Trichotillomania Support

[lapushka]

Is it only considered trichotillomania if you actually pull the hair strands out of your head? In the last 10 months I have developed a new bad habit of pulling my hair, but not pulling it out completely. I will just pull a small chunk of hair (like maybe 30 strands) and tug on it, over and over all day. It's always in the same spot, on the top of my head.

I know what started it; I did a protein treatment last winter after my hair had become damaged from bleach, but I think I overdid it, because me hair got super crunchy and grabby and would tangle like crazy after that, especially in this one part on top of my head. So I started pulling that hair and combing through it with my fingers non-stop all day because it bothered me so much.

Now I have chopped all those damaged parts off and it is no longer crunchy or grabby/tangled, but I can't stop pulling that same hair anyway. Now it's just like I'm doing it out of habit! I think I probably pull that same part of hair 100+ times a day, but it could be way more and that I do it without even thinking about it. I am diagnosed with ADHD and OCD, so it might also be connected to that as well. Anyone have any ideas how to stop? I have already tried wearing my hair up all the time, which helped a little, but I want to be able to have my hair down without doing that...

That's... not normal. I would talk to your doctor, and maybe something needs to be done about your medicine (changed up). If you take medicine for those conditions, that is. I would talk to your doctor asap.

[chrissy-b]

Is it only considered trichotillomania if you actually pull the hair strands out of your head? In the last 10 months I have developed a new bad habit of pulling my hair, but not pulling it out completely. I will just pull a small chunk of hair (like maybe 30 strands) and tug on it, over and over all day. It's always in the same spot, on the top of my head.

I know what started it; I did a protein treatment last winter after my hair had become damaged from bleach, but I think I overdid it, because me hair got super crunchy and grabby and would tangle like crazy after that, especially in this one part on top of my head. So I started pulling that hair and combing through it with my fingers non-stop all day because it bothered me so much.

Now I have chopped all those damaged parts off and it is no longer crunchy or grabby/tangled, but I can't stop pulling that same hair anyway. Now it's just like I'm doing it out of habit! I think I probably pull that same part of hair 100+ times a day, but it could be way more and that I do it without even thinking about it. I am diagnosed with ADHD and OCD, so it might also be connected to that as well. Anyone have any ideas how to stop? I have already tried wearing my hair up all the time, which helped a little, but I want to be able to have my hair down without doing that...

That definitely sounds like trich. Many people start that way (finding the texture of certain hairs different -- coarser or kinkier than others) and then become unable to stop fiddling. I fiddled for a long time before I started pulling. And I disagree with lapushka -- it IS normal for those of us who have trich and unfortunately, medication does not help most people. I would still discuss options with your doctor, though. The only way I know that is even remotely successful in helping us stop is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Habit Reversal Training. You can also try fidget toys to keep your hands occupied (I like Tangles personally). HTH

[Amelia777]

I have a friend who suffer from Trichotillomania. She was prescribed with the pills, but I read about their side effects (here canadapharmacy.com helps me a lot) and suggested her looking for the alternative ways of treatment. So, I'm glad that I've found this thread. Thanks for sharing your experience!

[enting]

That definitely sounds like trich. Many people start that way (finding the texture of certain hairs different -- coarser or kinkier than others) and then become unable to stop fiddling. I fiddled for a long time before I started pulling. And I disagree with lapushka -- it IS normal for those of us who have trich and unfortunately, medication does not help most people. I would still discuss options with your doctor, though. The only way I know that is even remotely successful in helping us stop is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or Habit Reversal Training. You can also try fidget toys to keep your hands occupied (I like Tangles personally). HTH

Agreed, it does sound like trich. Any number of types of behaviors can be correlated and have been written about in this thread, such as pulling, tugging, twirling, ripping, you name it. I wouldn't armchair diagnose, but it does sound suspiciously correct. Texture of hair is a very common initial trigger. My initial trigger was probably a skin issue, so I don't have the diagnosis, but I have a lot of overlapping behaviors.

I'm also going to agree with Lapushka, though, as I see both comments to lead to the same conclusion. If it's normal for someone *with* trich, it is *not* normal for someone that doesn't have trich. Both statements lead toward suggesting that it is trich or a similarly problematic behavior.

I have a friend who suffer from Trichotillomania. She was prescribed with the pills, but I read about their side effects (here canadapharmacy.com helps me a lot) and suggested her looking for the alternative ways of treatment. So, I'm glad that I've found this thread. Thanks for sharing your experience!

