Are these stress caused health conditions?

August 31, 2009 2:55 PM

I've worked a lot the past few months (but will be done in a few weeks) and have noticed a few physical changes. Could stress cause these conditions? (1) When I wash my hair in the shower, I lose a couple dozen hairs down the drain (although I don't seem to be balding) (2) My right eye has started twitching several times an hour (I can feel it but my friends can't see the twitching). (3) I've gone from about 5 to about 50 grey hairs the past year. I'm a 24 year old male.
posted by lpctstr; to health & fitness (15 answers total)

When I get really stressed out, I get a slight twitch in my left eye. IANAMD but there's my experience.
posted by caveat at 2:58 PM on August 31, 2009

All my eye twitches are (/were) caffeine-related. Do you have a consistent intake of caffeine? More or less than usual can give some people tics and facial twitches.

My husband started getting a lot more grays at about that age, could be normal. How's the family history of hair?

More hairs in the shower - is your hair longer than usual? Longer hair looks like way more hair in the drain. Just offering some possible alternative scenarios.
posted by peep at 3:03 PM on August 31, 2009

I get a left-eye twitch when I'm stressed out and not sleeping well. Once it starts it goes on for a few days until I catch up on my zzzzs.

My doctor said that eye twitching is "normal, annoying, and harmless", but please don't take my word for it if you're worried!
posted by muddgirl at 3:03 PM on August 31, 2009

When I get really stressed out, I get a slight twitch in my left eye. IANAMD but there's my experience.

me too. Happens when I am super stressed and totally freaks me out.
posted by special-k at 3:09 PM on August 31, 2009

Losing a little bit of hair every day is normal. An increase in the amount of hair you're shedding could be due to telogen effluvium - essentially, physical or mental stress can cause some of the hairs on your head to stop growing, and about two months later the hair falls out. Telogen is a normal part of the hair growth cycle, and new hair grows in to replace the old hair - this is just a matter of a greater percentage of the hairs on your head being in the end stage of the growth cycle at the same time.

It happens to me every now and then - I don't shed too much, but if I get really sick/depressed/stressed, two or three months later I'll start seeing a lot more stray hairs on my brush for a couple weeks.
posted by Metroid Baby at 3:11 PM on August 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

1) This happens all the time. 2) This happens to me when I'm tired 3) I started getting a lot more grey hairs at that age. Ten years on and I have a mix of silver and dark hair.

In short, these things wouldn't lead me to freak out. Having said that, it's always a good idea to have a physical if you haven't had one for a while.
posted by ob at 3:19 PM on August 31, 2009

I had twitching eye problems when I did A LOT of reading. In a previous job, I was constantly reading technical documentation during the day, then relaxing with a good book at home in the evening. When I would reduce the reading time at home, the problem would go away. When I would resume, the twitching would return. If you've been working hard, as you described, something to consider.
posted by netbros at 3:21 PM on August 31, 2009

Same stuff happened to me at same age while in law school. Hard to avoid the stress in certain situations, but that's what it is, in my non-MD-having opinion.
posted by letahl at 3:26 PM on August 31, 2009

24 year old male weighing in. I don't have grays, but I blame a lot of my hair loss on stress, especially in college. In the last two years of college my hair line receded quite rapidly, which of course further stressed me out, and pretty soon it was turtles all the way down.

Nothing you can really do, except for any of the usual stress reduction things. And of course, IANAD.
posted by Lutoslawski at 3:31 PM on August 31, 2009

yep, 24 was about the age my hairline started to recede, my ear-fuzz broke the levee, and I saw the beginnings of mentat eyebrows. via plinth
posted by reverend cuttle at 3:34 PM on August 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Once I took a month off from refined sugar, and for a few weeks after that, my eye twitched like crazy any time I ate something particularly sugary.
posted by aniola at 4:43 PM on August 31, 2009

I started greying at 18... my sister at 16
My spouses eye twitches with stress all the time.
posted by sundri at 4:47 PM on August 31, 2009

Maybe get a thyroid panel done too. I had some of your symptoms and also had hypothyroidism. Common and easy to treat with medication (I have generic levothyroxine) that isn't expensive...
posted by frosty_hut at 5:15 PM on August 31, 2009

(1) Totally normal.
(2) Happens to me when I am stressed, overcaffeinated, underslept.
(3) ??
posted by number9dream at 10:13 PM on August 31, 2009

Regarding the eye twitching, I have a colleague who went to the doctor about this and was ordered off work because computer screens were aggravating it. She also wore an eye patch. It was only for one day or so and I am told it worked. You might wish to speak to your doctor if you want the twitching to stop - s/he might be able to help.
posted by marmaduke_yaverland at 12:29 AM on September 1, 2009