When does hair loss begin?

[JenniferJT]

I am 3 1/2 weeks out and wondering when I will start to see the hair loss? Also how long does it last usually?

Edited July 24 by JenniferJT

[athenarose]

I think it varies from person to person. I never had any hair loss. That was noticeable anyway...

[Aussie Bear]

Mine started before my surgery but that's also when I lost most of my excess weight!

[Jen581791]

Mine was about three months out to about eight months out. If you google Chemistry Queen on YouTube, she has a great video on explaining the science of it. Not fun, to be sure, but expected and it eventually stops. 

[cinwa]

I didn't lose much in the way of hair but it did turn grey and curly pretty much overnight post-WLS.

[Carina]

I don't think I lost any extra; at least I didn't notice any.

[BurgundyBoy]

15 hours ago, JenniferJT said:

I am 3 1/2 weeks out and wondering when I will start to see the hair loss? Also how long does it last usually?

Just to echo what others have said... in prospective studies written by bariatric surgeons, seems to start (for those who get it) 2-3 months after the surgery. In the past it was worse when the importance of an high protein diet was not as well appreciated. It is not inevitable but it is common. Hair loss is complicated but clearly it is diminished by higher protein. Most of us are told we need ~ 60 grams of protein a day, more if you are taller than average; but there are studies that show more protein intake => less hair loss, without any specific boundary. By that I mean people who eat 90 grams a day have less loss than 60 grams a day on average, but there is no specific protein intake amount that is "guaranteed" to prevent hair loss. The clear lesson of course is eat as much as you can, no guarantees in life but you stack the odds in your favor if you do. 

Hair is almost all protein. When you are losing weight rapidly after surgery - your poor body thinks you may be starving to death in a famine, one supposes, when your intake of calories goes down so much - your body redirects the protein it has on hand to your more critical needs - keeping your muscles, brain, heart, etc working is more important than hair. So by upping your protein you not only make sure you have enough for your critical metabolic needs, you have enough for your hair growth too. Yes you need various vitamins and nutrition co-factors to make hair too but protein is the dominant factor. Take your vitamins, eat lots of protein...

I pretty much have eaten > 90 grams of protein  a day since surgery and did not have any hair loss - but then I am begrizzled and pretty bald anyhow, so maybe there wasn't much to lose ...

[Cheesehead]

I had super short, thick hair and never noticed any loss.  It’s as individual as this journey..

[kristinwitha_k]

16 hours ago, Jen581791 said:

Mine was about three months out to about eight months out. If you google Chemistry Queen on YouTube, she has a great video on explaining the science of it. Not fun, to be sure, but expected and it eventually stops. 

Ditto for me. Mine has stopped falling out, and I can see the really short growth hiding underneath. (I already have very short hair, so it won't take too long to catch up; the wait is MUCH longer if you have long hair.) 

Most assuredly, you will be the only one who notices. My mom (who is NOT the kind of person to not notice and/or comment on these things, unfortunately) announced out loud to me that I hadn't even lost any hair. Which for sure is not true. Ha. Don't stress about it.