Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling) Support Group
Impulsive control disorder is the inability to resist an urge, temptation, or impulse, even when it may cause negative effects to the self or to others. If you or a loved one suffers from impulsive contorl disorder, join the community to find support and share your challenges with others who know what you're going through.
Definitely WORTH A TRY!!!!!
Nutrition and TTM (John writes)
Seven years ago, by keeping careful records of what I ate, I noticed that
certain foods tended to increase my urges to pull. By avoiding those foods, I
began what is now a seven year remission: no urges, and no hairpulling.
Numerous experiments, some even with my dog who had a problem with compulsive
paw licking, confirmed that some foods were "bad", meaning that they increased
hairpulling urges and sometimes increased an itchy "this hair is out of place"
feeling. I wrote in a previous issue of InTouch four years ago about some of
these experiments.
Since then, based in part on written and email reports from other pullers, the
list of "good" and "bad" foods and of other food-related techniques has been
refined, Over 100 people,
including about a dozen children and adolescents, and several dogs, have
reported or have been reported as obtaining from "good" to "total" relief, for
a week to years, using some or all of these techniques. At
the same time, the number of people reporting increased urges and hairpulling
after eating "bad" foods has been so numerous (on the order of several
hundred) that I have stopped keeping track of them, even electronically.
About one-half of pullers who reponded to
the polls do experience strong hairpulling reactions to one or more of sugar,
caffeine, cola and/or chocolate, egg yolks, legumes (peanuts, mostly), or
fatty fish (tuna, mostly). First preceded by an growing internal feeling of
agitation, the hairpulling urges begin increasing a few hours after eating
sugar or caffeine, or about one to two days after eating the others. The
increased urges usually peak after about twice that amount of time. Often
these urges, particularly the ones due to egg yolk and legumes, take as much
as a week to fully subside down to their usual level. Although stress
aggravates such food-related pulling, it is not necessary for it: after "bad"
foods, people report they pull regardless of their mental state.
The polls have indicated, however, that scalp and/or body pullers seem to
differ somewhat from lash and/or brow pullers. Scalp and/or body pullers seem
to be food-sensitive to the extent that their hairpulling is worse during
Premenstrual Syndrome ("PMS")--which tends to be experienced as increased
depression--and to the extent that they "trance out" while hairpulling. Lash
and/or brow pullers, however, seem less food-sensitive and more business-like
in their hairpulling. Their PMS tends to be experienced as irritation, and
their hairpulling is more focused; further, their hairpulling may be more
related to the eating and drinking of vitamin-D enriched dairy products. But
both kinds of pullers in general tend to be far more likely than average to
have allergies, to have sweet tooths, and to have an unexpectedly extensive
experience of being around furry pets. Most surprisingly, the polls indicate
that pullers tend to have an unusually high number of "trichy" dogs and cats.
If people are interested in seeing if their hairpulling is food-related, there
is a simple test: they should simply eat as many peanut M&Ms or Reese's peanut
butter cups as they can stand at one sitting (sugar! chocolate! legumes!),
washing them down with Coca-Cola (cola! caffeine! more sugar! or aspartame,
which is just as bad!). Alternatively, especially for children, it could be
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chocolate milk. If in two days there
is a noticeable increase in hairpulling urges, then they could consider
abstaining from "bad" foods. Unfortunately, it appears to take from 30 to 40
days to purge the gut and skin of their bad effects fully, and it also seems
to take several attempts and about a year of trying for most pullers to get
there. People report that avoiding sugar and caffeine, which act more
quickly, is the most rewarding way to start.
The "bad" food list given above reflects the worst experiences of many people,
but it is not complete. The full list is available on written request (it's
too long to explain here). It includes, among other things, concentrated
natural sugars, tomato seeds, soy products, yams, MSG, and ibuprofen.
However, there are a few "good" foods, which partially counteract the "bad"
ones. They include garlic, most acidic fruits, dry red wine, unsweetened
yogurt, and a chemical family called gluconates.
