Thanks Mid! I am!

Thanks RaeBax, I'm definitely going to try to keep going as long as I can :)

Woo Phoebe, yep, going to be a happy fifth month pf :)

119 days pull free... Woooooooooooo!

Good luck throughout your 5th month! You can do this! =)

Sam!!
I missed you. I see you are 119 days pull free. That is absolutely fabulous!! I will read your posts as soon as I get my stupid internet fixed. AARRRGGHHHH!!!

HUGS

xoxo

Missed you too! As I have already stated all over the place haha. Yes indeedy, 4 months PULL FREE today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All is well. Except for money. Well who doesn't have that issue. Ugh need more money for my upcoming trip..

Thanks 4everfree!!! :) I can I can I can I can.

This is my journal entry from today.. Thought I'd post it here too.

4 months WOWEEEEEEE

It's still hard.

I still struggle almost daily.

I'm only at the beginning.

I'm scared of starting pulling again every time. I constantly read about people who start pulling again after being pf for 5 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, and they don't know why they started again. I am SO SCARED of that happening to me.

I love not pulling. I feel such a sense of accomplishment. I have achieved something.
My hair is growing sooo much. I am already envisioning new hair styles. I try not to, just in case, but it's hard.

I am determined, but wary and scared. I must continue to work on my recovery. I think I should see a therapist, either CBT, or just to work through my trich. Or both preferably.
HANDS DOWN.

:)

I don't know what to say to help you beat the fear of pulling.
I know that this support group gave me the trust, support, encouragement to keep asking questions in my journal to help me get past the physical urge of pulling. The mental part is taking just as much effort daily, so I know what you are saying. Stay strong! You can do this!
I'm proud of you to look at new hair styles, yea! Good for you!
Thrilling to make it four months! Yes!
Hands down, keep them busy!

Crap!!!!! I lost this post TOO!!!

I'll do it again in bits:

You are one of the most pro-active PF-er here. I have learned so much from you. I don't think you will pull, but if you do, you will just keep coming back and we will lift you up. Yes, we are only in the early stages of recovery. Stay humble, and you will win.

I got up to over 100 days & I pulled. Just one. Knowing what I know now, I'd forgive that one pull, and carry on. I think one slip-up every 50 days can be allowed, if absolutely necessary. I reset my count, and then pulled some more. I think I had figured that WTF, I'd wrecked my PF anyway.... Not the way to go.

Since then, I've learned to stop at one. I've had a couple of difficult sessions, but I make a point to keep coming back. It has never been as bad as it was before. For the most part, I go for a week, pull a couple of hairs, start over. It is frustrating, but it isn't the end of the world.

It is better to be totally PF. We are all striving for this. It is thrilling to have a lot of days in your PF. I hope I can get up there again, this time. Don't let that become a thing unto itself, however. It can be stressful. If you falter, swallow your pride & jump back on the horse.

Again, however, I don't think you need to worry. You are doing so well, and have such a great attitude.

Hmmmmm - a cute little pixie cut????

Thank you Mid :) Support and journalling daily really really helps, I could never calculate how much.

Ha oh no Phoebe! It's so annoying when that happens. Thank you so much for your reply. It really reassured me and calmed me. What you said is so true, we can't let one send us into despair and create a snowball effect. I will try to remember that. I think that will be the true test for me though, if I have a slip up, how will I react? I'm trying to train myself to respond as you have suggested.

I was actually thinking about a pixie cut, but the thing is, if I do have a slip up, or relapse, or whatever you want to call it, there will be no way to hide the damage. But if I have long hair, i's easy to hide the damage by wearing a bun and a headband. So I don't think I could ever cut my hair short, for that reason. Hmm. Maybe not for a while at least.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you again :) You are so strong and you help keep me going. Your progress is inspiring.

yeah phoebe is right- you're always on top of your urges, and that's really the best/only thing you can do!
and if you do pull, then so what? you can always start again! and you've done SO well so far, so you'll always have the knowledge that you can go FOUR MONTHS without pulling! and if you can do it once, you can do it again!

stay strong! congrats on being PF for so long!
xxx

Thanks firante :) I try to have that attitude, I think it's the thought of "starting over" that kills me. So if I ever do slip up I think I won't start over again, I'll just continue on, but with an "injury" or whatever. It would be so depressing to start over. This is the start of my recovery, no starting again.

Hmmmm blah blah!

121 days pf

I am going to add my two cents worth here and say that we do not start over with one day, we just make allowances that we are stopping, which is our long-term goal.
You're doing wonderful with the stopping, which is so, so difficult to do.
Congratulations on 121 days! Hurrah!

It isn't starting over, it is just a new phase in your recovery. If you do falter, you learn a lot about your process. "nuff said about that!! You are going strong. Keep doing what you are doing, and focus on your success!!!

HUGS!!!!!!!

122 days pf. Thanks everyone, I know what you're saying is true. Xxxx it's such lovely sunny day here, yay!