stress hair loss questions

dw99

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Hi All,

I was just thinking about stress and its correlation to hair loss and came up with a few questions that I'd like to throw out there since I'm almost certain that my hairloss is a result of stress (or atleast drastically accellerated by it).

The reason I suspect stress is because I have 0 signs of hair loss in my immediate family (up through my grandparents on both sides), with the closest link being with second cousins, which I consider to be pretty far removed. Also, I only having diffuse thinning it one spot and my crown is perfectly in tact.

Anyhow, I was stressing like crazy just a few months prior to me noticing my hair loss. We're talking the most intense stress (insomnia, totally obsessive worrying) in my life due to a number of pregnancy scares. It was always the worst at night when I was trying to go to sleep (although it would pop up frequently manifest itself during the day as quick panic attacks). The thought of having a child at the age of 22 would invariably creep into my head and wreak havoc on my mind. This stress would result in VERY hot sensations in the right frontal part of my head, exactly in the place where I am now experiencing diffuse thinning. It's not what I would call a typical pattern as I am only thinning only on the right side and it's not at the temple, but right in between my temple and the center of my hair line. the thinning goes about 3 inches back into the right-center portion of my head (the exact area where I would get these hot sensations). It looks pretty goofy since it's only in this one spot, and I don't look like a typical guy suffering from the beginning stages of hair loss.

Anyhow, I remember looking in my sink when I first noticed and seeing a TON of hair all around it and covering my bathroom counter. I immediately cleaned it off (to not remind myself) and in the following 3 months since then, there is VERY little hair there compared to when I first saw it. This tells me that my shedding has slowed down dramatically while it hasn't totally stopped. Also, I've been on propecia + nizoral for about 5 weeks now. So anyway, onto the questions.

1) I've never heard of a localized Telogen Effluvium (ie only in one part of the head). Does anyone think this is possible?

2) How certain is anyone that sufferes from Telogen Effluvium actually get their hair back after a few months? Every Doctor in the world will say that Telogen Effluvium sufferers will get it back, but I never hear of anyone that actually does. Anyone have any stories to support this theory?

3) Going off of question 2, there are lots of people that say they have stress loss (but not necessarily a Telogen Effluvium that has caused their entire head to thin). Have any of these people seen their hair recover?

Sorry if this post is long and if it asks questions that have been asked before. I probably should have put the first half in a post under the Tell Your Story section... maybe I'll go do that :lol:
 

pleasegodno

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was the burning spot also tender? look up "trichodynia" or "burning scalp syndrome". the disorder is thought to be largely (if not completely) psychogenic and usually coincides with Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness. i had it on my crown for a while and lost an unusual amount of hair right when i was experiencing it. i also have diffuse thinning at the hairline.

may i ask, how long after your anxiety attacks subsided did your shedding reduce as well? also, did you ever experience anxiety-related stomach aches/tightening?
 

dw99

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it wasn't tender... it would just get really hot (not burning or tingling, just very hot). i do now however get some light burning or tingling only in that area and only when i am stressing about it (like it will flare up all of a sudden when i get really upset and anxiety-stricken over my hair). as soon as i chill out, the tingling/burning goes away. this also leads me to believe that stress/anxiety is very closely linked to hair loss... at least in my case.

the hair loss happened (i think) about 3 months after the scare was over. my shedding seems to have slowed a couple months after that (so i guess 5 months total). I really can't be sure though as i think i noticed all the hair in the sink after the worst shed had already happened, so i'm not really sure when the bad shed started/ended. the reason i didn't notice sooner is because i never really looked at my hair much (pretty much just dried it off with a towel and walked out the door). hope that makes sense.
 

vogs

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There is absolutely no proof of the relation between hair loss and stress.
 

Mickey

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Yes there is T.E for a start thats stress related i should know as im suffering from it.
 

former

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is there any thing u can do to reduce the burning sensation or treat it or it will just go away after a while..
 

pleasegodno

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cut out the stress and anxiety and it will go away (try not to think about it!). i also found that alcoholic topicals exacerbated it, but since i've become relatively less anxious, my topicals don't give me any problems anymore.
 

surferosa123

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Hy There,

I made the same experience. Just to add; I am also genetically losing my hair.
But I can tell you, that a lot of stress made me definitely lose my hair.
 
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