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Alopecia due to stress, trauma etc
I wonder if anyone out there has put their alopecia down to a stressfull period in their lives. I have heard of a few cases on the site and I completely blame mine on a rough period when my marriage broke up. The first symptoms appearing around four months after my lowest period. Does anyone else believe that their trigger was stress or trauma? and if so, How long did it take for symptoms to develop and how did your alopecia progress?
Thanks. Carl
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Amouna on
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Hi
Yes I agree with you, my hair lose start when I moved from country after 18 years to anther country , all things around me are changed . I was so hopeless,
From that my hair start loss now I lose all my hair .
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Permalink Reply by Deanie1990 on
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I totally agree... Mine is defiantly strees related. Mine accured when I moved into my own place and has worries of money... Then my nan sadly passed away after a long fight with cancer. So yes I defiantly think it can be stress related.
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Permalink Reply by Ruthie on
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Hi,
yes I agree. Mine started after breaking my collar bone, three months after my hair started falling out, from reading up on alopecia it can start with surgery or trauma to the body also. I had 3 years of aa and in November progressed to AU. I have to wonder if the accident started it and then the stress is a big cycle where you stress, because it is falling out, and then the stress leads to it falling out more. I had the shots in my head and used rogaine and managed to keep the hair for 3 years with growing all back and then spots starting up again. Wishing you the best, I am not really sure that anybody really knows the answers, but i am looking forward to a future with more knowledge and hopefully cure that will not be harmful to other things.
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Permalink Reply by Rose Marie' on
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Hi
I don't believe that stress is a causation for alopecia. Many people deal with stress in their life's but not all have alopecia. To say that stress causes alopecia is to say that not to have stress could cure it. Which just isn't true. Alopecia areata,totalis and universalis are auto immune conditions. Just like lupus, RA, Asthma, eczema, type 1 diabetes. I don't believe anyone would believe that stress causes all of the 88 auto immune conditions that currently exist. Nobody says to someone with type 1 diabetes, well you got this because you obviously had a stressful event in your life. But they do say that to those dealing with alopecia areata. Why, I don't know???
Stress may exacerbate an existing condition, but I just don't believe it is the cause.
Rosy
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Mine started about a month after my Mom passed away.....I found one spot, then a few weeks later found another. Within 7 months I was completely bald and within a year, I had nothing...AU.
Thanks for posting that question - looking forward to the reply's. Wishing you all the best
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Wow!! Thanks for replying everyone... This is really interesting... I know its natural to put things down to stress but I cant link my alopecia to anything else. Thanks for your reply Rose And I get what your saying but I cant help feeling that there is definately a link and was just trying to get other points of view and to get a time line or chronological outline of cases where people think or know that stress was a mitigating factor.
I certainly agree with Ruthies point that a downward spiral of stress from actually losing hair can result in losing more. That vicious circle thing. I know that everyone has a different point of view based on their experience and that it seems to me that no two cases are the same. My own view is that I have no other medical problems that may have led to my alopecia and that I have no family history of it. My immune system appears to work well in other respects despite working outside in rough conditions and often in a hostile environment.
I note that in many animals such as horses, dogs, cats and poultry that hair,fur or feather loss is a direct symptom of stess or trauma. Im still firmly in the belief that stress was my key factor and that my re-growth is due to my learning to relax and not having the problems I had a few years ago.
Thanks again everyone. I would love to hear more of your views.
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Permalink Reply by Susan McAdams on
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I know most dermatologists are very wary of suggesting stress as a factor that can trigger or exasperate Alopecia. because the research out there produces conflicting results. HOWEVER, I am a firm believer that sudden trauma, prolonged stress or an unknown health condition (that produces internal stress to the body) can be directly related to relapses of autoimmune-related Alopecia.
My case coincided twice with severe mercury poisoning. When I had all the suggested bloodwork done first in 2007 and then this past year when I was having rapid hair loss, everything came up normal. However, mercury testing is not in the protocol. Also, a simple blood test does not indicate how severe the mercury poisoning may be. It just suggests that there are elevated levels.
