Sales director, 35, who lost SIX stone after gastric surgery reveals nearly HALF her hair fell out

A sales director who lost six stone after her gastric surgery has revealed how the trauma of the operation made her lose nearly half of her hair.

Victoria Schofield, 35, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, slimmed down from 19st to 13st, transforming from a size 22 to a slender size 10, after an £8,000 Vertical sleeve gastrectomy operation shrank the size of her stomach by 80 per cent.

However weeks after the surgery, the drastic change her body had incurred meant she began losing her hair, and Victoria says the impact the hair loss had was ‘life-changing’ and ‘traumatic’. 

After four months of suffering, Victoria discovered Hair Gain, a supplement which caused her hair to grow back almost immediately, and restore her well-loved ‘Marilyn Monroe-style blonde curls’.   

Prior to surgery, Victoria had always struggled with her weight and at one point it shot up to 23-stone.

She had a body mass index of over 40 and faced serious health issues as she got older if she wasn’t able to control her weight.

Speaking to FEMAIL, Victoria told: ‘I had always lead an active life so I never had any really pressing health issues when I was morbidly obese, even when my weight went up to 23st.

‘But obviously I was aware that I was seriously overweight and there would be issues further down the line.  

‘There was just a realisation on my part that I was going to be constantly battling my weight if I did not do something drastic. 

‘I had obviously tried various diets and lost weight before, but I had always put it back on again. I knew I was never going to crack this problem without surgery.’

While Victoria has always been active, her demanding job in sales meant staying in hotels and indulging in wine and full English breakfasts, while often going out for work lunches and dinners.

‘I have a demanding job in sales and I would be on the go all the time’, she said, ‘staying in hotels and assisting clients. I would regularly have a full English breakfast while working and then follow that up with work lunches and dinners.

‘If you add in a few glasses of wine and other drinks and not enough exercise because I was on the go the whole time and it is very easy to put on weight over a long period of time. I wasn’t a binge eater – it was more a steady accumulation over several years.’ 

In November 2018, Victoria chose to have a vertical sleeve gastrectomy at the private Spire Healthcare Hospital in London, which drastically cut the size of her stomach. 

But while excess weight fell off her and she lost six stone in less than a year, the impact on her hair was devastating, with clumps of her hair beginning to fall out soon after the surgery. 

‘The doctors explained in advance of the operation that hair loss was a fairly common side effect of such major surgery’, says Victoria.

‘I was prepared it, but you forget just how important your hair is to your self-esteem. For a woman like me, working in a pressured environment like sales and always very proud of my lush blonde locks, the loss of 40 per cent of my hair was absolutely devastating.’ 

Victoria lost her hair due to Telogen effluvium, which is a form of temporary hair loss that usually happens after stress, a shock, or a traumatic event.

But coupled with drastic reduction of calories over a prolonged period the hair doesn’t always grow back because the body prioritises vital organs for nutrients first over your hair and nails. 

‘The doctors explained it was the caused by trauma from the operation and that my body would adjust and my hair would grow back in time’, said Victoria, ‘That is all very well but, as a woman, you don’t want to wait. 

Victoria had always been proud of her Marilyn Monroe-style blonde curls before her weight loss surgery, and was heartbroken when she began to lose her hair, calling the experience ‘traumatic’.  

She went on: ‘When your hair falls out, you want it back immediately. 

‘I know men suffer hair loss all the time and, for most of them, it is permanent, but female hair loss is much more traumatic. 

‘We are expected to have gorgeous full hair and, when you have had that all your life, to have it taken away is life changing.’  

Victoria disguised her hair loss by wearing scarves and hair bands and, with her weight under control, she started dating again on the app Bumble, where she met the man of her dreams, Rick Colton, 38. 

The sales consultant spent lots of time researching a product that could help and eventually discovered Hair Gain, a supplement product made from organic pea shoots. 

She began taking it at Christmas and noticed results immediately, with her hair now thicker than it has ever been.

‘My hair started growing back immediately after I started taking Hair Gain’, said Victoria, ‘Which was around four months after the operation. I benefitted too from the Covid crisis and not being able to see my hairdresser in the first few months.

‘It meant I was not putting added stress on my hair through dying and bleaching. My hair could grow back naturally, boosted by the nutrients in Hair Gain.’

‘It really has changed my life and completely restored my hair. It gradually improved month by month and now my hair is as lustrous as it has ever been. I have my Marilyn curls again.’ 

Victoria and Rick have now bought a house together and will marry in 2022 after Rick proposed earlier this year.

She said: ‘I am the happiest I have ever been. My weight is under control, my ‘Marilyn’ hair is back and I cannot wait to become Rick’s wife.

‘He was a rock throughout all the trauma of my hair loss and never stopped telling me how beautiful I am.’