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Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

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Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#121
post #64
post #54

My hair started graying pretty much as soon as I graduated from college. It makes a lot of sense now. Around the same time, I: - bought a house (in 2007, yeesh) - got married - started my first job (which at the time felt like drinking out of a fire hose) Shortly after, my wife and I went through the stress of trying and failing to get pregnant. Then infertility treatments for several months. Then my wife had surgery…

It feels like so many people in North America are struggling with infertility. It is one of those topics that have been deemed too taboo to talk about which is infortunate.

Check out the book Why We Get Sick: The Hidden Epidemic at the root of most chronic disease(0). TL;DR: Insulin resistance. There’s some great discussion about men’s and women’s fertility in there.

(0) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49207255

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#122
post #80
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels like so many people in North America are struggling with infertility. It is one of those topics that have been deemed too taboo to talk about which is infortunate.

It’s talked about in small circles, but not broadly. Anecdotally, my wife and one of her friends are the only people I know who quickly conceived and had a child without issue over 30. My very close friend and his wife gave up after years of treatments. My sister and her husband are coming up on years of unsuccessful treatments. Several of my wife’s close friends either required treatments, have lost one or more preg…

>The people who are more financially stable and on the same page seem to have the easiest time.

In my experience it's been the opposite. The people I know who are financially secure seem to struggle more to have kids. They'll go to doctors and fertility clinics and such.

On the other hand, the people I know who are not very financially secure at all have had no problems having children. Much of the time they aren't even trying, it just happens.

It seems almost like the people who feel the most pressured about having kids, the ones who are trying and stressed out about it are the ones who struggle at it.

At least in my observations anyway.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#123
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is incredibly brave of you to share that and overcome all that. I had a similar time of buying our first house, starting a new job, having a baby and then losing a parent all within a space of 3-4 months just before the pandemic lockdown started. I lost a lot of my hair instead and now have a bald spot. Also lot of junk food and alcohol. Somehow I would have liked to keep my hair even if it turned gray :)

I had a really rough 2019 & 2020 - not including the pandemic. Multiple health issues in myself and my family + financial issues + the pandemic. I am 45. Comparing pictures my hair at 43 vs 45 is unbelievable. Almost no white hairs in 2018. Today, half my hair is white. I had so much stress that I had to create a sleeping video playlist on Plex to drown out the nightmares and get a full night sleep. Now most of my pr…

Some men do. You can dye over it and use a product like Touch of Gray to make it look more natural, as well.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#124
post #80
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It feels like so many people in North America are struggling with infertility. It is one of those topics that have been deemed too taboo to talk about which is infortunate.

It’s talked about in small circles, but not broadly. Anecdotally, my wife and one of her friends are the only people I know who quickly conceived and had a child without issue over 30. My very close friend and his wife gave up after years of treatments. My sister and her husband are coming up on years of unsuccessful treatments. Several of my wife’s close friends either required treatments, have lost one or more preg…

> It’s more than enough to make you feel like there is something serious going on.

A lot of people are putting off having children until much later in their lives, in part due to how expensive raising a child is now. For a majority of people, fertility isn't exactly constant from puberty to old age/menopause.

One more 2nd/3rd order societal problem that the "invisible hand of the market" cannot possibly fix, those who'd want/need to buy that option cannot afford it at that point in their lives.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#125
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with this comment. Sleep is ridiculously underestimated in our society due to the fact that it's perceived as a waste of time, while you could do something else more "productive" or "fun" - binge watching, learning, studying, working on that thing that you really wanted to finish, etc. etc. It's absolutely not the case. The first thing to go is the memory. Then step by step things add up. It's not fun.

Sleep doesn't come naturally to everyone. I can lay in bed all night long, but the brain likes to wake me up at 5 am and suddenly remind me of all my problems, Todo lists and stuff I should or shouldn't have said.

Naps! Seriously, if you're lying in bed and can't sleep .... you're not sleepy. Get up, do something. (Listen to your body)

Hell, I can go a few days on 2 hours sleep, then sleep like, 8 hours or 12 hours. Or I'll sleep 5 hours (from 5pm to 10pm) then sleep maybe from 4am to 7am ...

There's plenty of chores to do, or a bit of DIY or watching tv...

Get a diary. Write the stuff in there. Next time you wake up, tell your brain, thank you for reminding me, but we already wrote this down - look. And read it aloud. Eventually your brain will get it and stop waking you up (you should read The Chimp Paradox -- about how your brain works)

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#126
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is incredibly brave of you to share that and overcome all that. I had a similar time of buying our first house, starting a new job, having a baby and then losing a parent all within a space of 3-4 months just before the pandemic lockdown started. I lost a lot of my hair instead and now have a bald spot. Also lot of junk food and alcohol. Somehow I would have liked to keep my hair even if it turned gray :)

I had a really rough 2019 & 2020 - not including the pandemic. Multiple health issues in myself and my family + financial issues + the pandemic. I am 45. Comparing pictures my hair at 43 vs 45 is unbelievable. Almost no white hairs in 2018. Today, half my hair is white. I had so much stress that I had to create a sleeping video playlist on Plex to drown out the nightmares and get a full night sleep. Now most of my pr…

I have been dying my hair since starting to go gray in my late teens. I like the Just For Men products.. go a bit lighter and leave it on longer to get more of the gray. It works ok -- lasts about a month. My wife prefers the dyed hair with a touch of gray and not all gray.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#127
post #5

Stress is terrible. Work overloaded me and caused so much stress that I had stress-induced alopecia. My beard fell out in patches, and I had random patches of hair fall out on the back of my head, almost like perfect circles. Besides that, I couldn't really enjoy myself anymore, and I would often spend my non-work time vegetating. Then there's the teeth grinding and all the damage that comes with that. The hair came…

Had severe jaw pain from grinding in my sleep and clenching last year. Largely because of the last administration, but also starting a stressful new job situation and general 2020 pandemic stress.

Apparently my dentist was seeing a ton of this.

Got a night guard and felt immediately better with some of it. On stressful days I still find myself clenching or biting my tongue but it's a lot less.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#128
post #5

Stress is terrible. Work overloaded me and caused so much stress that I had stress-induced alopecia. My beard fell out in patches, and I had random patches of hair fall out on the back of my head, almost like perfect circles. Besides that, I couldn't really enjoy myself anymore, and I would often spend my non-work time vegetating. Then there's the teeth grinding and all the damage that comes with that. The hair came…

Your teeth can remineralize given the right conditions and some time. Obviously the aesthetic won't change much, but if you clean your teeth thoroughly 30 mins after a meal, reduce sugar intake, chew sugar free gum for saliva and helping with ph levels etc. it should help.

Re: Stress does turn hair gray, and it’s reversible

#129
About two years ago I woke up to find 40% of my facial hair gone. It was due to alopecia areata, and I was going through a very stressful period. It mostly grew back but completely white (Funnily I'm left with a narrow black section in the moustache area, so if I don't shave I look like Hitler).

Anyway in the last month or so some coloured hair has started to come back, hopefully it continues.

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