OMG my hair !!!!!????????

ok, i know there is another post on hair loss, but i can't find it right now. and right now, i am losing all my hair. i thought it would just be a bit of hair, but i have lost more than 3/4 of it. seriously, there is barely anything left. and i have long dark cherry red hair so you can see through it when i wear it down. it literally looks like witches hair. its thin, straggely and barely any there.
i have almost bald spots. what is going on??
everytime i touch my head, mass amounts of hair come out. OMG

so, on tuesday i am going in to my hair salon and having the whole lot cut off. my lushious long locks - all gone. so sad.
i even have to dye it light so you can't see my scalp through my thin hair.

jeezus will it ever stop??
and what will happen in september after my next surgery??
will i be completely bald??

does anyone else have this problem??
did you hair stop falling out?
help....!!!

I am a big "hair" person and if something like this were to happen I would go out and buy a few different wigs to have some fun with while waiting for the hair to grow back in. Aside from the anxiety and trauma of this which I am not minimizing in the least I would try to handle it this way for my type of personality to cope with it. Back in the 70s, wigs and falls were fashionable so I guess that stuck with me and would be easy for me to do embrace.

Good Luck...very sorry this happens to all of you...hubby was already losing his hair but the UC, meds, surgery, anesthesia etc. definitely amped it up but of course it is much different for guys than gals. Not meaning to sound sexist but it is easier to accept especially when you are an older guy.

I have the same problem. It was suggested to me to take certain vitamins.
B, Biotin, Selenium, and E.
I started taking the vitamins maybe 3 weeks ago. I'm still shedding but it seems to have slowed down slightly.

Jen.

just found this interesting info out....

Q: Can anesthesia cause hair loss? If yes, why are anesthetics doing this to your hair?

A: Hair loss has been linked to many different causes over the decades, and some of these linkages are valid while others are not. In the case of anesthesia causing hair loss, apparently, the link is valid, although the extent to which anesthesia is solely or specifically to blame is in question.

Allow me to explain. If you ask any hairdresser about potential causes for your hair loss, he or she will probably ask if you’ve undergone any surgery. There has been anecdotal evidence linking anesthesia and hair loss, but there has been little information offered to explain the “why” or “how” anesthesia can do this. As a result, the causal relationship between anesthesia and hair loss has grown to include all forms of anesthesia which isn’t an accurate statement.

It is a known fact that stress can contribute to and can cause hair loss among predisposed individuals. It is also true that general anesthesia used during surgery can put the body into shock (causing stress) which becomes cumulative with the stress already resulting from anticipating and undergoing surgical procedures (both physical and emotional).
After considerable research, I did find some reputable, references on anesthesia and hair loss which had this to say on the subject:

Systemic anesthesia has a profound effect on the body. As you would expect, it pushes the individual into a state of unconsciousness and relaxes muscles. Anesthesia also affects hair follicles. Hair follicles contain cells that are some of the fastest dividing and developing cells of the body. They have to divide fast to maintain the growth of hair fiber. Anesthesia blocks this rapid cell division. While the application of anesthesia to an individual may only be for a few hours, the hair follicles may be affected to such a degree that they shut down hair fiber production and enter a telogen resting state. A telogen effluvium type of hair loss is the result.” {Source: Desai SP, Roaf ER. Telogen effluvium after anesthesia and surgery. Anesth Analg. 1984 Jan;63(1):83-4.}

Of course, it also included information on the relationship between surgery and hair loss, explaining that “major surgery is an extreme physical shock to the body. Therefore after surgery your body is struggling to repair itself. Most nutrients are diverted to repairing essential organs and reorganizing the structural integrity of the body. Hair follicles are not vitally important for survival so they often lose out as nutrients are diverted elsewhere. Without a good supply of nutrients the hair follicles slow down or even stop activity completely. This may lead to a telogen effluvium type of progressive hair loss noticeable up to three months after the surgery has taken place.”

These are logical, learned explanations for the possible links between surgery and anesthesia and hair loss. But let’s remember that these explanations refer to specific types of anesthesia (general anesthesia) and surgery (major surgery). The common factor in these kinds of cases - and in other anesthesia and surgical cases (which are often very minor) to which hair loss is attributed - is STRESS.

Worried Mom 1
Do you remember how much Biotin? I'm taking 5000mg a day. I was told I might want to take two pills (10,000mg) a day.

Wasn't sure if that was safe. Do you remember how much her doctor told her to take?

Jen

Cleo35 --- Ditto. I was not only malnurished before surgery, I was bleeding to death. It took my hair a couple of months or so to start falling out and I'm fighting to stop the falling out part of the program and get it growing as fast as I can. It is just not wanting to cooperate with me. It is slowing down on the shedding part tho.

My hair stopped growing right after my surgery - all of it, not just on my head. It started up again when I was put on IV feeding a couple of weeks later. I was told it may have been that I was extremely short on protein before the IVs. I'm still very low now that I'm home, likely because I'm having a hard time eating. My doctor will order blood work to check on that next week.

