White "overnight"?

[dagny]

So, has anyone ever had their hair start to turn white "overnight"? (What I mean is that a large portion starts to grow in white, not that the length turns white.)

I suffer from chronic illness, but last August I was extremely ill (at one point I didn't eat for an entire week due to illness), lost a significant amount of weight, and then had some horrible respiratory illness (possibly Covid?) in February. It was then that I started to go through a major hair shed. I now have a white streak down the side of my head about 4 inches long, have about 25% of my length's new growth as white, and almost all of the new little hairs growing in appear to be white.

I know that everyone greys differently, but has anyone else greyed like this?

[luluj]

First, may I say how beautiful your hair is, in both your avatar and your signature photos. :crush:

Also, I am sorry to hear of your illness and the resulting hair shed, I hope that you are feeling better, now. It sounds to me as if your hair is graying in its own unique pattern, like you say, we all gray differently. Your white streak actually sounds lovely and interesting and it appears as though you are going to be seeing a lot more interesting patterns as the time passes, especially with the new growth coming in white.

I can't say that I have heard of or known anyone else who has experienced the same situation as you are, so I would say that you are quite unique!:blossom:

[lapushka]

So, has anyone ever had their hair start to turn white "overnight"? (What I mean is that a large portion starts to grow in white, not that the length turns white.)

I suffer from chronic illness, but last August I was extremely ill (at one point I didn't eat for an entire week due to illness), lost a significant amount of weight, and then had some horrible respiratory illness (possibly Covid?) in February. It was then that I started to go through a major hair shed. I now have a white streak down the side of my head about 4 inches long, have about 25% of my length's new growth as white, and almost all of the new little hairs growing in appear to be white.

I know that everyone greys differently, but has anyone else greyed like this?

First of all, I am so sorry you went through all of that! :flower: I hope you're feeling much better now.

It might just be coincidence. It might not. Who is to say? :shrug:

I have been through the wringer, and it did not seem to affect my hair in any way.

[embee]

Going white all of a sudden is such an old story that I think there must be some truth in it, but it boggles my mind to understand how it works. ;)

[MusicalSpoons]

I'm sorry to hear you've had such a rubbish few months. Any normal time and I'd say I hope things get better for you, but in the current circumstances I'll say I hope things get better for you as far as possible.

Mum is absolutely adamant that she had double the number of greys after one of my brothers was stillborn (his twin survived, which meant people basically said 'oh at least you still have a baby' :steam: TW, highlight to read - never mind that she carried them for another six weeks after R died to give G the best chance of surviving; no, that's not at all traumatic on top of the loss!!!) than before. I don't know if it was overnight exactly but yeah, stress is traditionally heavily implicated in more rapid greying/whiting and that was a HUGE stress - and even moreso without any real support from anyone, not even family - so I completely believe that it did happen and it wasn't just her perception.

[shelomit]

Not firsthand experience, but I've seen this happen in a friend's mother. Her mother (i.e., my friend's grandmother) died suddenly, after which all her hair started coming in grey. It had previously been dark brown; as it grew out, there was a hard line between brown hair and grey hair. So once again, a story related to mental stress, though it would not surprise me that a tough illness might have the same result.

[meepster]

I kept my hair short during that time of my life, but I got significantly more grey after the first two years of my daughter’s life. She’s a wonderful kid, but she did not sleep and I didn’t handle the sleep deprivation well at all. Comparing old pictures of me to my current hair, I probably would have had a very clear demarcation line there if I’d had long hair then.

[C_Bookworm]

My brother-in-law got a terrible sunburn on one side of his face, bad enough the skin peeled away to a much lighter color in patches. Where that happened (which included the beard area, sideburns, and scalp) his hair grew back in gray. It’s been several years now, and while the gray has not spread, the hair also has not regained its pigment. The damaged skin itself is still ever so slightly lighter than the rest of his skin.

[Pouncequick]

During my first semester of graduate school I woke up one day to an entire inch chunk of my hair white at the part. It was about 2-3 inches long and stood out drastically from my normal hair color. I don't know what happened but that chunk is still white and the rest of my hair still has no noticeable grey. I assume the stress from moving, a recent break up, and graduate school conspired against me.

[Wavelength]

I've wondered about this as well. I also wonder if perhaps it happened more often in the past, when proper nutrition was far less common. Poor nutrition plus a huge shock to the system might have resulted in a sudden growth of white hairs occurring more frequently.

[Elliandra]

I kept my hair short during that time of my life, but I got significantly more grey after the first two years of my daughter’s life. She’s a wonderful kid, but she did not sleep and I didn’t handle the sleep deprivation well at all. Comparing old pictures of me to my current hair, I probably would have had a very clear demarcation line there if I’d had long hair then.

The exact same thing happened to me meepster! I had the odd grey hair before my son was born, enough that I did dye it regularly, but a year or so after he was born, the grey hair was too much for me to keep up with, it was a clear demarcation line. He's four now and I stopped dying last year! :)

It's so interesting to hear all the stories about stress related grey hair. It seems to be mental stress and body stress, like an illness.