Nutrition and TTM (John writes)
Seven years ago, by keeping careful records of what I ate, I noticed that
certain foods tended to increase my urges to pull. By avoiding those foods, I
began what is now a seven year remission: no urges, and no hairpulling.
Numerous experiments, some even with my dog who had a problem with compulsive
paw licking, confirmed that some foods were "bad", meaning that they increased
hairpulling urges and sometimes increased an itchy "this hair is out of place"
feeling. I wrote in a previous issue of InTouch four years ago about some of
these experiments.
Since then, based in part on written and email reports from other pullers, the
list of "good" and "bad" foods and of other food-related techniques has been
refined, Over 100 people,
including about a dozen children and adolescents, and several dogs, have
reported or have been reported as obtaining from "good" to "total" relief, for
a week to years, using some or all of these techniques. At
the same time, the number of people reporting increased urges and hairpulling
after eating "bad" foods has been so numerous (on the order of several
hundred) that I have stopped keeping track of them, even electronically.
About one-half of pullers who reponded to
the polls do experience strong hairpulling reactions to one or more of sugar,
caffeine, cola and/or chocolate, egg yolks, legumes (peanuts, mostly), or
fatty fish (tuna, mostly). First preceded by an growing internal feeling of
agitation, the hairpulling urges begin increasing a few hours after eating
sugar or caffeine, or about one to two days after eating the others. The
increased urges usually peak after about twice that amount of time. Often
these urges, particularly the ones due to egg yolk and legumes, take as much
as a week to fully subside down to their usual level. Although stress
aggravates such food-related pulling, it is not necessary for it: after "bad"
foods, people report they pull regardless of their mental state.
The polls have indicated, however, that scalp and/or body pullers seem to
differ somewhat from lash and/or brow pullers. Scalp and/or body pullers seem
to be food-sensitive to the extent that their hairpulling is worse during
Premenstrual Syndrome ("PMS")--which tends to be experienced as increased
depression--and to the extent that they "trance out" while hairpulling. Lash
and/or brow pullers, however, seem less food-sensitive and more business-like
in their hairpulling. Their PMS tends to be experienced as irritation, and
their hairpulling is more focused; further, their hairpulling may be more
related to the eating and drinking of vitamin-D enriched dairy products. But
both kinds of pullers in general tend to be far more likely than average to
have allergies, to have sweet tooths, and to have an unexpectedly extensive
experience of being around furry pets. Most surprisingly, the polls indicate
that pullers tend to have an unusually high number of "trichy" dogs and cats.
If people are interested in seeing if their hairpulling is food-related, there
is a simple test: they should simply eat as many peanut M&Ms or Reese's peanut
butter cups as they can stand at one sitting (sugar! chocolate! legumes!),
washing them down with Coca-Cola (cola! caffeine! more sugar! or aspartame,
which is just as bad!). Alternatively, especially for children, it could be
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with chocolate milk. If in two days there
is a noticeable increase in hairpulling urges, then they could consider
abstaining from "bad" foods. Unfortunately, it appears to take from 30 to 40
days to purge the gut and skin of their bad effects fully, and it also seems
to take several attempts and about a year of trying for most pullers to get
there. People report that avoiding sugar and caffeine, which act more
quickly, is the most rewarding way to start.
The "bad" food list given above reflects the worst experiences of many people,
but it is not complete. The full list is available on written request (it's
too long to explain here). It includes, among other things, concentrated
natural sugars, tomato seeds, soy products, yams, MSG, and ibuprofen.