Probably nothing you've experienced, but the body hair came back in curly and has left me with a zillion little bumps all over my arms and legs, like coarse sandpaper. That may be because I already have keratosis pilaris which is a common hereditary difficulty in hair getting up through the skin. I just started using body oil after gently scrubbing in the shower - a known helpful remedy.

It is probably telogen effluvium. I have it--not from surgery--but from taking Accutane 2 1/2 years ago. I'm on this board contemplating surgery for another Accutane related side effect.

I have been shedding 100-200 hairs a day for 2 1/2 years. Luckily, I started with more than enough hair. My hair was so thick, that it would take me 2 hours to dry and straighten. Now, I have lost about 80% of the thickness, maybe even 90%. I understand how devastating it is, but you have to "wait it out".

In my case, it is chronic TE, meaning it has lasted more than 6 months. Your body takes about 3 months to react to any sort of "trauma" caused to it. You won't go bald from TE, but I have spots where my part has widened or just spots with little fuzzy new growth and it is way thinner all over my scalp, but I do have a lot of new growth.

I recently saw a dermatologist about this. She said TE is "non-scarring" which means the hair follicles do not die, but are sent into a state of "shock" and shed prematurely. Also, the hair falling is the result of a new hair pushing it's way through the follicle. I can contest this isn't much noticeable until months on down the line, but my hair is regrowing as well as still falling out, so non of the density has returned as of yet.

The only cure for TE is to remove the "trigger". Since yours was surgery, your body will eventually adjust and the hairloss will stop. If it lasts more than 6 months, go see a derm. There's not much they will tell you, though. Mine told me to use men's rogaine. I'm a girl...but I started using it about a week ago, so we shall see what happens.

In my case, my initial trigger was the Accutane. Then stress brought on by my mother's cancer. Then stress brought on by my mother passing away. Then stress brought on by my good friend taking his life 2 weeks after my mother passed. Then of course through all of this, stress from my stomach issues related to Accutane. Also, working full time and taking night classes and dealing with my father and brother's reactions to my mom passing. The past few years have not been kind to me. Mine has been never-ending, which is why I keep having trigger after trigger that won't cease my hair loss. I try not to think about it, but it is very hard. Just try not to think about it, and know it will grow back.

I got off birth control recently, which is another cause of TE. Then my doctor prescribed me an anti-depressant (Celexa), which I took for about 6 days and noticed more hair loss than ever, upon reading online found it causes TE as well, UGH. Thanks doc, considering the reason I came in to see him was for hair loss and stomach issue related depression.

I also take 1500 mg of biotin everyday. Zinc also helps with hair loss, but do not consume too much, because it can have a negative effect and actually cause hair loss if you ingest too much. I also use an anti-dandruff shampoo with Zinc in it. Also, hair is protein. You need protein to maintain healthy regrowth. I drink Boost protein shakes. They taste better than Ensure.

There's a brand called Phyto that is sold at Sephora. They have special shampoo and these serums you can put on your scalp for hair loss. I have had success with that in the past, but it is expensive.

Nioxin has worked for me in the past, as well, but the Phyto brand was better.

If you opt for Rogaine (I would say last resort--as I am desperate) do not use Nioxin shampoo at the same time.

Also, have your ferritin levels checked and your thyroids if you have not already. This can rule out other causes.

Let me know if you have any questions. I have been researching this type of hair loss for 2 1/2 years now. Just know it will grow back!! :)

I had the same problem. I had my colon removed in November and just within the last month did my hair FINALLY stop falling out and started growing back. I have long hair and was always proud of it, but it got SO thin and scraggly after my surgery. My hairdresser commented on it numerous times, and I finally told her about my surgery and she said "Oh, well that's why it's falling out!"

I just wanted to let you know it is normal, and the best thing you can do is just be gentle to your hair and your body - make sure you are drinking a lot of water and eating good foods...I also take vitamin C every day, I don't take any other vitamins except for weekly injections of B12 but that's for a separate issue.

It sucks but you just have to wait it out...and it WILL stop! It took about 8-9 months for my hair to start growing back and thickening up again. A lot of my hair loss was around my face. Now I have so much "baby" hairs growing back in, it looks funny. But it's just a part of the healing process.

Try not to worry, just focus on feeling better, the hair will come back!

Ali

yay for hair growing back.

It's good that you post that, because periodically someone new on the forum will be freaking out about the hair loss and will be really happy to read that yours is growing back so thick. I had the same experience. I had some hair thinning when I was about 20, then for real when I was sick and on pred and then having surgery. I bought some rich hair products that helped the texture and then it grew back thicker than it was before. I'm quite please.
So whoever is reading this because of pred-surgery-illness hair loss, don't worry, just hold on, have some patience, and it all comes back.

hey all am also facing problem with my hair. I am loosing my hair day by day. I tried lot of products but it's not working anymore. Please tell me what to do? please please.

Just chiming in, I started noticing my hair thinning recently as well (about five weeks post surgery, but I was also hospitalized two months ago). My dermatologist says there's absolutely nothing I can do but give it time -- he said taking biotin or any other supplement would be a waste. He says as long as my thyroid function, ferritin, and vitamin D levels are normal, the thinning will stop ~6 months after the last surgery. Sucks, but that's how it is.