Hair Loss After Gastric Bypass

One thing that seems inevitable no matter what kind of bariatric surgery you have is hair loss. The amount of hair loss and how long it goes on for seems to be different for us all but for me it was one of the most nerve-wracking parts of the whole process.

It wasn’t until about three months after my gastric bypass that I started to notice that my hair was falling out at a rate like I had never seen before in my life. At it’s worst I would get what would look like a weeks worth of hair collected in my hairbrush after one brush and when this was happening day after day, week after week I started to worry.

My hair was something I really liked about myself prior to surgery because it was long, thick and I had a lot of hair. There wasn’t much that I liked more about myself than my hair so to lose so much of it so quickly was very hard.

When you are in the rapid weight loss phase after surgery it seems somewhere between 3-6 months after you will have a period of rapid hair loss. Your body is changing so quickly and your hormones are doing funny things so to be honest there is not much you can do to stop or prevent it. This needs to be an expected part of the process. Making sure you keep your protein up does seem to make it not as bad though so make sure you do.

While my hair loss slowed back down to normal rates my hair still hasn’t recovered and to be honest I’m not sure that it ever will. My ponytail is half as thick as it was and I even had someone ask me after looking at one of my wedding photos if I had hair extensions in for my wedding day. I didn’t have extensions on my wedding day that was all my own beautiful overabundance of hair. You may have noticed if you follow my Instagram account (Link in the top right-hand corner) my hair is almost always up in a bun these days and it’s because my hair is nothing like it was.

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Hair loss is extremely common in this process but be reassured at some point it will stop falling out like crazy and you won’t go bald. I seriously thought I was going to for about a month there. Now that the hair loss has slowed down the condition of my hair is not what it was either. This may have something to do with the fact that I now colour it on a semi regular basis (so many grey hairs) but I don’t think that’s all it can be attributed to.

I’m still trying to get it back in good condition but I think I’m fighting a losing battle. That said if you know of any amazing hair products I should try out please comment below and let me know! Until I saw the picture at the top I had forgotten how nice my hair was and of course I did not appreciate it while I had it.

Did you lose hair after surgery? Did it eventually slow down, has it recovered to what it used to be? Comment below I’d love to hear about your experience.

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There are 11 comments for this article
  1. Maria | Happy Mum Happy Child at 6:53 am

    Wow that’s crazy you lost that much hair! After pregnancy, I lost a lot of hair too – not the same amount as you, but I can relate to the hair loss. My hair (surprisingly) is a lot thinner than it used to be.

    Can you take vitamins to boost it back up?

    • Melissa Peaks Author at 7:06 am

      It’s one of the downsides of this kind of surgery that’s for sure. I can’t remember if I lost much after having Mr3 or not. Either way both are fairly traumatic for your body. I’ve been thinking of taking a collagen supplement but I’m not sure it would do much so I’m on the fence about it at the moment.

  2. Anthea at 2:16 pm

    My hair started shedding more around three months post-op, I chopped it to a shoulder length style from being long and it helped it from looking stringy.
    I have naturally fine hair but a lot of it. My hair stopped shedding excessively about seven months post-op, and the next thing that bothered me is the regrowth! So much short fluffy hair poking through! And at the front, it looked like I had a fringe again. So much so that I chopped in a new fringe so I’d hate that wisp a bit less!
    L’Oréal’s creme gloss colour is almost more of a conditioner than a colour and I used a box to return some condition and shine to my hair. Give it a go! Also the mane and tail herbal grow range from iherb 🙂

    • Melissa Peaks Author at 7:40 pm

      I’m thinking of going and getting the straggly looking bits cut off soon. The fluffiness is what drives me the most insane! Thanks for those recommendations. I have been thinking of trying Mane and Tail for ages so I should just do it!

  3. Joye at 7:20 pm

    Mine wasn’t all that noticeable except when I was in the shower. But in saying that I have short hair. Others we know, like you lost a lot. I also wonder if the fact I use Argon oil daily in my hair and on my body helped. I still use it I find since surgery my hair is fluffy if I don’t use it and it just annoys me. 10 months post op now

  4. Carolyn at 7:40 pm

    wow. My hair is thin and not much anyway….ahhhhh. Hope I do not lose any…It is short so hopefully will not look too bad though…might get into wearing scarfs?

    • Melissa Peaks Author at 11:14 am

      Hair loss is part and parcel of the journey. The good news is mine has recovered and while I don’t have quite as much as I did to start with it’s nothing to worry about now.

  5. Jay at 10:10 am

    Melissa did ur strands thin 2.i lost stone of weight in week 2 years ago my hair hasnt recovered. Strands so thin. Just slowed down a bit this past 3 weeks or maybe thats becausw they are so thin i am not noticig as many. Also did u lose hair anywhere else? So sorry 4 ur loss

    • Melissa Peaks Author at 10:47 am

      Hi Jay, my hair was quite thin to start with I just had a lot of it. I’m sorry to hear your hair hasn’t recovered but I’m glad to hear it’s slowing down now. I didn’t notice any hair loss anywhere else, the hair on my head has recovered as much as I think it will now. I still don’t have as much as I used to but in terms of condition and everything else it’s as good as I could hope it would be. Chopping quite a bit of length off a year or 18 months after my bariatric surgery seemed to help a lot.

  6. Carole at 11:29 pm

    I periodically go through hair loss from medication I’m on, so “looking forward” to seeing what happens after my op in a month’s time!

    I take Biotin 10,000mg for it. You can buy Natrol brand on ebay. And I celebrate the short and fuzzies / regrowth – because it means I’m not going bald!! I just wish it would fall out on my legs, underarms and, bikini line instead.

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