However, there are a few "good" foods, which partially counteract the "bad"
ones. They include garlic, most acidic fruits, dry red wine, unsweetened
yogurt, and a chemical family called gluconates.
http://home.intekom.com/jly2/ttmdiet.htm
The John Kender Diet
Here is the list:
Bad foods - stay away! (It usually takes 3-4 days to show an effect, except sugar which can cause urges from half to 1 day)
Sugar (Refined sugars, honey, molasses)
Eggs (Yolk, white is ok)
Peanuts (and some other nuts)
Legumes (Beans and bean products, peas, soy, lentils, liquorice)
Butter (Margarine ok, if not made from soy)
Shellfish
Organ meats (liver, kidneys)
Caffeine
Nutrasweet (a trigger for a lot of people, I seem to be ok with it)
Raisins (definite trigger for me - even just a handful)
Grapes and watermelon (for me it is a trigger, don't know about others) Tomato seeds (this is a new one - normal tomatoes and tomato sauce seems to be ok, but John had very bad urges when he ate things like salsa which had a concentration of tomato seeds. Be careful!)
Good foods: (to help a bit with the urges)
Allicins(Onion, Garlic)
Tannins(Unsweetened tea,Cheap dry red wine)
Yogurt(unsweetened)
Tropical fruits(Pineapple, kiwi fruit, papaya, guava, mangoes)
Please note that you have to give the diet a chance - at least a month before you decide that it doesn't work.More detailed info on Nannette's site. If you have more queries on the diet, please contact John Kender
John Kender (a TTM sufferer) has developed a diet which has kept him pull free for 6 years already! This diet has not been scientifically tested or proven, but many, many TTM sufferers have tried this diet and have found it to help tremendously. It is no magic cure, and unfortunately does not work for everyone, but if it works for you.................it is wonderful! I have been on the diet since Sept 1996 and it has been many months (going for many years) of being virtually pull-free and urge-free! I can recommend it for everyone to try!As with most things concerning TTM, the diet is a very personal thing. What works for some, doest always work for others. You have to find your own personal diet. I, for instance, do not have a problem with aspartame, but had a huge problem with raisins, which was not on the original diet. Being on the diet is not always easy, but once you start getting results, it really encourages you to stay on it. Good luck to all trying it - may you all have wonderful success with it.
In Johns words: "In general, my hypothesis is that it may be that people inclined to TTM have a natural biochemistry irreversibly inclined towards certain allergic reactions. They are allergic to a normal yeast (Malessizia sp.) that is found in the skin and gut of virtually everyone, but they react to it with itching and irritation and a need to remove the allergen. "There are therefore bad foods, and good foods. Bad foods cause an increase in hair-pulling 1.5 to 2 days after ingestion, peak around day 3 or 4 and take about a week to get back to whatever is the usual amount of discomfort. The exception (sugar), has a more rapid effect, much less that 0.5 day, but also a more rapid decline, about 2 days to baseline. It seems to take about one month of abstinence from bad foods to flush out TTM symptoms entirely, so be patient, and try to perservere. Good foods seem to have a positive effect on mood and control within 0.5 days, but wear off in about 1 day, unless repeated. Yogurt, however, seems to take longer to work, about a week, but is longer lasting, about 3 days. In general, the bad overpowers the good, unfortunately.
From a practical point, here is what helped me.
Originally, I made sure that I always had something to eat. I took large amounts of food to work, so that I could nibble continuously. Especially in the beginning, I made sure that I always had artificially sweetened yogurt in the fridge. I was continually eating yogurt - when others ate cakes etc, I ate yogurt.
Substitution - that was the answer for me as well. Seeing myself as a diabetic, I realised how many sugar-free foods are available. Here I have to mention that aspartame does not affect me, so I can use artificially sweetened foods, Nutra-sweet in my coffee etc. Here is a few things that I found very helpful: Sucrose-free slabs of chocolate (I experimented first to see how much I could eat at a time, without being affected). I always have some in the fridge. You also get sugar free cookies, instant pudding, ice-cream, hot chocolate drink, fizzy drinks etc. Shop around! I found that some sugar free chocolates did affect me because it is made from fructose. Be careful of too much fructose. The reason they use it, is because it is 10 time sweeter than sucrose, therefore they can use much less. Be careful! I bought a bit of fructose (it looks like normal sugar, get it in health stores), for times when I really need to put sugar over things (like pancakes etc). I am still very careful on how much I use of that.
