the weight was much more important, but it did stress me out. Thankfully everything I've read is it is temporary and if it's going to happen there isn't much you can do to stop it. Good luck!    

Boytin will not stop hair loss but will help with regrowth. Start takeing it now, befor u have WLS to get a head start on the regrowtn. That is what I did. Good luck on your journey.

Laurie

Be careful with extensions. They weigh your hair down and will make things worse. Clip ins I think are alright but check first. Nioxin makes a product line for thinning hair that cleans the follicles out. After surgery I recommend it to clean the anesthesia out of your hair follicles. I paid like $35 for the kit at my salon which was a regular size bottle of shampoo, small bottle of conditioner and a leave in conditioner. Salons do sell the items in larger sizes individually too. The small bottle of conditioner lasted me about 5 weeks with shoulder length hair. I see a definite difference in the amount of hair that comes out in my brush.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00138Y0RM

That's the one I use (I have color treated hair).

You can help minimize the hair loss by getting in as close to your protein goal as possible from as early out as possible. I did that and I also take Biotin 5mg everyday (my NUT said it was a good idea as well). So far I have not noticed any unusual hair loss (just normal shedding that I've always had) and am over 2 months out. There are of course no guarantees and most will see re-growth after the initial loss that they do experience and it's almost always temporary...I know your fear though because I lost a significant amount of hair last year after my hair was pretty much destroyed (bleached one time too many!). It literally was breaking in half in spots and was so, so thin after always being very thick and wavy. I like to think it's in a re-growth phase right now and that's partly why I have avoided losing hair post-op..