Dagny I'm sorry about your illness.

[Cg]

That happened to my cousin after a catastrophic event. The lengths didn't change color, but literally overnight every root turned white. Stress does amazing things sometimes, and I hope you can keep your own stress at bay.

[dagny]

First, may I say how beautiful your hair is, in both your avatar and your signature photos. :crush:

Also, I am sorry to hear of your illness and the resulting hair shed, I hope that you are feeling better, now. It sounds to me as if your hair is graying in its own unique pattern, like you say, we all gray differently. Your white streak actually sounds lovely and interesting and it appears as though you are going to be seeing a lot more interesting patterns as the time passes, especially with the new growth coming in white.

I can't say that I have heard of or known anyone else who has experienced the same situation as you are, so I would say that you are quite unique!:blossom:

Thank you for your kind words! :flower: My health is starting to return to normal and it appears that my shedding has finally stopped!! It will be interesting to see if the white hairs continue to come in or if I start to grow any new hairs that are not grey. I admit that I would not be upset if they ALL grew in white, as long as the underlying medical issue has been remedied. I may be joining the salt-n-pepper group soon... LOL


First of all, I am so sorry you went through all of that! :flower: I hope you're feeling much better now.

It might just be coincidence. It might not. Who is to say? :shrug:

I have been through the wringer, and it did not seem to affect my hair in any way.
thanks!
Yes, I have had some horrible illness and stress over the past decade with no hair issues before, so that is what is so strange about this one. Well, I guess we will see what happens over the next few months. I admit that when I had one of my sons take a photo of my hair his comment, "Mom! your hair is so white!!" really threw me for a loop. :-)


Going white all of a sudden is such an old story that I think there must be some truth in it, but it boggles my mind to understand how it works. ;)

Mine as well! I am thinking it probably has to do with a loss of certain nutrients, which probably increased free radicals in the hair follicles, which released too much hydrogen peroxide, thus causing the subsequent hair to turn grey.... or not! :LOL:


I'm sorry to hear you've had such a rubbish few months. Any normal time and I'd say I hope things get better for you, but in the current circumstances I'll say I hope things get better for you as far as possible.

Mum is absolutely adamant that she had double the number of greys after one of my brothers was stillborn (his twin survived, which meant people basically said 'oh at least you still have a baby' :steam: TW, highlight to read - never mind that she carried them for another six weeks after R died to give G the best chance of surviving; no, that's not at all traumatic on top of the loss!!!) than before. I don't know if it was overnight exactly but yeah, stress is traditionally heavily implicated in more rapid greying/whiting and that was a HUGE stress - and even moreso without any real support from anyone, not even family - so I completely believe that it did happen and it wasn't just her perception.

I am so sorry to hear about your mother's experience. What a great sorrow that must have been (and still is!) for her. Stress can do so many negative things to the body, and it isn't just due to elevated cortisol. I had read that trauma can get encoded into a person's DNA, and I also know that the body can have memories for traumatic events. The body is such a complex and amazing creation. I am just happy that my hair has finally stopped shedding -- even if it were to come in blue I wouldn't care!! LOL


Not firsthand experience, but I've seen this happen in a friend's mother. Her mother (i.e., my friend's grandmother) died suddenly, after which all her hair started coming in grey. It had previously been dark brown; as it grew out, there was a hard line between brown hair and grey hair. So once again, a story related to mental stress, though it would not surprise me that a tough illness might have the same result.

Oh wow!! What an interesting story!!


I kept my hair short during that time of my life, but I got significantly more grey after the first two years of my daughter’s life. She’s a wonderful kid, but she did not sleep and I didn’t handle the sleep deprivation well at all. Comparing old pictures of me to my current hair, I probably would have had a very clear demarcation line there if I’d had long hair then.

So, when my mom said she didn't have any grey hairs until I was born she really meant it?!!? hahah. j/k. Seriously, I think you are correct in the stress/significant events causing a change in the body from a chemical and physiological stance. It will be interesting to see if my hair turns back to it's normal color once I correct any nutritional deficiencies. I am not holding my breath, especially since I am 51 yrs old. My family, however, does not have a history of getting grey hair until late 60's so it is rather strange.


My brother-in-law got a terrible sunburn on one side of his face, bad enough the skin peeled away to a much lighter color in patches. Where that happened (which included the beard area, sideburns, and scalp) his hair grew back in gray. It’s been several years now, and while the gray has not spread, the hair also has not regained its pigment. The damaged skin itself is still ever so slightly lighter than the rest of his skin.

I had read about things like this. It was a thread about thermal branding of cows in which they freeze the skin which damages the hair follicles and causes the hair to grow in white. Isn't that fascinating! His burn must have been very bad, poor guy! :-(


During my first semester of graduate school I woke up one day to an entire inch chunk of my hair white at the part. It was about 2-3 inches long and stood out drastically from my normal hair color. I don't know what happened but that chunk is still white and the rest of my hair still has no noticeable grey. I assume the stress from moving, a recent break up, and graduate school conspired against me.

