Trichotillomania (Hair Pulling) Support Group

Welcome, I hope the group gives you some support, I know what you mean, when I have pulled nearly all my eyebrows out, I just have to keep going untill I have none left, only ever on one side, and then I look stupid with one eyebrow painted in. I have pulled since I was 12, am now 47 and tend to pull when I am stressed, never seem to do it when I am on holdiay.

Thank you!!!

Hello! I am new too and am very similar to you in that I pull my eyelashes and eyebrows since I was 10 years old. Never told anyone except for my boyfriend whom I live with. I try to encourage him to stop me whenever I start to pull. I get so frustrated with myself when I am done with a pulling episode and I realize the damage I have left behind. I just want to stop and was hoping to find some support on here as it is very difficult for anyone who doesn't do this to understand what it is all about.

Hello Beanspeck!
Isn't it amazing to find a group of people that know exactly what you are going through and understand?!!! I have only shared this with a very few close friends and family members, and I find that they try very hard to be understanding but I can tell they really don't know what to say other than "don't do it".... which makes me feel that much worse about myself.
It seems like there is a lot of great information as well as support on this board. I am very interested to learn more about barriers, and this latisse (sp??) stuff that is supposed to help eyelashes and eyebrows re-grow faster (sometimes I think if I could just get them all back at once I would have an easier time stopping because I would so appreciate it... during the re-growth process I have a hard time if there are patches, etc.) and of course it is just SOOO nice to have one small group where my behavior is like everyone elses, even if we are all trying to beat it.

hey, i completely agree with you - eyelashes and brows are a major area of focus in terms of my trich, and in fact one night i was so stressed that i pulled out ALL of my lashes. in one night!!!
however, recently, i have found my cure: GUM.
sugar-free chewing gum does wonders. i have ADD, so i needed something to do while either bored or stressed (especially when watching romance or drama TV). but with gum, i focus on the gum in my mouth and making patterns rather than touching my lashes. also, twirling a key on a keychain helps too!

hope i helped!
Jo

Hi, I'm new to the group, and I pull mostly my eyelashes and eyebrows, too. I constantly feel bad about myself when I pull, like I let myself down...which makes me feel like pulling more! But I'm trying to stay positive. I'm really happy to find a place to talk to other people about this, because I don't talk to anyone else about it..too embarrassed. I totally think it's worse when they are sparse, maybe because it stresses me out to see myself like this, or also because it feels like they are easier to pull and sometime itchy?

I'm curious to know what has worked in the past for other people. I've gone for a few weeks without pulling, but I always seem to go back to it.

Yes, I agree that the pulling is worse when the brows/lashes are sparse. I am a Latisse user since June 20, 2009. I now have full lashes and brows and I am able to control myself more because I have real hair and because I am using barriers at high risk times. PLUS there is an added benefit I never counted on, the Latisse has made my roots really strong. Even when I touch and attempt to pull in a slip up, it is really hard to pull one out. Like I said the roots are holding on like I have never experienced before in my life. I can remember pulling one eye brow hair out since the Latisse and it hurt like crazy. The area was sore for days and made me never want to do that again. Before the Latisse the hair came out easily and it never really hurt to pull. Look at my pictures posted on this site to see my progress over the months. Having real eye lashes and eye brows has reduced my anxiety big time. My self esteem has soared and I am not afraid to sweat or wet my face in the pool. I'm not afraid to be seen without makeup. I've even gone outside without makeup. I know that the Trich is still in me and that I am at risk everyday, but as time goes on and I see those lashes and brows everyday, I feel stronger and stronger. I feel truly normal for the first time in my life. The Latisse is expensive, but to me it is worth every penny that I have spent on it.

I am new too and this is wonderful having people that know exactly what you are talking about - and about a normal disease - I even thought that if I got cancer I could blame my hair loss on that and no one would think twice about it - as horrible as that is - it seems to be so much harder to deal with the reality of this - good luck