Mother's Hair

Munoz,

once again I come after you, it's getting to be a habit, we must stop meeting like this!!

Seriously though yes, hair loss can be caused by stress. As you may be aware my 15 year old daughter has been to hell (& is on the way back) over the past 10 months. She has waist length really really thick hair which is normally just toooooo healthy for words, but at the beginning of december it started falling out in enormous clumps, one light pull through of a brush & the brush was full!! Not to mention clumps on the floor, in the shower & wherever she had been sitting!!

Her dr said it was just stress & since by then she had been through the worst (we'd taken her out of hell hospital & this new dr had run all sorts of tests & made a correct diagnosis so>>>)he then "prescribed" as follows>>> (& yes he's a real dr, a psychiatrist actually but treats the whole person not just one part as he believes each part affects the whole & so affects the problem(s):

>>>a gentle 30 minute walk between 6 & 7 am each morning, as at that time there's something in the suns rays (even if overcast) which works on our brain chemistry to reduce stress

>>> normally when not overstressd our body takes a substance which occurs in lots of foods (turkey, most nuts, natural yoghurt, many cheeses etc etc) called tryptophan & turns it into 5htp which goes to our brain to react with & normalize the serotonin levels in our brain (if serotonin goes down I think it is then stress goes up) but when we get stress overload our body can't convert the tryptophan into 5htp so she's on a supplement of 5htp, 50 mg at night with some food.

>>> yoga or pilates or any other form of relaxation, listening to relaxation music or tapes, meditation etc.

>>> a good healthy diet (& in her case lots of it!!).

My daughter's hair stopped falling out within 3 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Suggest that to your mum & maybe your brother will do it too if it works.

But she(your mum, not my daughter!!) also needs to get some time away from the cause of the stress, my suggestion would be (i assume she doesn't work??) for her to go for a short walk as often as possible when things are getting to her (i hate whinging kids i'd probably jump on the kid) or go into her room & read/listen to music/phone a friend/whatever.She may find that even though it's her home, she'd be better off stress wise if she didn't eat with them, & refused (except in an emergency - like hospital type) to babysit.

Does your mum have any hobbies, clubs, groups she belongs to/does? These are things that could help destress her & get her out of the house for some pleasure, which is what she needs to get in her life.

Do your brother & his girlfriend pay board & help out with chores?? If not your mother is undoubtedly being stressed out about this & angry which will stress her so she must (she!!) put her foot down & insist that they both help in very real ways.

Hope some of this is of some help. Being the same age as your mum I really feel for her having 2 toddlers around a whinging one especially & an unliked girlfriend _hell.

Thank you again purple! It seems you have really great advice for just about anything!
My mom actually does work. She works from like 5a.M. To whenever she feels(sometimes 7 or 8 at night) she has accomplished enough. She works as the activity director at a nursing home. She stays late a lot because she has a lot of paper work to keep up on and she sometimes takes the residents to plays or bingo and so forth. She is an angel and the people at her job love her, but at the same time her job and her house are non-stop. She just feels like at work it is constant and then when she comes home it is the same thing.
My brother doesn't really contribute any kind of money and I tell my mother all the time that she needs to say something, but my mother is asoft hearted person and has a hard time saying no about anything!
I will write down your advice though and give it to her. I hope things get better for her soon because I am afraid she is going to go into a serious depression. Your words of wisdom were very helpful!!! God bless! :d

Munoz,

your mum really does sound like an extremely good & kind person, but as you asy one who can not say no!!

Does she have internet access, maybe it would help her to talk to a stranger?? Or she could get involved as an outlet with an on-line "support group" of some kind?? They might tell her in a "hard love" sort of way what she might not be able to "hear" from her son.

Like our kids we mums too sometimes fail to listen (even though we asked!!) to advice from our nearest & dearest, especially if it involves another nearest & dearest!!

Thanks for the cudos, but I assure you there are tonnes of things I have no advice on & I often feel so helpless when reading someones problem & have no help at all to give.

My mother does have internet access. That is another idea. I just hope some of the advice she is given, she will take.
I know the feeling of reading someone's problem and not being able to respond at all. It is such a helpless feeling.
Anyeway you responded to numerous of mine and have been a real help. Thank you!

My grandma was losing hair due to alopecia.Doc told her to take knox gelatin capsules daily.Shes so proud of her new hair growing back.