I think maybe it's my anxiety that's a big trigger. Just generalised anxiety that pops up frequently (generally quite mildly) every day. Gah, I wish more was known about trich.

Yep, that mild generalized anxiety is a real pain in the scalp, hands, and brain. It tricks us.

The one thing that keeps me going is moving my hands, feet in a pattern to put me back in the moment so I can focus.

Hurrah for the success! That's awesome to have brought your improvement so far!

That is great that you are fitting so much self care into your routine. It's important to be consistent with it. Sounds like a great way to cope with the anxiety!

Thank you mid! Thank you Manda! :) :)

Well, I'm ashamed to report that my pms took me by surprise yet again! And I've experienced almost a week of intense, focused pulling. I didn't wear barriers (tsk tsk).

Ahh. Alrighty, barriers today.

Hm, didn't wear barriers today. No/minimal urges in the morning so I thought I'd hold off on applying them. The my urges increased throughout the day, and I just didn't put them on. Busy/lazy/embarrassed/wanted to pull. I don't know how to describe that feeling when I'm experiencing these stronger urges. I think it's anxiety. Subtle background anxiety that's quietly screaming in the background. Anyone care to comment on this? And their experiences?

Yep. I can totally relate to what you're saying. This is the worse part of coping with anxiety and trich together. Not doing anything to put barriers in place is making a decision, and it's difficult to say whether this lessens the anxiety in the moment, or distracts it, however, it works, just not always the way we want it to.

I feel for you, those urges are decision markers for anxiety levels, all those descriptions are true to trich anxiety form. I will call it trich anxiety because it has a specific trigger and marker with the results of our hands making choices while we deal with the feelings in other ways.

One thing I have noticed, once I wrote it out, it was less deafening noise (subtle background anxiety that quietly screams in tune), and the more I worked through the pattern, the better my normal levels became.

You're not alone in this. Stay strong! You can do this!

Hmm very interesting. Thanks so much. Trich anxiety indeed...

Well the past two days have been successful :) I wore bandaids both days and scored a rating of 2 on Wednesday (5hairs) and a rating of 3 yesterday (8 hairs, my bandaids came off after my post exercise shower in the evening and I didn't reapply).

Bandaids again today! And I must set in place some reminders for when the dreaded pms strikes. I think this is definitely a time when I almost always needs barriers in place.

Hm I wore bandaids yesterday but I still pulled a bit. I got a 5 actually.. (16 hairs). It was part habit part anxiety part urge. Though often I don't even now how to separate those three things..

It was really difficult for me to separate the grazing urge from the itch urge and from the normal urge until I set up the pattern chart. I knew my place of watch is specific, so I looked at other details to help me figure out what happened in what order.

The bandaids working are wonderful. You are noticing the pulls you make with the bandaids on, so that is a positive change in pattern! Hurrah!

Sometimes, as another person put it to me, it may all be a single urge with all three markers involved. So, I looked at one of the times I could not get a grip, and I saw the pattern of all three. So, the thing that set it in motion was something different. It's hard to remember to stay hydrated (and important) and to keep moving, so I make sure to do both of those things when it goes ..., which helps.

Best wishes! You are not alone in this!

In the past week my scores (remember this is a rating from 0-10) have been 2, 3, 5, 6, 3, 6, and 6. 3/7 good days. It's good to look at it that way cause I was feeling pretty shit about my numbers, particularly the 6s.

Thanks mid. You're right, it's often a combination of factors and you can't often pick one definitive cause. Blaaah, that sucks for my analytical mind.

I'm aiming for a pull free day, then 3. That's my big goal. I can do it, but I really need to wear barriers! It might take a few low pulling days before I get a zero, of course.

Ah, being analytical can actually help you figure out the pattern. It took me a while to find the method to do this, had to go in a different direction with my thinking.

You're doing this! Every little success does make a difference! Keep at it, barriers, barriers, barriers... and making time for strenuous activity helps, too!

You have it!

You are doing an awesome job sticking to your method of tracking how much you pull and holding yourself accountable! Use those barriers if you think they'll help you reach your goals!

Hm, I'm not sure about my scores for last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (those three days I said I was going to try to be pull free). I'm gonna say a rating of 4-6 for each day. Saturday, I pulled a lot, a high 6 or even a 7. I had a fantastic day, so guess why I pulled so much. I was reading in the sun all day. If I'd just put barriers on in the morning, that would have helped soooo much. I may have even have been pull free. Barriers!!!!!

I'm constantly analysing, Mid! Too much, I think. And you're so right that every little success adds up.

Thank you Manda. Tracking and barriers are very important tools for me. Thanks for the support! :)

Oh I forgot to finish writing out my scores. So sunday I got a score of 2 (4 hairs), Monday I scored a 4, and yesterday I was puuuuuuuull freeeeeeeeeeeee!