Help, hair falling out post op!

[kristymarie87]

I had my op on Saturday. My hair has been mainly tied up and washed about 2 times since.

Obviously my diet is off. I havent eaten much at all over the past 5-6 days and im struggling to eat now because everything seems to taste so funny.

I am noticing alot of shredding. Like way more than usual to the point i am really freaking out! I have spents a long time trying to treat it right and its been treated so badly lately.

I cant really wash it very well due to my surgery and i have been stretching washes since i cant really go out much. I havent been using heat at all and i have just sort of forgotten about it.

I dont think the antibiotics i was on helped and the the amount of painkillers etc.

Is this normal? Will it resolve itself?

[aenflex]

I mean there are a lot of variables. Honestly if you've just had an operation, focusing on healing up might be best :) Your hair will probably react to the meds and stress and diet changes, just like you've mentioned - so maybe just take care of yourself and start eating right and it will bounce back. No one breezes thru surgery.

[Night_Kitten]

An operation is a stressful event, both phisically and mentally, and the medication and diet changes probably contributed to the problem... Take some time to heal and de-stress, and I'm sure your hair will get much better and eventually will get back to its old self

I hope you feel better soon :)

[Igor]

As people have mentioned already, it’s stressful both mentally and physically. You being mentally stressed out right now can release stress hormones that can make shedding spike. Physically, your body is right now working hard on knitting itself together and heal the damage. That takes protein, lots of protein. Unfortunately, growing hair is low down on the body’s list of priorities, so right now the protein that your hair could use is going into healing tissue. You need a lot of protein right now. Not only to heal, but to have “excess” protein for your hair. Normally you need 1 gram of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. Right now, you should aim for at least 2 g/kg.
Your medication will affect your appetitive. But try to buy some protein shakes. They are easier to get down than high-protein food. My advice is to buy them with vanilla flavour since that one is easier to “get right” than say chocolate or strawberry and its more “neutral”. Calculate the amount of protein you need per day, but don’t take in more than 30 gram at the time since it can be hard for the body to process so much protein at the time. It can be hard on the kidneys and you absolutely don’t need to stress your body any further right now (Also excess protein will be processed and stored as fat, so its defeating the purpose)

[kristymarie87]

Thanks :D

I only just got to check this thread, i've been healing. I guess i need to just be patient. I have stopped taking the meds and am drinking actimel yogurts everyday to replace the bacteria in my stomach (antibiotics screw my stomach up!). I guess im just working on my appetite since i didnt eat for over a week! Its coming back as i get my sense of taste back!

I never really know what to eat with protien. I cant really afford anything extra with the shopping like the shakes as im losing money being off work and need to pay rent! I guess eggs are good although im not keen. I dont eat alot of red meat but i eat alot of chicken!

On the good side, i havent used any heat on my hair in around 10 days. But, it hasnt really made enough difference for me to want to stop forever! I can see that i've got around 0.75 of an inch of roots but my hair doesnt seem longer. It feels straw-like no matter how much i condition atm!!