Back in 2007, I was directed to visit a doctor in Los Angeles (Hans Gruenn) who specializes in testing and treatments for out-of-the-box conditions like heavy metal poisoning (mercury, lead, arsenic) hormonal imbalances, and a host of other things. The test for mercury involves collecting urine for 6 hours, taking a sample of it, and mailing it to a lab where it is analyzed. You see, mercury doesn't just float around in the bloodstream, so it is not accurately detected in bloodwork.
Anyway, on both occasions, I discovered that my mercury counts were above 50, where a normal person should have a count below 10. I was eating a lot of fish both times, though in recent years was trying to stick to low-mercury fish like wild salmon and cod. Apparently, my body is ultra-sensitive to mercury and it stays in my system more so than it may with other people. The timing, though, of the mercury poisoning and my Alopecia relapses has been uncanny. It is, after all, an internal stressor to the body that I wasn't even aware of. On top of that, when my relapse was beginning last year, I was in the tail end of a very tumultuous romantic relationship, which was its own kind of stress. The perfect storm, I suppose. No wonder I lost most of my hair this time around and eventually shaved my head.
I went through three months of chelation to extract the mercury from my system. It involves having a chemical injected by IV that circulates through the body and bonds to mercury, which then flushes out of the body. After seven treatments (spaced 2-3 weeks apart), I had a follow-up test and my mercury counts are down to 18. Huge improvement. I am also out of the toxic relationship I was enmeshed in for 4 years. I am seeing some slow regrowth on my head, but who knows if my hair will fully return. You can't, unfortunately, predict how an autoimmune disease wants to progress.
I write this, though, to simply put the possibility of mercury poisoning out there. it is a very dangerous problem today, and many people do not know they have it. Also, if you are a big shellfish eater, they can carry high levels of lead and arsenic. This is all due to increased pollution in our waters, sadly. There is valuable information on the EPA website, and they have a page that lists all edible fish and their average mercury counts. If any of you suspect you may have some kind of poisoning due to frequent seafood consumption, think about getting tested. But you need to find a physician in your area who does the more comprehensive tests versus a simple blood test. You can always call the offices of Dr. Hans Gruenn in Los Angeles and ask for resources in your area. They are very helpful.
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Permalink Reply by AlopeciaDestroyedMyLife on
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Stress plays a major role but it will take a few months for it to hit you and when it does it can be devastating.
It really is buy now pay later.
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Thanks for that Susan. The first and only time I saw a doctor about my hair loss he tested me for lead poisoning with tuna fish as a possible vector but my bloods came back fine and he found nothing else that may have been a factor. Did you ever find out how you managed to absorb that amount of mercury??
"Alopecia destroyed my life" Thanks for your reply. What sort of time interval was there between the peak of your stress and the start of your hair loss?
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About 3-5 months when the alopecia has been stable for a period of time (at least 6 months) i.e no new patches or loss.
if the alopecia hasn't stabilized and is still running rampage it could be the next day after more stress.
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Hi I believe stress is a factor. My dermatologist told me to count back 100 days & had anything happened. I did & my aunt had passed away 101 days prior to my hair starting to fall out. I had spoken to her the day before her death she said she was in pain but not to trouble her sons. Then 6 weeks later a friend of mine did not answer his phone. he always answered when I called. I tried for a week consecutively then asked others it they had spoken to him & all said no. I then went to his house 30 miles away & knocked on his door, kept on knocking until a neighbor came out & said he was ok she had seen him through a window the previous day. I then shouted through his door saying I would not bother him again. a week later I had a phone call from a friend he had passed away about 3 weeks previously & been in the house all that time. the rest of my hair fell out. OS yes I believe stress is an important factor. Also I was to go into hospital & was told I would have to be awake during the operation (total knee replacement) as they don't put you out. This also scared me but when I got to the day the aesthesis told me she would put me out. so I think all three issues contributed to my AU over a 6 week period
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I got really sick the sickest I had been in my life. After I recovered I found the first spot which developed on my face. It grew so large I couldn't keep my beard. After that spots started to come in on my head. They got very large as well. The two huge bald spots stayed for about 6 months.
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