I'm glad you can help your friend with suggestions you might find here. However, if she was prescribed pills that work for her, I'd be very hesitant to encourage her to search for something alternative in place of them. The suggestions here could supplement her medication, certainly. She should be aware of any side effects of her prescription and discuss them with her doctor, but most medications have a whole slew of side effects written, not all of which does someone actually experience. If she herself wants to find alternatives rather than take the prescription, I also understand.

Update on me: I've had a terrible week of pulling all over the place and probably ruined my hairline. I slathered goop all over my head last night, wrapped it up in a scarf, and washed it all out today in the hopes that it will "reset" my need to pick at everything.

Of course since I didn't pull at all today, I had to have some hair grabbed and ripped out by a tree in the front yard. Sigh.

I am determined to stay "good" tomorrow. Please let this work.

[lithostoic]

Still gradually getting better. I generally only touch my eyelashes when washing my face. Last time I pulled was a week ago and I caught myself after like 3 eyelashes. I'm glad that even in periods of high stress I'm not as bad as I used to be.

[lapushka]

I'm glad you can help your friend with suggestions you might find here. However, if she was prescribed pills that work for her, I'd be very hesitant to encourage her to search for something alternative in place of them. The suggestions here could supplement her medication, certainly. She should be aware of any side effects of her prescription and discuss them with her doctor, but most medications have a whole slew of side effects written, not all of which does someone actually experience. If she herself wants to find alternatives rather than take the prescription, I also understand.

Update on me: I've had a terrible week of pulling all over the place and probably ruined my hairline. I slathered goop all over my head last night, wrapped it up in a scarf, and washed it all out today in the hopes that it will "reset" my need to pick at everything.

Of course since I didn't pull at all today, I had to have some hair grabbed and ripped out by a tree in the front yard. Sigh.

I am determined to stay "good" tomorrow. Please let this work.

I agree with that 100% ^^ Don't mess with the doctor-patient relationship!

I have seen you post about pills and side-effects (for allergy?) in another thread and discouraging people from taking medication that was prescribed to them by a physician can be more dangerous than "possible" side-effects.

Any pill has side-effects. They are just stated on the leaflet or bottle for legal reasons more than anything. Yes they could occur, but it serves more as "something to look out for should it happen". So you are warned.

Please be careful with that!

[Death-Within-Me]

Hello. This is me. I don't know when I started developing this but it was definitely recent.
It's especially bad when I'm bored and my hair's freshly washed so the coarseys stick out even more.

I constantly have to put my hair up or my fingers will start to itch and so will my scalp. My strands are fine for the most part but I'm starting to develope a lot of wiry, coarse hairs for some reason. My harmones are out of wack? Or my body's just changing due to age, but the wiry, coarse hairs are increasing and I have this furious urge to pluck all of them out for the satisfaction.

I don't want to be bald or stunt my growth. :/

[fieldsofflowers]

Hello everyone! I know there are quite a few of us here who suffer from trichotillomania, and I have seen this idea used on other forums and groups and I thought perhaps it might be helpful to have one here for us long hairs. You can post about your progress or your pull free day streaks, or just some enouragement for yourself or others if you need it. For me personally, things like this have helped some in the past and I thought that perhaps it could help someone else. Happy growing everyone!

[ArienEllariel]

This sounds great! I unfortunately pulled a few hairs today. But. Not as many as a couple days ago so that's progress in my book!

[wo]

I had a bad case of trichotillomania from age 10 to 24. Lots of short hair to start over after very big bald patches. I tried crafts to keep my hands busy, and wearing gloves, and sheer determination and nothing worked until I found LHC and decided to make it a project to have the best and longest hair I could have and I can't believe it but I haven't pulled a single head hair out in 6 years! I redirected it to my eyebrows but I got "powder brows" (semi permanent tattoo brows) to fix that.


(Oops posted too soon on accident.) Anyway I'm not saying that would work for anyone else! I can't even believe it worked for me! I'm just saying that for some reason the mental shift of focusing on my hair obsessively but in a GOOD way, worked for me. Whereas all the efforts to just ignore it never did. Also search and destroy was a great substitute for pulling, back when it was still a strong urge. I still got to find "bad hairs" and fix them, but in a healthy way.