Sheffield woman, 22, says being in bad relationship made her go bald - and hair only grew back when she found love

Ashleigh Alqotaibi, 22, from Beighton has revealed in a national newspaper that she had started losing her hair because of stress from an unhappy relationship and her baldness saw her become suicidal.

Ashleigh started losing her hair in November 2014 and medics diagnosed her with alopecia, warning it was likely to have been brought on by stress.

By February 2015 she had 95 per cent baldness, and Ashleigh, who was in a relationship at the time, was left 'devastated' and admits she was suicidal.

Realising her 'unhappy' relationship with her then-boyfriend was the source of her stress, Ashleigh dumped him in a bid to improve her well-being.

She told the Daily Mail: 'With every strand of hair that fell out, a piece of my confidence went with it.

'Looking back, I was unhappy in my relationship, but it took a while to link the silly arguments I was having with my boyfriend with the clumps of my hair falling out every day.'

Incredibly, after dumping her ex, she met now fiancé John Robinson, 26, a delivery driver, in April 2015, and her hair started to grow back just four months later.

Now, she has a full head of hair, and credits her happiness with new man John for its re-growth.

Ashleigh said: 'There is no denying that once I got rid of my stressful relationship and replaced it with a happy, healthy one my hair started to grow again.

'My hair could still fall out at any time but, with John by my side, I know my love life will never be the cause of stress again.'

When Ashleigh started dating her ex in December 2013 she had a full head of thick, brown hair.

She tells how, over time, arguments between them left her unhappy and stressed.

She said: 'He wasn't the right person for me, I felt stressed trying to deal with his insecurities and controlling behaviour. But, with it being my first relationship, I was reluctant to break up with him.

In November 2014, she noticed a bald patch on the side of her head. She said: 'I'd suffered a bit of mild patching on my scalp in the past but my hair had grown back'

"I stopped using hair straighteners and shaded the patch in with black eyeshadow to hide it, but the bald spot started to grow.

"I felt powerless as handfuls of hair started falling out when I showered, and sometimes I'd wake up with clumps on my pillow.'

Ashleigh said: 'I sobbed as medics explained I may lose all my hair. I'd always taken real pride in my thick, healthy hair, and imagining myself totally bald was a terrifying thought.'

Though she was prescribed steroid cream to stimulate hair growth, Ashleigh says it did not work and by the end of January 2015 she was almost completely bald.

She said: 'All that was left was my hairline, I felt ugly and ashamed.

'Walking down the street I felt like everyone knew I was bald underneath, so I stopped going out except to work.

'I didn't even tell my friends I was suffering with alopecia because I was so embarrassed. Instead, I just stopped going out with them.

'Medics urged me to try and eliminate stress in my life to help simulate natural regrowth.

'I loved my job and had plenty of friends and a loving family, so I realised the only stressful influence in my life was my unhappy relationship.

'So I made the big decision to dump him.'

Incredibly, in September – just four months after finding love with John, her hair started to grow back naturally.

She recalled: 'John pointed out that a patch of hair had regrown on the back of my scalp.

As the months went on, Ashleigh's relationship with John went from strength to strength, and her hair continued to grow.

In June Ashleigh and John got engaged and now hope to wed in a few years.