Q:
I'm working full time and doing 9 credits. My life has become almost unbearably busy. I don't feel stressed, but my lifestyle would look that way...anyway, the last few weeks I've noticed that I'm suddenly losing a LOT of hair, just stroking my hand through my hair will take out 10-20 strands. To try and fix this I've changed shampoos and gotten my hair cut, but it didn't make a difference and seems to be getting worse. And a couple weeks ago my nose started twitching occasionally uncontrollably. Is this just as symptom of stress and exhaustion? Or is there something else I should be looking into?
I'm female by the way, if that makes a difference.
A:
Hair loss is a delayed response to a physical stressor--usually by at least 3 or 4 months, so what you are experiencing now in hair loss is more reflective of something that happened in mid-summer. Physical traumas, surgeries, medications and psychological stress can be potential causes. We also do screening labs to rule out anemia and thyroid disease, which can be metabolic causes of ongoing hair loss.
Muscle twitches in the face (nose, eyelids) are almost always stress related and are difficult to control with medication. Once again, some metabolic imbalances can lead to these muscle twitches, so screening labs can be helpful, but take a look at your need for sleep, your use of caffeine and alcohol, because it can be worsened by those factors.
~The Doc
