Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling) Support Group

Hi Cate, I'm pretty new to the group as well. I've been a scalp puller for 20 years and have the run through a fair number of meds and therapists. The most repsonsive in therapy I've been is during cognitive behavioral therapy. I fully believe because this type of therapy MAKES you look at every action and makes you accountable for that action.

As far as meds? I think that a real pot shot for anyone. I got really good results from Prozac for a while then it stopped working. Currently this is medication regimine:

Effexor XR
Klonopin
Daily Muliti-Vitamin
Daily Vitamin w/ 3000mcg of Biotin

I've also started doing daily scalp therapy treatments. I don't think this helps you stop or increases your hair growth, but I fully believe that it will make sure what growth you do have is as healthy as you can make it.

Don't know if any of this helps you but I suppose to much information never hurt.

Currently 18 days pull free :)

Congratulations! What is the reason for the Biotin?

Biotin is a supplement that promotes healthy nail and hair growth. My doc wanted me to start taking it.

I wanted to invite both of you to come down to the discussion area and look around and read the posts. We also have a Group called Beating Trich and we have a lot of members that have managed to become pull free for weeks and some up to months now.

If the meds work that is great but be careful some have been known to make some ppl pull more. A kind of allergic reaction I suppose.

From what I have read, Anafranil has shown some success. Several SSRI's have been studied. Zoloft and Xanax combined have shown promise. Even lithium helped some folks. The reality is, that it is totally a trial/error process because each person is difference and responds differently to medications. Prozac, for example, helps some, but shows no response in others. It will take probably 6 wks. before you know if it helps you. If not, then move on to another.

Xanax be very very cautious with this one. It is highly additive. Ppl end up hooked on this one and have needed rehab to get off it. IF you try it ONLY take as prescribed.

Prozac and Zoloft are anti-depressants.

Lithium is a mood stabilizer and if you don't need it for a mood disorder I warn you away. I has to be closely monitored with reg blood tests or it can damage your thyroid, kidneys and liver. I was on it and had to stop it as it damaged my thyroid and I had to take another med to fix that plus another side effect of it is weight gain. I put on 70 lbs!!!

As you can see dealing with my BP and other issues I've learned about meds. I've not taken the Xanax but I've known ppl that have and have heard enough horror stories to know I don't want it.

Bottom line is like Knitting said it's a trial and error. But education yourself before putting something in your body. If the Dr. suggests something tell them you will think about it then research it before you agree to take it. Saves you money on getting script filled.

Here's a great link to look up meds:

http://www.drugs.com/pdr/

About 20 years ago, I was on a combination of Xanax and tofranil and that helped for a while and then seemed to lose effectiveness. Of everything I have taken since, that seemed to help the most but didn't last. I've been taking Lexipro for about 6 months and that helped with my depression but not so much with anxiety. My doc just added 300mg of Neurontin a little over a week ago and it seems to be taking the edge off the anxiety, so we'll see. I'll post if it seems to help longer.

Thank you guys for all the great info! The funny/sad thing is that you guys are more educated about trich than most "psychiatrists" I've dealt with over the years. One of these days we'll figure out why we do this to ourselves. Until then, thanks for the support.

Yeah the overwhelming evidence is that medication is mixed for trich. For a small percentage of people, medications (usually SSRIs- which are a class of antidepressants) lessen or eliminate urges(eliminate for a very small percent). Many pf the people who take meds and have success, report that the meds stop working after a while. And as craychick said some people find that their urges get worse on certain meds.

I think the key is to be very careful when dealing with psychiatrists. There are some very good ones, but there are also many who get funded/freebies/etc. from certain drug companies and are more likely to prescribe one drug over another. Another potential pitfall with some psychiatrists is that they dont have a set medication regimin for trich right now, so they will basically try anything and this can include drugs that are addictive or have numerous other negative side effects.

If you do go the med route, try to also have a psychologist or clinical social worker that you see, this will give you an educated perspective on the meds you ae prescribed and a sounding board that will help you identify any concerns you have about the meds you take.

Good luck.

What everyone is saying about people having different reactions to meds and lessening effects to meds you're on for any length of time is so true.

I spent some years on and off of Prozac and it helped tremendously for some time, then it stopped working and actually started to make it worse. As I stated in my last post I was on Effexor XR and Klonopin. Well, the Effexor has stopped helping and we're doing another switch up. I'm so tired of switching meds.

The new one I'm going to be trying is called Pristiq. It's a NSRI like Effexor, but supposedly better. Makes me a little nervous because it just became available this month and I'll be the first patient my doc is prescribing it for, but we'll see.