Tuesday, January 15, 2013

My Hair Has Stopped Falling Out


Well, maybe not completely, but for the most part. There were a few hairs that didn’t get the mass suicide notice last fall when most of their brethren leapt to their deaths over a period of three months, but now the departures are gentle and intermittent. I’m afraid to say it out loud, but I’m beginning to nurse a nascent hope of having a full head of hair again, perhaps by summer.

What I actually want to talk about is the physical reaction to stress. Our bodies all react to stress differently, and I’ve discovered that my reaction has changed over the years. Like most people, I’ve had periods of high stress in my life, and as I’ve aged insomnia has become a bigger problem. I’ve also learned that prolonged stress and lack of sleep can give me sudden episodes of cardiac arrhythmia, so I try to manage the triggers the best I can. Unfortunately, one can’t predict sudden shocks, so I’ve had to learn how to minimize the episodes as well.

But before the “late unpleasantness” at my job, nothing had ever caused my hair to fall out. It’s one thing to hear anecdotally that stress causes hair loss but quite another to see fistfuls of evidence every morning in the shower. Even if we complain about our hair, more is unquestionably better than less. We connect hair loss with illness, and it reminds us that stress is an illness. We become stressed about our stress, and it feeds on itself like a snarling, voracious auto-cannibal.

That’s why I’m so happy to report that my hair has stopped falling out. It means my body is healing. And if my body is healing, it’s because my psyche is healing; my stress is diminishing. A very good omen for forging that new life in The Second Half.

You may be different, but for me, stress kills creativity. I don’t mean the lower-level stress of projects and deadlines; I mean the crushing existential stress that makes you want to run for the hills screaming. In future posts I hope to explore some methods of stress reduction that are new to me, like yoga and meditation. In the meantime, I’ll be peering in my mirror looking for signs of new little hairs sprouting where they should be—on top of my head!

What does stress do to your body, and what do you do to combat it? Please share. As they say on PBS’s The Red Green Show, we’re all in this together.

13 comments:

  1. My daughter's hair started falling out when she became determined to lose weight. By.The.Handful. Thankfully, she had enough hair to make 3 or 4 wigs, but it was scary. Now, her hair would only make one wig but she's lost over 100 pounds and looks great. I think some of her loss was stress, but also, she changed her entire way of eating which was very traumatic. Now, good nutrition is a lifestyle, so she's not losing any hair.

    As for your question: stress shuts me down creatively and sends me scurrying to the fridge!I learned awhile back that I'm definitely a stress eater. Stress also makes me combative with my loved ones. So I KNOW this stuff and recognize what stress does, I just have to cut it off at the pass, right?

    I've also learned that sometimes we don't recognize stress. Looks like I don't have any answers ... just observations! :)

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    1. Our bodies are such amazing, complex, and interactive systems. When it comes to stress, I don't have any answers either, but as you said, the best we can do is try to find ways to counteract it.

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  2. I have the same issue...stress made my hair fall out. My doctor told me "try not to stress as much..." And that was his cure for me. Unfortunately, not stressing out is easier said than done. I've had a tremendous amount of stress for close to three years now. I noticed my hair thinking about 2 years ago. Just when it looked to be coming back, it started thinking out again. This time, it was so bad I went to see a dermatologist. I'm actually scheduled for a revisit because I don't see that the steroid topical she gave me did anything. My hair is still thin. I guess she'll let me know at that visit if there was permanent damage or not... I'm hoping for a full head of hair by summer, too. It's noticebly thinner on top, which is horrible. But on my first visit she said she could see regrowth. I've made a lot of changes to my lifestyle, including job/hour changes. Though I'm not as tired, the loss in income is now just another stress. Eeekkk!!! Not sure what the solution is, but I'm working on finding out, no matter how long it takes. There's a solution somewhere :)

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    1. love that. "Try not to stress as much." If only it were that easy... The worst of my hair loss is on top, too. I'm praying we'll both see big changes by summer. Be sure to check back in with an update.

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  4. I have the same source of stress as you and the ways it's affected me are hair lose, insomnia, weight gain, and depression. Having a doctor tell you to just not stress is ridiculous. Especially after they hand you the bill.

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    1. Sandy, I'm right with you on the insomnia. It's such a huge problem; it affects everything else in life. I'm going to talk about it next week, and it will probably take two posts. Hopefully, we can share and compare solutions.

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  5. Stress affects me in a lower region. Like clockwork, two days after I've been really upset by something, I am ensconsed in the bathroom with severe stomach cramps and the big "D." I dare not get off the commode for a few hours.

    Why my thyroid became hper-active, I suffered with hair loss, rapid heartbeat and severe insomnia. 'Twas no fun.

    I wish you good health. It's truly one of our most cherished possessions.

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    1. Reminder to Self: Read over your post before you hit Publish. I meant to say...When my thyroid became hyper-active. Sorry.

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    2. Stress gave me all the symptoms you reported of hyper-thyroidism, but my doctor checked and everything was normal. It was just the stress. Ugh. I'm happy to report the symptoms are slowly, but steadily, improving. You are so right about good health. There's nothing more important.

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  6. A few years back, my chiropractor gave me a prescription that read, "Work less, ride Harley more." Yeah, like my boss would actually accept that. But it was good for a laugh, which is a good stress reliever. I don't have to worry about the day job anymore, but I still feel your pain.

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    1. You're so right about the medicinal properties of laughter. We need to laugh every chance we get!

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  7. That's true. Our body has its own way of dealing with the harmful effects of stress, with hair loss being one its more physical manifestations. It also happens to people who subject their body to extreme changes, for example, abruptly switching diets. Fortunately, something like this is only temporary. Once our bodies recover, the hair fall stops.

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