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Posted 8/31/2006 1:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone,

 

I'm new to this forum which probably explains why I've already posted my topic in the wrong area!  yeah I had my stoma formed in June of this year. The whole illness came as a shock in May, completely out of the blue!

 

As I'm sure you all know, it was difficult to come to terms with the sudden pain and dramatic weight loss. I thought after my colostomy things would get better, and although I have started to put weight back on, now my hair is falling out - in clumps!! sad

 

I have had healthy hair all my life, but now it is brittle, thinning and falling out, leaving me with bald patches! This is pretty difficult to accept sicne I am only 23 and am quite fashion conscious! Although no one is saying anything, I know they are all surprised at the sight of my hair. Has anyone else lost hair after having a colostomy? Has it grown back?

 

Would really appreciate your advice or experiences.

 

Thanks.

Posted 8/31/2006 1:24 PM (GMT 0)
I have just been told that other people have also suffered hair loss due to their colostomy surgery etc, rest assurred, I have been advised that the hair will re-grow (if there is such a word!!)
Posted 8/31/2006 2:21 PM (GMT 0)

Nope, didn't know hair loss could be a side effect of colostomy!  But... could make sense considering the wide array of meds given at the time of surgery and immediately afterwards.  What brought you to a colostomy?  Could previous condition and meds result in hair loss?  Glad to know it is temporary and you'll soon regrow your lion's mane.

:-)
Posted 8/31/2006 3:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hair loss can be a side effect of the anaesthetic and some other meds. Don't worry, in time it will, more than likely, grow back again.
Posted 9/1/2006 3:34 PM (GMT 0)
about 12 weeks post op, about 2/3 of the thickness of my hair fell out. It grew back (slightly curly at first!). I had to have it cut short but 4 years later, it's thick and back down to the middle of my back.
Posted 9/3/2006 12:56 PM (GMT 0)

tongue  Good Morning!  Smiley Sim

I, too, had long, healthy, curly hair which became very brittle, thinned out, and came out in a hand full one day, which really opened my eyes.  I was told it could have been one of two things, the anesthesia from my complicated subtotal colectomy and ileostomy surgeries or my underactive thyroid (in which I take synthroid for my thyroid).  Nevertheless, my husband's hair stylist gave me two samples of a shampoo and conditioner called "Nioxin" Cleanser used for early stages of thinning hair and "Nioxin" Scalp Therapy.  Alot of her customers who receive radiation and chemotherapy use them.  I tried it and it worked for me and I hope it will work for you.  

Hope you are doing better. 

Angel Baby 

Posted 9/3/2006 7:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi guys,

Thanks for your replies! I think im going to give that nioxin a try, and i think i might just go for the chop and have a cute little bob as well! Lifes too short, might as well enjoy it, hair or no hair! lol!

lotsa luv

Smiley Sim xxxx
Posted 9/7/2006 5:12 AM (GMT 0)
my hair has been doing the same thing and i was told to take vitamin e.  ive only been taking it for two days and i notice a big difference
Posted 9/29/2006 9:44 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Smiley Sim, I've had the same experience as you! I was living a normal healthy life until Feb 06 when I was admitted to hospital. 3 weeks later I had to have emergency surgery and had my ileostomy formed. After the surgery my hair started falling out but becase it was so thick and long anyway you couldn't really tell but it did get to the point though where I had to get it cut short. I spoke to my consultant about it and he said its because your body goes into shock after the surgery...

Anyway, my hair is growing back quite quickly now and all I'm taking to help is folic acid and Evening Primrose..

Hope this helps...
Posted 9/29/2006 10:56 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Fuzzy,

Sorry to hear you've been through the same thing, I wouldn't wish it on anyone  sad   Hope things are much better for you now and you're recovering well.

I'll give the folic acid and evening primrose a try...sounds like it could help. I'm also taking biotin to help my hair regrow and I have to say I am already noticing a positive change in the thickness of my hair  :-)  

Take care of yourself and stay smiling!

Posted 10/1/2006 7:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Smiley,

I'm doing fine now thanks, I've got my life back on track again and I'm waiting to have tests to see if I can have a reversal. I so so so hope I can...

Hope your doing well..
Posted 10/10/2006 12:23 AM (GMT 0)

I also have experienced a large amount of hair loss. I had half of my colon removed in early May and was left with an ileostomy. The ostomy was reversed in mid July and around that time my hair began falling out in large amounts.n Thankfully I had very thick hair because I think I would be bald by now had I started with thin hair.

