TE after 8 Weeks of Severe Insomnia

by Ross
(Chicago)

I am a 25 year old male with previously very very thick hair. Between early May to early July I had a severe case of insomnia and anxiety. The insomnia was so severe I couldn’t even sleep with sleep meds ( Ambien, Lunesta). Also around this period of time I started using a low dose of Elavil for pain relief from surgery that I had on my hip.

Right around the end of this 8 weeks period (around late June) I noticed my hair felt very thin all over. It felt more as though the texture of my hair became different...kind of brittle. This was very diffuse and this point I had not experienced any hair loss. I was actually pretty happy about this at first because my hair used to be so thick that it was unmanageable, I couldn’t grow it out, and I was happy to begin wearing my hair like Tom Brady.

However ...about 3 months later...early Septemberish I noticed that I was beginning to loose hair on my head..I just noticed I didn’t have as much hair especially in the front. My left temple area is really bothering me. I've read that TE can be more pronounced in areas where your hair is typically sparse (crown, temples, top). The only problem...I never noticed some sort of alarming shedding of hair ...I just noticed this out of nowhere diffuse thinning of my hair and then a few months later..less hair on my head. Anyone else similar story????

Editor’s Comments,

I strongly believe it could be related to the severe insomnia that you were having 3 months back. Telogen Effluvium is all about diffuse thinning and you should not see a pattern of hair loss but instead hair loss all over.

If it’s TE, then the hair loss is only temporary and you should see fewer hair loss over the couple of weeks. If the hair loss is not stopping by then, it’s best to drop by over a dermatologist.