I started eating fruit - something I never ate! I eat at least 2 - 3 fruits a day. Usually a banana, apple and something else, or another banana. (didn't know about potassium when I started the diet - I just like banana more than other fruit). Eating this amount of fruit daily, definitely helped (over a period), to satisfy my body's need for sugar. Be very careful of grapes and watermelon - it has a lot of fructose in it.
I bought caffeine free coffee. Fortunately I'm not much of a coffee drinker. Be aware of tea - it contains more caffeine than coffee!! Also don't drink Coke or diet Coke, rather TAB, which is caffeine free. Check your medicine labels - lots of pills contain caffeine. I had a huge problem once when I drank a 'wake-up' pill. I didn't know that it contained one ingredient only - 150mg of caffeine! I had terrible urges without knowing why!
I had lots of dried fruit in the house, on which I nibbled. Do be very careful though. Raisins and dates are deadly, because of the amounts of fructose in it. I had urges from eating it.
I was never much of an egg eater. So when we eat something like chips, steak and eggs, I just eat more chips and leave the eggs. Originally I didn't eat anything containing eggs. Later I experimented and could eat pancakes, if the whole batch of dough contained one egg. (I mix fructose and cinnamon to put on top).
We get frozen mixed veggies here - I switched to another brand which doesn't have peas in it.
I checked the labels of EVERYTHING that I ate. Tomato sause, porridge (like Poast Toasties), sauses, packets of soup etc. Literally everything. One good thing to know is that the first ingredient specified on the label, is what is the most in the tin/box etc. The last specified ingredient is the least of the ingredients. (This tip I got from a diabetic support group). If sugar is the 5th ingredient or less, it should be save for us to consume as well. Usually the amount in the tin/box is then very small.
Since this is a frequent request, here's my thoughts on it.
The role of sugar seems to be very important, and the response to sugar seems to be much quicker than that of the other foods. So, I would suggest as a first step eliminating as much sugar as possible.
People should see some effects as early (I am told) as two to three days, but I would give it at least 10 days to see if it makes urges less.
If people note positive benefits of reduced sugar (which would include chococlate and various soft drinks), then probably the next thing to tackle would be caffeine. Tapering off caffeine has to be done
gradually, or else people get caffeine-bound headaches. This would take at least a week or so; again 10 days would be a fair trial.
At any time, people can then try elminiating egg yolks (whites are OK) and/or peanuts. These two "real" foods (sugar and caffeine are more like refineid chemicals) seem to generate the strongest response to
many people. Purging the body of the effects of these foods appears to be slower, however, with 10 days necessary to see progress, and about 30 to be convinced of the worth of eliminating them. I think this has to do with the lipids (fats and sterols) that both have in abundance, and with how long it takes the body to cycle through its fat reserves.
After that, the rest is relatively easy--but that's not really saying much, given how hard even sugar is to eliminate. Most people seem to have to make several on-and-off attempts over several months before
doing a diet starts being an acceptable part of their lives. There is a fair amount of resentment at being restricted that people seem to have to work through. I'm sorry about that; yes, it is unfair and hard. But so is trich.
Then a few weeks ago I started drinking coffee with cream and sugar (or honey) because of late-night driving. Now I realize that coincides with my relapse in hair-pulling!
About ALCAT: https://www.alcat.com/aboutus.php
This is the specific test we order. The price listed online is the price it would be if you ordered it yourself. If you go through a Doctor that supplies the test it could be a lot less expensive. https://www.alcat.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=4&zenid=69f21dd49c28dd10d18cf767fa14e023
So I am going to try to cut out the stuff on the bad list, and see if that helps to stop the itching scalp and the urge to pull.
http://www.trichotillomania.co.uk/trichotillomania_research/JK.htm