Stress, Depression and Hair Loss

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Does anyone out there know if it is possible to lose hair over stress and depression. I just need to know some educated views because I've heard two-sided notions. Yes it can affect hair loss and no it can't - whats the truth???
 

totaldispHAIR

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Yes, stress can cause hair loss in way too many ways to detail here (elevated cortisol levels; depletion of essential nutrients like zinc and the Bs, etc.). Check out askwaltstollmd.com, and google for it -- there's a lot of info out there.
 
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totaldispHAIR said:
Yes, stress can cause hair loss in way too many ways to detail here (elevated cortisol levels; depletion of essential nutrients like zinc and the Bs, etc.). Check out askwaltstollmd.com, and google for it -- there's a lot of info out there.

Thanks totaldispHAIR, I have been under a lot of stress and am hoping that this has caused hair to go into the resting phase.....if this is just plain old genetic loss - is there any hope?
 

totaldispHAIR

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Yes, hon, there's still hope for you. The good thing is that you're catching this early on and you're doing something about it now. When you catch it in the early stages and start working on it, you have a better chance of reversing it. Especially with women, we have it a little better than the men with Female Pattern Baldness in that most of the time it's major thinning instead of cue-ball loss, and the follicles respond to reversal more often than with the men.

The most important thing you can do for yourself, however, is to RESEARCH!!!! Don't sit back and expect your doctors to give you the answers because most don't know about women's hair loss. Don't sit back and rely on chatboards to answer all your questions. If I relied on the various diagnoses I was given, I'd be screwed. I have found tests I've insisted on having done, I've looked at nutrition, stress, and other non-allopathic avenues, and am reading as much as I can online.
 

lolypop

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Can you tell me why you suggest not taking bcp if your hair is thinning? My doctor just recently put me on Yasmin to slow my cycles down. i am anemic, and he thinks that this will help build my iron back up. I am really nervous though, because i have been thinning over the last 4 years, and i don't want to do anything that is going to make it worse. I have read that some women have experienced yasmin to slow the process of thinning. What do you think?
 

vanessa

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I am curious about Yasmin too. I have never heard of that effect, but if anyone knows, I'd love to hear about it. I am considering switching.
 

totaldispHAIR

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Lolypop, I went off Loestrin BCP because my hormone results showed that my estrogen and progesterone levels were beyond suppressed. So did my FSH and LH tests. When your progesterone level drops too low, there's nothing to counteract the testosterone which sometimes leads to FPB. My hairloss looks both like CTE or/and Androgenetic Alopecia. So, I decided to stop the pill and let my body go back to producing it's own hormone levels instead of trying to change to a different pill that had more synthetic estrogen/progesterone in it.

Do a search on this site and on keratin.com for yasmin postings as well as BCP postings, I've seen a lot of them. For me personally, after learning so much more about synthetic hormones and their effects on your body, I decided that the convenience of the pill wasn't worth it anymore to me. Plus, I could potentially experience worse side effects and hair loss if I went off the pill at a later date and my pill was giving me more estrogen/progesterone (= more suppression of my ovaries and glands) than my current pill.

Good luck and I hope you find the choice that works for you.
 
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totaldispHAIR said:
Yes, hon, there's still hope for you. The good thing is that you're catching this early on and you're doing something about it now. When you catch it in the early stages and start working on it, you have a better chance of reversing it. Especially with women, we have it a little better than the men with Female Pattern Baldness in that most of the time it's major thinning instead of cue-ball loss, and the follicles respond to reversal more often than with the men.

The most important thing you can do for yourself, however, is to RESEARCH!!!! Don't sit back and expect your doctors to give you the answers because most don't know about women's hair loss. Don't sit back and rely on chatboards to answer all your questions. If I relied on the various diagnoses I was given, I'd be screwed. I have found tests I've insisted on having done, I've looked at nutrition, stress, and other non-allopathic avenues, and am reading as much as I can online.

total: I am coming to your for some advise - I caught an ealier appt with my derm and just came back - needless to say I am so very dissapointed - she poked around my head for about 10 seconds or so and said, :yes there is definite thinning" then sat down and said it must be genetic - no tests, no biopsy, no nothing.....she tried prescribing me sprio and I told her I didn't want that to be my first option as I don't know conclusively what is causing my hair loss......to make a long story short she referred me to an Endocrinologist....and told be to use Rogaine......what should I do - should I start the rogaine?
 

scud666

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thanks for the info marie.

one question. does the hair which falls out, have a hardened sebum/pus like substance attached to the root of the hair? i get it alot. i know its not the "bulb" cause i can pull it off with my nails and its yellow. is this Seb Derm.???
 
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scud666 said:
thanks for the info marie.

one question. does the hair which falls out, have a hardened sebum/pus like substance attached to the root of the hair? i get it alot. i know its not the "bulb" cause i can pull it off with my nails and its yellow. is this Seb Derm.???

Hey Scud - not sure if you posted this to the right thread. Wish I could help you but I really don't know the answer to your question.....When my hair falls out its mostly in the shower so I've never looked at the root....
 

scud666

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opps.. i did post it on the wrong thread. silly me... no wonder i couldn't find an answer!
 

dragonflygirl

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yasmin and anemia

hi, i was in the same boat. had anemia-related hair-loss, had to go on bcp as it was due to heavy periods. after reading all these posts, i was VERY reluctant to go on a bcp, but so far with yasmin, so good. i went on iron for three months, with lots of shedding, which didn't stop until about 5 months after initial diagnosis. but so far, yasmin hasn't caused me any problems.
 
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