Hair falling out

Had a colectomy in November. I've always lost some hair when styling it, but in the past couple of months it has been noticeably more. I have to sweep my bathroom floor every time I do my hair, pull a bunch of hair out of my brush every time, can't run my hand through my hair without pieces coming out. I have to keep lint rollers everywhere. I was trying not to worry about it but then I got my hair done today and as she was combing my hair my stylist said something like, "Your hair is falling out a lot!"

I know I am eating enough because I am maintaining a steady weight. My nails grow fine, and my skin is great. I do not eat many vegetables, mostly just potatoes and occasionally spinach. I eat fish probably 5 days out of the week, and plenty of nuts and other proteins. I also have been giving myself weekly B12 shots for about 2 years. So I can't figure out WHY my hair falls out so much. I don't have any bald spots, it just seems like an overall thinning of the hair. I am only 25 and this is scaring me.

Does anyone else have any experience with this, or know what could possibly be causing it? I am going to try to make a Dr. appointment on my next day off.

Thanks,
Ali

Hi I also had hair loss after my first surgery the docs told me that it was the shock to my system after the surgery that causes the hair loss, i took sea kelp for a year and my hair is now thicker than ever. hope this helps, all the best.

Ditto. I lost tons of hair after the surgery, and my hair was in bad shape, really dry for a while. It grows back. Get yourself a reall ynice conditioner.

Yup, same as everyone else here.

same here, my hands are covered in hair after I shampoo :(  Just another lovely thing we get to deal with - when I was on remicade it fell out to the point I had bald spots and it was so thin where I did have hair that you could see my scalp. 

Thank you SO much everyone, I feel much better. I have noticed lots of little "baby" hairs growing in around my face, but it is still very troubling to see SO much hair when I do normal things like shampoo or comb my hair. Some days I lose so much, I don't know how there is any left on my head!

I did talk to my grandma today and she told me exactly the same thing as you all did - surgery can disrupt the hair cycle. It has been almost 6 months for me, so hopefully it will start easing up soon. I always loved my hair but lately I feel pretty self conscious.

But again, thanks everyone you really helped me feel better.

upsadaisy said...
Hi I also had hair loss after my first surgery the docs told me that it was the shock to my system after the surgery that causes the hair loss, i took sea kelp for a year and my hair is now thicker than ever. hope this helps, all the best.

How did you take the sea kelp? Was it a supplement in a pill form? I would be interested in trying it...

Here's the great shampoo and conditioner that made my hair look much much better while it was going through the dry and damanged phase for many months. I am still using these products because my curly hair always needs extra helop:

Davines Melu shampoo with spinach extract and the conditioner, same name.

It comes from Italy and you can order on Amazon in English:
http://www.amazon.de/DAVINES-Momo-Conditioner-dehydrated-250ml/dp/B0016191HU/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1335092645&sr=1-1

The stuff is not cheap, but lasts a long time and I only need the conditioner once a week. Best hair proudcts I've used in my life.

 

Biotin supplements were recommended to me, so I did take them for a few months.  Not sure if it helped, but my hair did start coming back in rather soon after my rapid loss.  Biotin is supposed to be good for hair and nails.

Also, a shampoo called Biotene was suggested, but I did not try that.

Hello alibee! I haven't been on here in so long but I was just checking on something because I'm having a defecography done tomorrow.

I had the same problem with my hair and was quite worried about it since I wore it very short anyway. It's been eleven months and my hair is back to the normal thickness and growing quickly. I have decided to grow it out since it was a pain to get it cut every few weeks. I have also been able to grow nails, which was impossible just a year ago. I'm not sure how that happened or if it was just coincidental. Before surgery my nails were in horrible (embarrassing) condition but now they are so long.

I hope you are doing well and that your life is getting back to normal.

nanci

My hair loss scared me so bad I went to my PCP! After my pregnancies, I had hair loss too, but nothing compared to this! I even had an appendectomy 10 days after the birth of my first child!

My colectomy didn't go well, had 3 more surgeries, was on TPN and was hospitalized 38 days. So all this made my hair fall out like crazy 3/4 months later. My brush would be full all day long. My hair was all over my body in the shower. The loose hair would get tangled in and I had to start cutting. Would brush my hair outside. Had my hair up while I was at home. I have always used good, natural shampoo and conditioner, this wasn't the issue for me.

3 weeks of this, I went to my PCP and she said it will take time. I told her I wanted to take Biotin and Selenium, as I had done so for the hair loss postpartum. I did and in a week it was controllable. It could of been time or the supplements, but happy that it ended! I immediately noticed new hair growth and with regular trimmings, it is like it was before.