In the past couple of weeks I've started to see some improvement. I'm a nurse and some of this hair loss can also be related to the lack of vitamin absorption due to the ileostomy. Many nutrients were not absorbed while I had the ostomy and that will cause hair loss. I have been taking a supplement called "Hair Skin and Nails" or something like that. My hair stylest is amazed at how fast my hair is growing. It's grown about 2-3 inches in the past 5 weeks.

The top part of my hair and bangs is growing and I'm just waiting for it to get down to the rest of my hair. I lost a large amount but I'm seeing improvement. Hang in there!

Posted 11/9/2006 6:42 PM (GMT 0)
Same here!!!

Had my colectomy on 9-13 and an obstruction on 9-22 among other things... lol
almost a month in in the hosp, and I went from having a mane of curly hair to having so little hair that I have a mans haircut with funky hunks hanging here and there...

Handfuls of hair everywhere I go now... on the couch, my pillow, the seat of the car, the tub, the back of the toilet, lol

I guess I will try the vitamins, cause all of the condiditers don't work...

For those of you that have recovered from this , did your hair regrow to its former self again right away, or did it take a while, or EVER?
Posted 11/9/2006 10:48 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Vandgsmom,

My hair is starting to grow back now...(my stories right at the top of this thread.) It is growing back slowly. At the moment it is about 1 inch long and spiking up wherever the hair actually fell out. Yes it looks pretty stupid but you know, atleast its coming back, thats the main thing. I know how much i hated it when it first started falling out, but please dont let it get you down. It will come back. I take biotin capsules which I think has also helped regrowth.

Smiles xxx
Posted 11/10/2006 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
Awww. Smiley. Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, I have huge irritated bald spots all over, too. Did yours get those? Almost like flaky dandruff sometimes, but painful. Thought it might just have to do with the hair loss....

Good to know it does come back. Does the new growth look like your old hair? What hair I do have left has for some reason lost its natural curl.... Chemical overload? I just was wondering if it would come back that way or not.. lol

Oh, well... if it dosen't I will just start entereing Dr. Phil look alike contests....
Posted 11/10/2006 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Vandgsmom,

Ha! Had to laugh at the bit about being a Dr Phil lookilikey!

I did have bald patches but not really severe, I'm noticing now how much hair fell out as it is being replaced by spikeys! Looks like I had a spikey haired tiara on my head a couple of weeks ago! Trendsetter me eh? ha!

My hair has changed alot, its definitely not as thick or as shiny and smooth as it used to be, but thats because I've been through so much trauma I think...hopefully over time it will be just as healthy as before. I have read posts where people have said their hair came back better than ever...so theres some reassurance for us.

Stay strong and positive and really dont worry about the hair thing, it'll be back for sure!
Posted 12/9/2006 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
I am so glad to find some information about hair loss after colectomy. I had the first surgery in August and the reversal on November 1. Everything went well and my healing was remarkable. But in the past couple of weeks I see my hair getting finer and feeling more strawlike. My hair is fine to begin wih so you can imagine that losing even a little is a major thing.
I will follow some of your suggestions, but want to ask: How do you take the folic aced, evening primrose and biotin? Is it all orally? And are there clear guidelines as to how much to take?
Thanks so much.
Posted 12/10/2006 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Nikko,

I take Biotin in tablet format, it's available in all good health shops. I've been told that you cannot really overdose on it, as your body uses what it needs and gets rid of the rest. Nevertheless just stick to the recommended daily dosage, which is usually one tablet with or just after a meal (refer to bottle.)

My hair has come back and is thicker and better looking than before.

Good luck! xxx 

Posted 12/11/2006 2:43 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks for your reply. I was looking it up on the internet, and Biotin is also part of the whole B complex, as is Folic acid. Is there a benefit to taking the whole B complex, or sticking with biotin separately. I'm going to speak with my doctor also, when I see him this week for my checkup. But, I am encouraged by the help and look forward to seeing more hair on my head.
Best,
Nikko
Posted 12/23/2006 4:41 AM (GMT 0)
I also wanted to tell you about Nioxin- I had hair loss due to malnutrition and it started coming out in clumps. Nioxin saved me- so now I swear by it. It isn't like Rogaine where you have to keep using it to see the results. You can use it with your favorite shampoo and conditioner and just rotate every other. I also take the Nioxin vitamins and see a huge difference with them.
It is a professional product so you would have to look for it in salons or maybe you could even find it online! It is worth a try, I really hope you start feeling better soon!!!
Posted 9/29/2009 6:24 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Everyone,

 

I am new to the ostomy thing, having just had my emergency surgery after years of pseudomembraneous colitis and a sudden bout of abscesses, fissures and the like.