Oh wow! You know, we are planning on moving next week so perhaps that, along with my illnesses, added to the stress load. I don't mind having the grey hair at all, but I admit that it does look rather strange as though I was previously coloring my hair but decided to stop -- something that I intensely dislike. Darn this pride!!! LOL



I've wondered about this as well. I also wonder if perhaps it happened more often in the past, when proper nutrition was far less common. Poor nutrition plus a huge shock to the system might have resulted in a sudden growth of white hairs occurring more frequently.

While I eat high quality foods, I know that I have digestion issues and inflammation (microscopic Crohn's) which appears to prevent my body from absorbing nutrients.
I am currently trying to correct these deficiencies and thankfully my hair shed has stopped! I don't mind if the grey hair continues but I am an all-or-nothing type of person so I would just prefer it all to turn white as opposed to the slow transition to all white (not as much fun!). hahaha


The exact same thing happened to me meepster! I had the odd grey hair before my son was born, enough that I did dye it regularly, but a year or so after he was born, the grey hair was too much for me to keep up with, it was a clear demarcation line. He's four now and I stopped dying last year! :)

It's so interesting to hear all the stories about stress related grey hair. It seems to be mental stress and body stress, like an illness.

Dagny I'm sorry about your illness.

Thank you! :flower: Yes, these stories are very interesting! I had read that in some situations the stress causes the hairs to fall out that are NOT otherwise white, thereby leaving only the white ones so it appears that the hair turned white 'overnight". They call this Marie Antoinette Syndrome, or something like that. Due to my massive hair shed, I had wondered if this might have been the situation with me? It doesn't appear that there is a demarcation between colored hair strands that turn white, but that the white hairs are all the short ones. That white streak consists of hairs that are about 4 inches long and there is a huge chunk of them. So strange....


That happened to my cousin after a catastrophic event. The lengths didn't change color, but literally overnight every root turned white. Stress does amazing things sometimes, and I hope you can keep your own stress at bay.

Oh wow!! What an interesting story!
I have Addison's disease in which my body doesn't make cortisol (steroids) so I have to supplement with them. Because of that, i always wondered if my body doesn't get the negative effect of stress that everyone else does (I have to take more steroids during stressful events but often forget and there is no way to know how much extra steroids one would need because they can't test it like they can for blood sugar and insulin).

[lapushka]

thanks!
Yes, I have had some horrible illness and stress over the past decade with no hair issues before, so that is what is so strange about this one. Well, I guess we will see what happens over the next few months. I admit that when I had one of my sons take a photo of my hair his comment, "Mom! your hair is so white!!" really threw me for a loop. :-)

Kids. They tell it like it is, don't they? ;) :lol:

[cathair]

I had one big white streak come in seemingly overnight. I was a little puzzled by it at the time.

I researched about sudden greying. If I recall correctly I read that white hair can suddenly show up, when the darker hairs around it shed out. This makes it stand out. Rather than some hair suddenly changing colour it was always there, it's just come into the foreground now.

I hope your doing better :flower:

[SleepyTangles]

No personal experience for me, but I also want to say I´m sorry you had to go through all this and wish you many relaxing and happy months to come :flowers:
I´ve read somewhere that gray hair may be caused not just by melanin "running out", so to speak, but also by oxidative processes related to stress and free radicals. Basically, it´s like the hair produces small amount of bleach-like chemicals. It sounds like a long period of illness can easily trigger this processes.

I wonder if your hair will stay white or gain back some pigmentation... when I was sixteen and anemic I had lots of grey hairs, but when my values went back to normal it´s like they disappeared. I feel like after shedding they grew back brown, as absurd this may sound. My current whites have been around for less than three years.

[truepeacenik]

For a few years in my late 20s to mid 30s, I got “candy cane stripes” of white in my red hair. These would be bands of no color alternating with red.
It was a stressful time, family losses, divorce, raising a kid stress, starting university, meeting the man who’d help raise my son, good and bad stresses.

At about 36, I stopped seeing new stripes. Most new growth was red. A few were simply white.
At 50, a streak of white became dense enough to continuously see.
I have a style to bring it attention, and one to let it be more subtle. And sparkles are glinting here and there.

After a shed, I did perceive more sparkles. But it also moderated.

The true sudden white I’ve seen was physical trauma.
Chemo regrowth, car accidents, other impact points gone white.

[Ylva]

I wonder if your hair will stay white or gain back some pigmentation... when I was sixteen and anemic I had lots of grey hairs, but when my values went back to normal it´s like they disappeared. I feel like after shedding they grew back brown, as absurd this may sound. My current whites have been around for less than three years.

This is certainly possible. It's not even that rare in the "proper human diet" circles that people suddenly started growing in pigmented hair again.