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Kidwithtrich , 28 Mar 2022

Help with 9 year old with Trich- wont stop picking everywhere!

I am desperate for advice. My 9 year old started picking her lashes 2 years ago. She pulled them all off. After about 4 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy she stopped cold turkey. 3 months ago she started pulling her lashes, then brows, and now scalp. She has no lashes, no brows and a big hole on the top of her head. Therapy didn't help this time. She's been on NAc 600mg/day for 1 month with the last 2 weeks having an increase to 1200mg/day. We've tried 4 sessions of hypnotherapy to no avail. As much as I don't want to put her on anti-anxiety meds, I will do it if that will help. She was an extremely happy, healthy child prior to this. Now she has anxiety and cries herself to sleep. PLEASE, I need advice on what's helped for a child. If prescription meds will do it, I'll give them to her in a heartbeat. She wants to stop but can't and is pulling every day. I don't know how to help her. I would greatly appreciate any advice and if anyone who's dealt with this and has had success would be willing to talk to me. I'm desperate.

2 Answers
MamaMe
April 16, 2022

Have you tried inisotol? It is a powder that can be added to water and used throughout the day. There is some research it can help. IMO Nac has to be used for at least six weeks before any results, and even then it only helps for like half the people who take it. My daughter has tried many anti depressants and none helped with trich. In her opinion,, some even made it worse. Anti anxiety meds are not easily prescribed, especially for someone so young. Any are very addictive. It’s a long shot, but I would say find a functional medicine doctor and maybe look into how your daughter’s methylation process is going. (research and read online about this) Also, my daughter found taking minerals/trace minerals helped her at one time.

kateh
September 25, 2022

Hello,

my daughter has been pulling since age 9, she is now 13. We’ve tried habit reversal training, therapy, and medication. The medication has helped a lot with her general anxiety and OCD but not the trich. We are going to try some different meds next month and potentially biofeedback if my daughter is open to that.   

my husband and I are clinical psychologists. We understand the treatments and how to implement them and our daughter continues to suffer. Outside of her trich she’s a happy delightful person though her trich really gets her down.  

I wanted to comment on one thing stated above.  Anti anxiety meds such as Xanax and Ativan can be addictive. However, SSRI medications such as Prozac, Wellbutrin, Celexa, Lexapro etc. are not addictive. They rake about 30 days to build up to a therapeutic level and can be quite effective for people suffering from anxiety and/or depression.

Warmly, Kate

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