 

Now, 3 months later, my hair is coming out by the handful as well as all over my pillow at night and it is raining hair when I comb or brush or just touch it.  Let the wind hit my hair and . . . well . . .  I wouldn't want to be up wind of me especially if anything on me was sticky or eating a sucker or ice cream cone.

 

I am finding hope in the posts from 2006 which said that almost everyone had their hair come back.  This is especially scary since my mother went virtually bald after her breast cancer surgery (no chemo and only 3 localized radiation treatments - which by the way cost her heart function since they were directly over her heart and it began to fail right after the radiation finished).  She has some hair but not enough that you can see it if you are more than a couple feet away from her.  And it came out before the radiation began.  The doctors told her it was a result of the surgery and would come back.

 

I've had many surgeries in my life: appendix as a kid, partial hysterectomy and adhesion separate surgeries in my 30s, full hysterectomy in my 40s and my gall bladder removed 10 days after the full hysterectomy (one caused the other by pulling on adhesions which pulled the gall bladder apart).  My hair remained thick and course.  Now it has become fine, brittle and is leaving me faster than the men in my life.

 

I have seen reference to vitamins and some other things (checking out the Nioxin thing).  Could those who have had success with regrowing or retaining their remaining hair, please tell me what they have done?

 

I will be watching this forum for other things too.  For the first time in my life, I want a support group and I can't find one in my area.  This is all so new to me and the doctors act like I'm being silly when I mention concerns or ask questions about the loop colostomy, the bags and EVERYTHING I find that goes with it.  I mean they don't know and my nurse was great but the questions really started coming up after the 30 days was over and  no longer had Carol coming to the house and covered by insurance.  Besides, there is no replacement for the information that you can get by others that are walking the path ahead of you.  Is there?

 

Thanks.

 

SugarAve

Posted 9/29/2009 6:57 PM (GMT 0)
Hi it's SugarAve again, so soon I know.

 

I was just thinking and wanted to explain why I am asking for responses from those who've had success.  Since my surgery over 3 months ago, I've been unable to work and have no income.  I've applied for Social Security but nothing yet, naturally.  Anyway, I cannot afford to try many things, especially expensive things like the Nioxin System, without hearing from more than one person that this worked for them.  MY savings are gone, my 401K died in the economic fiasco before this happened, and I have very little income, not enough to cover my expenses, especially the health insurance I just got privately (a month before this happened and which has not covered everything but has covered a lot), but I need the insurance for all the added medical expenses.  So anyway, the point is that I need to hear from several (or many) so I can try something that has worked for more than 1 person.

 

Thanks!!!!

 

SugarAve

Posted 9/29/2009 10:30 PM (GMT 0)
Sugar Ave, welcome to the forum...sorry to hear you are going through so much right now. All I can say is that many of us have experienced hair loss after surgery and it has grown back.

You may find more answers to your questions if you start your own post...sometimes the older ones get missed:(
Posted 9/30/2009 1:02 AM (GMT 0)
Welcome, SugarAve,

I'm very sorry to hear that your hair is falling out. I know how upsetting that can be (as if we haven't been through enough, right?) and am here to tell you that it will stop and will grow back. :-) It's just a temporary side effect from the anesthesia that you received during surgery.

I had surgery on July 1 and my hair started falling out about a month later. It fell out for about 6 weeks and has just now stopped. I used Rogaine for Women and took vitamins for Hair, Skin, and Nails. I'm not sure how much they helped, but figured it was worth trying.

I also want you to know that we are here to answer any questions you may have. There are people on here who have had an ostomy for over 25 years and are very knowledgeable and helpful. I'm also sorry to hear you're having financial problems. Hopefully, you will feel well enough to be able to return to work soon.

Take care,

Cecilia
Posted 10/3/2009 1:10 AM (GMT 0)
I lost a bunch of my hair as a side effect from asacol, prednison, and azathioprine when I had crazy active UC. The Hair, Skin, and Nails vitamins really helped me!

I'm losing a bunch of my hair again, I'm assuming from the anesthetic from my three surgeries spanning from April to July. I am trying the Nioxin now because my mom had some left over after her Chemo treatments (breast cancer).

How long does it take for your hair to stop falling out? I don't care so much when it starts to grow back but I want it to stop falling out!!! It's just gross to find your hair EVERYWHERE. Like many others I'm fairly young and I had longer hair. Ugh! cry

Have a nice weekend!

You people are amazing!

Holly

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