I am experiencing major hair loss. I had colonectomy performed in April of 2010 and reversal surgery in august of 2010. is this normal? Has anyone experienced something similiar? I'm really worried,its coming out everyday.

My 15 year old daughter has lost a lot of hair as well. It has gotten really thin. She has also had a lot of acne. I think it is just her bodies way of dealing with all that it has gone through. I called her doctor and got a prescription for a prenatal vitamin. I know that when I took these while pregnant my hair was thicker and healthier and my skin was soft and smooth. Hopefully this helps her in the same way only time will tell. Hope that helps you.
Good luck!
Cami

I experienced a lot of hair loss and acne too after all of my surgeries. It is normal. It's probably the combination of the anesthesia, weight loss (if you have lost weight), and hormones because of the illness and surgeries.

I also had hair loss after my surgeries, especially after TD...I think the stress of the surgery as well as anemia caused mine...started taking iron and eating more protein...it will resolve...be patient, although how hard that can be....it did not last too long for me although I can't remember...maybe about 3 to 6 months

Wow, can we relate. My daughter, like everyone here, has been through a lot. March 2010 marked her colectomy, and within 36 hours, the discovery of a dvt in her leg, which she likely went into surgery with. We had only been home for a week when we had to return to the ED, and she was diagnosed with 2 pulmonary embolisms, as well as a massive abdominal hematoma. The combination of a recent surgery, blood clots and bleeding landed her in the PICU. We were in the hospital for another 10 days after that, and had 2 more subsequent complications resulting in hospital admissions. Sometime around June, we noticed the hair loss. After everything this child has endured, the loss of her hair hit her the hardest. None of our docs/specialties can pinpoint the cause, although we have heard many theories. I think it was simply stress. It's growing back, but not fast enough for her. She has chosen to wear a wig that looks very much like her hair prior to our UC adventure. Hang in there, claude b... it will grow back.

I lose my hair after each surgery but when I was living through the non-stop series of them it just dropped in piles on the floor...I consulted a dermatologist who put me on...head and shoulders!
I laughed (I don't have dandruff) and throught that she was joking but boy, does it work well...my hair hasn't been this thick since I was a teenager...it has to do with the zinc in it...
You can also rince you hair with beer or vinager and water...and never with hot water...apparently the beer/vinager help to unclog the pores to allow the regrowth to push up faster and the hot water hurts the process.
Sharon

In addition to the zinc, head and shoulders shampoo has the added benefit of being an anti-fungal soap. Dandruff is in fact caused by fungi in your skin. When I had the dreaded yeast infection, poster Jan Dollar had mentioned to me that head and shoulders shampoo can be used as an anti-fungal soap. So if you are on antibiotics and the dreaded yeast infection is a concern, head and shoulders will help grow your hair back and also keep the nasty fungi at bay. Making it a very multifaceted shampoo indeed.

My daughter's been using Nioxcin, but it's expensive. I think we'll give the H & S a try.

Oh how the hair loss freaked me out after my first surgery! I'd always had thick, strong hair and it was coming out by the handfulls, it seemed. I went to my doc, who sent me to a dermatologist. He tested my blood and put me on iron supplements to assist regrowth (I was low, but not anemic), but he said it wasn't the low iron that caused the hair loss -- he had a fancy medical term for it -- but basically when our bodies go through trauma (illness, surgery, even a catastrophic accident), we lose hair. More hair than normal goes into "dormant" stage and falls out. BUT, he said, be encouraged -- if it falls out, that means there is another new, healthy hair growing up under it that pushed it out. You'll see them coming in soon... and I did. It took a while, but slowly the hair loss stopped and I started seeing little baby hairs shooting up... my hair is getting healthier and stronger all the time. I didn't have nearly the same hair loss after my 2nd, 3rd and 4th surgeries.

I assume everyone here is talking about head hair? Because I shave my head and have for a long time, and there is nothing up there to lose. It was all gone after I graduated law school anyway. I remember my wonderful late great aunt who used to tease me and tell me that "hair does not grow on a smart head" (another of her many old wives tales).

Yes, I had this happen after my colectomy and it was very distressing, because my doctors never mentioned it might happen. Hair was coming out in clumps every time I showered or combed my hair, and I was literally freaking out. I lost about 1/2 the hair on my head. This type of hair loss does have a medical term--telegen effluvium--and is basically hair loss due to a traumatic physical stressor. It can happen after extreme weightloss, malnourishment, serious illness, hormonal changes, pregnancy, traumatic injury or surgery. Becky Boo explains it pretty well; your body conserves engergy and one way it does so is to stop hair growth, so more hair goes into the dormant or resting phase. Hair loss typically happens 2-4 months after the stressor. While this is happening, you may also see a white line along each of your nails. I had this as well. Your nails also go into a dormant phase and the while line is a marker. It's visible when the nail bed grows out.

The good news? Your hair coming out is actually a sign of regrowth, because the old hair doesn't fall out until pushed out by the new hair. Most of my hair had grown back in within 6 months, although there is an odd "in-between" phase when I had a bunch of short little porcupine hairs growing up from the top of my head.

There are some things you can do to speed up the process, such as iron supplements and B vitamins, foods rich in calcium and zinc, or supplements containing Biotin (some yogurts have this). While my hair was falling out, I also took a herbal product called Nutricap which had hops, which helped. You may also have some luck with thickening or volumizing shampoos to boost up the hair you do have.

Don't worry, it will grow back, but give it time!

I had extreme hair loss after my second of three surgeries... It was really frightening because I've always had a very thick head of hair. Huge clumps would fall out at a time and I eventually lost about 2/3 of the hair on my head. It was so wierd when I started seeing my scalp. Freaked my mom right out. It's been about 6 months since then and my hair has been growing back. It was pretty traumatic in addition to everything else but thankfully the worst of it is over

Thank You everyone for your advice. In addition to the UC diagnosis in January 2010, the colectomy in April 2010,and the take down in August 2010, I also have a little daughter who is barely 2yrs old and was an infant when I first became ill. A new husband, a new baby,and a seious illness, its no wonder my hair has fallen out. I alo had tons of thick hair and this has been the shocker of them all,to also lose my hair has been very emotional to say the least. Thanks for all the support and information. I will definitely be giving your suggestions a try< the head and shoulders to dstart with and the biotin. Thanks again!