Nightmares and Anxiety post-HT

[Paulygon]

-I promised to create this thread in response to a great topic presented by "BeardedOne".

-

Although I have had excellent results in my HT procedure (see my Before/After pics)

 

But I am suffering from nightmares (about every few weeks)-

where I dream that my hair falls out at an alarming rate.. in my nightmares, I have quickly returned to my previous "bald" self or am in even worse shape hair-wise than before my procedure...

 

I wake up from these nightmares, look at my hair in the mirror, and am surprised that I have so much hair on my scalp..

Is this common?

Does the anxiety go away... do I need therapy?

Or, is this nature telling me I am destined to go bald again?

Is it because I have gone through an extreme change from bald to "not-bald" so quickly?

[Paulygon]

A quick note- in 2012 I got the HT done, and gone on both Rogaine and Propecia.. To this day, I still have hair getting on my hands after every Rogaine application, and my shower drain still clogs every couple weeks with hairs. I live alone so I know the shower hairs are all my own... I feel like crap every time I see remnants of hair falling out onto my hands or in the shower drain... I don't know if it is falling out at a lesser rate than pre-2012.. but I'm sure that seeing this crap is at least partially causing my anxiety-- and there is no way to avoid seeing the darn hairs falling out...

I've heard the adage that up to 100 hairs a day falling out is normal... but when you have as few hairs as I do, I don't think that 100 # is very accurate -- that number probably pertains to people without hair loss issues...

[hsrp10]

I had a mini shed recently in the front that was transplanted 7 months ago (along with a touch-up procedure in another scalp region too last month which could be related).

Had a nightmare the other day I was massively balding with scabs all over my head to top if off, then woke up to find not a single hair was missing.

 

Probably we invest so much time and money to get our hair back it causes a decent amount of anxiety. It's important to notice the big changes to prevent further loss but best not to sweat smaller things.

I have never been a big fan of Rogaine btw, but mostly due to it drying my scalp

[Paulygon]

I had a mini shed recently in the front that was transplanted 7 months ago (along with a touch-up procedure in another scalp region too last month which could be related).

Had a nightmare the other day I was massively balding with scabs all over my head to top if off, then woke up to find not a single hair was missing.

 

Probably we invest so much time and money to get our hair back it causes a decent amount of anxiety. It's important to notice the big changes to prevent further loss but best not to sweat smaller things.

I have never been a big fan of Rogaine btw, but mostly due to it drying my scalp

 

Ahh, Hsrp, I just replied commented on how your hair looks like Alec Baldwin's (someone, who in my opinion has naturally beautiful hair). Really impressive work you've got done there! I think you make alot of sense when you say that the anxiety is due to the fact that we invest so much in getting the hair back so we are afraid of losing it.. (also, potentially, sudden changes can cause anxiety-- like going from really terrible hair to a decent looking head in a matter of 6 months, is not common... and so maybe a person's mind fears that the opposite can happen just as quickly..)

 

How do you define a mini-shed? I feel like I am always shedding! Would a mini-shed be 2x normal, 3x normal, etc? Or do you not shed regularly? I think I'm very confused on this point and would love to hear people's inputs so I can, like you say "It's important to notice the big changes to prevent further loss but best not to sweat smaller things"

 

Someone in my condition-- with HT performed and on Finasteride and Minox regularly since 2012... should I not be shedding? Or is there a number that would be reasonable for shed... I don't understand what the shed rate should be for me.

[hsrp10]

I saw that man, thanks for the comments! I was losing transplanted hairs in one certain area over consecutive days and was worried about it thinning but they seem to be growing back. But it freaked me out.

 

Before my HT procedures I never shed really a lot, just got gradually thinner in the front each year.

On Fin and Nizoral (have chronic scalp eczema) I shed a lot !!! to the point that my HT procedure with Dr. Hasson thinned out a bit. After stopping Nizoral all together it got a little better.

Actually, my procedure with Dr. Hasson peaked at around 2 years, and after that I noticed sheds in the evening after work when just rubbing my hair.

Did my body stop reacting well to Fin or was it just overusing Nizoral ?? I am not really sure.....

 

recently I restarted using Fin but after three months my forehead got very greasy, and I experienced the mini shed mentioned above. So I am off of Fin as I'm not convinced it is helping my transplanted hair.

(I know it works wonders for some! )

Edited March 12, 2014 by hsrp10

[Since21]

Actually, my procedure with Dr. Hasson peaked at around 2 years, and after that I noticed sheds in the evening after work when just rubbing my hair.

Did my body stop reacting well to Fin or was it just overusing Nizoral ?? I am not really sure...

 

Your transplanted hair started to thin? Is that common? I would think it would be DHT resistant if taken from the safe zone.

 

Recently I restarted using Fin but after three months my forehead got very greasy, and I experienced the mini shed mentioned above. So I am off of Fin as I'm not convinced it is helping my transplanted hair.

(I know it works wonders for some! )

 

I don't think the increase in oil on your forehead is due to the Fin. I've experienced the same thing since my procedure. I attribute it to the hair follicles that weren't previously there that are now producing oil.

[hsrp10]

I think not so common, but it could have been due to overuse of Nizoral because I was using it quite frequently several days a week.

I created this thread on it. Spex and others have warned on the dangers of it too

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/173206-dont-overuse-nizoral-after-hair-transplant.html

 

Spex's thread:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/135193-nizoral-shedding.html

 

in my case it was directly related to Fin, as it happened to me before and this time the greasiness and oily scalp immediately subsided 3-4 days after stopping my dosage, it was like a switch turning from on to off

dry every morning now