Sleep loss causing my Alopecia Areata
I've had Alopecia Areata for about ten years. I believe it was initially triggered by intense stress when my mother died a month before my wedding. My entire beard fell out, eyelashes, eyebrows, and spots in my hair and body.
Over the past two years I've discovered a direct connection between AA and mild sleep loss. I need at least 7 hours to feel right. If I consistently get less (i.e. for two weeks or more), I start to feel a stress reaction in my body. Sure enough, my eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard start to fall out. I believe, for me, this is the effect of long-term mild sleep deprivation. I know losing an 1-1.5 hours a night doesn't sound like much, but over time it adds up.
I started to figure this out when my son was born. Leading up to his birth, I decided to get tons of sleep because I knew I would need it. So I sleep about 8 hours a night, which I haven't done since I was a child. When he was born, I didn't shave for a month or so and I noticed my entire beard was growing in. Over the past two years since he was born, my beard has continued to grow well but occasionally would start to fall out, or my eyebrows and eyelashes would start to fall out. I finally realized it was connected to periods of sleep loss. So I committed to always getting 7.5 hours a night, and it all grew back. Every time I've gotten less sleep for a period of a week or two (e.g. due to son being sick, staying up too late playing a new video game, etc), I get a bald spot in my beard, eyebrow and eyelashes. I recommit to sleep, and it starts growing back within a couple of weeks.
My theory is that sleep loss leads to a stress reaction in the body that initiates the autoimmune response. I've observed this pattern for over two years now and am sure this is the cause in my case, so I wanted to share. I had given up on ever having a cure for my AA. I had tried doctor-prescribed creams, herbal treatments, stress reduction therapies, etc. Nothing made a difference until this discovery.
I've had Alopecia Areata for about ten years. I believe it was initially triggered by intense stress when my mother died a month before my wedding. My entire beard fell out, eyelashes, eyebrows, and spots in my hair and body.
Over the past two years I've discovered a direct connection between AA and mild sleep loss. I need at least 7 hours to feel right. If I consistently get less (i.e. for two weeks or more), I start to feel a stress reaction in my body. Sure enough, my eyebrows, eyelashes, and beard start to fall out. I believe, for me, this is the effect of long-term mild sleep deprivation. I know losing an 1-1.5 hours a night doesn't sound like much, but over time it adds up.
I started to figure this out when my son was born. Leading up to his birth, I decided to get tons of sleep because I knew I would need it. So I sleep about 8 hours a night, which I haven't done since I was a child. When he was born, I didn't shave for a month or so and I noticed my entire beard was growing in. Over the past two years since he was born, my beard has continued to grow well but occasionally would start to fall out, or my eyebrows and eyelashes would start to fall out. I finally realized it was connected to periods of sleep loss. So I committed to always getting 7.5 hours a night, and it all grew back. Every time I've gotten less sleep for a period of a week or two (e.g. due to son being sick, staying up too late playing a new video game, etc), I get a bald spot in my beard, eyebrow and eyelashes. I recommit to sleep, and it starts growing back within a couple of weeks.
My theory is that sleep loss leads to a stress reaction in the body that initiates the autoimmune response. I've observed this pattern for over two years now and am sure this is the cause in my case, so I wanted to share. I had given up on ever having a cure for my AA. I had tried doctor-prescribed creams, herbal treatments, stress reduction therapies, etc. Nothing made a difference until this discovery.
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