In january my husband announced he had filed for divorce. This came as a complete shock to me and our young daughter. He denied there was another woman - he just wasn't happy. Two months later he disclosed he had been having an affair with a coworker for the past year. Another complete shock. The pain as you all know was unbearable. About three months ago my hair started to fall out and has continued to do so at an alarming rate. Doctor says it is probably the result of a traumatic event. There have been so many horrid consequences of my husband's infidelity to be angry about and now I am blaming him for my hair loss. Has anyone else had to deal with this? If so, does it eventually stop? I may have to change my user name to "hairless".

My hair tends to be a bit thin on top but my hairdresser noticed last time that it's even thinner than usual. I think it's the stress of the personal life problems that does it.

My hair really was coming out. I don't know how I had any left!!! Since I've been in my apartment and not under so much stress, I've noticed that I'm not losing nearly as much hair as I was.

Mine started coming out about 2 months after discovery. The weird thing is it also started growing really fast to compensate for it I guess. The doctor said it was strictly stress related.

I think my hair is all right, but my finger & toe nails are a mess--deeply ridged & now peeling & breaking. The stress seems to show up in a multitude of ways.

I lost some hair, but not much....also, my nails have been breaking all the time that I have to keep them short.

Could be from stress but would rec that you see the doc or np just to make sure that it is not a thyroid, genetic, or hormonal issue. Technically called alopecia, may or may not resolve itself. Is your diet also poor? I know mine was gross, with mega wt loss. This could be contributing. If tests are all within normal limits (nothing physical wrong) some practitioners may recommend using minoxidil early in the loss process. There is a question of whether is can retard the process or ???

Nope-I didn;'t lose any hair-and I ahev extra if you or anyone else wants some But I lost my happiness, my sanity, my security, my best friend, my self worth............the lsit goes on and on.<P>Sorry I am so serious-life has sucked lately.<P>*heartache*

My w started losing hers before her affair. I never realized how deeply it affected her and her self esteem. This is one of the opening om had into our lives.<BR>I wonder now if the hair loss was due to stress from her being unhappy in our marriage or if that was when the emotional affair started. I'm not sure of the timing on that.

I was loosing my hair before I found out but I haven't since but I think that it was a hormonal problem that cleared up when I started taken estrogen. However, my nails which were always very flexible, long and difficult to break are now brittle, break easy and peel constantly. I guess stress affects us all in many ways.<P>------------------<BR>di<BR>

Thanks to all of you who took the time to reply. Dazed and confused, zombie, janie, lor, no trust, sds - It was reassuring to hear based on your experiences it may be stress caused - and therefore will stop when I am able to get more control over the stress of my husband's affair. <BR> cl - thanks - I am seeing doctors, getting the runaround but not giving up on the getting the hormonal tests etc. As you mentioned, I am using minoxidil (yuck!) as I am desperate. Yeah, like you I lost lots of weight (45 pounds) after discovery and that may have also triggered this hair loss thing.<P>Heartache - thanks for the offer - I too lost my happiness, security,sanity, self worth and best friend (husband). I certainly didn't deserve to lose my hair too! At least I have my husband back.<P>RWD - I know how your wife must have felt - for a woman to lose her hair really does affect her self esteem and contributes to depression - and we all know where that can lead sometimes.<BR>