Joy After Alopecia is Understanding My triggers: Silent Serpent of Stress

After the June 2018 visit with Dr. Osei-Tutu, while my Eczema cleared up quickly; I learned that my battle with Alopecia Areata was going to be a long one and one that required some adjustments on my part. I realized through research and through speaking with Dr. Osei-Tutu that stress had triggered the current Alopecia Areata flare up. My early 2018 stress was unfortunately unavoidable, as I was grieving, my dad who had been taken from me and I felt like I experienced it twice, once watching him die a painful death and then second when I actually watched them put his casket in the ground. I swear it was the worse pain ever. On top of grieving the loss of my dad, the person I would have immediately called, Dr. Maria Barnes, gained her wings 11 days before my dad did. So, I couldn’t even call her. In May 2018, another spiritual confidant Patrick Daymond also left, not this earth but rather moved on from being the Pastor of my local church. It still felt like a “loss” even though he was still reachable by phone; I could no longer go meet with him. So when I say I had stress on steroids, it is not an understatement. In fact, according to the Mayo Clinic, severe stress is possibly a cause of Alopecia Areata because, “with Alopecia Areata, the body’s immune system attacks the hair follicles — causing hair loss. ” Bottom line severe stress compromises your immune system thereby providing an ideal breading ground for Alopecia Areata.