I think there's a cure. Go Science!! I'm reposting here. Spread the word and help others with trich. The Phamaceutical companies won't like this at all.



Here's all the info below, I cut and paste so in case anyone needs the info, so some might be repetitive but please spread the word to help people because I think it's a cure. It's really great if you know of anyone with addictions too or OCD or grooming disorders; I think it cures the whole brain receptor system that has been damaged by trauma.

I felt a difference almost within 3 days but breaking the pulling habit of having my hands in my hair in my favorite spots to pull/habit is the hard part.

I think the majority of the pulling and clawing and picking when I was about two weeks into taking the NAC and finally found a good brand that worked.

It's really hard to find quality amino acids to be really wary of what brand you buy from. I gave up on NAC at first because the first ones I tried for three months didn't work because they weren't good quality and I was only taking 600mg. You have to take 2000 mg a day + for it to work.




NAC (N-Acetyl cysteine) for Trich, It's an amino acid and totally natural for depression. The lady that did my hair extensions told me about it from another client of hers who had trich and it cuts back the pulling (for me) almost 90% better. Almost completely stopped puliing, been on it for 3 months.

The NAC repairs your brain glutamate system (your receptors for reward/dopamine) read in on the NIH website. Like anti-depressants, but only NAC cures & repairs the actual problem.

I finally found a good brand on Amazon called Source Naturals and they also are carried at Whole Foods and a reputable company from Santa Cruz.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036554/

I felt a difference almost within 3 days but breaking the pulling habit of having my hands in my hair in my favorite spots to pull/habit is the hard part.

I think the majority of the pulling and clawing and picking when I was about two weeks into taking the NAC and finally found a good brand that worked.

It's really hard to find quality amino acids to be really wary of what brand you buy from. I gave up on NAC at first because the first ones I tried for three months didn't work because they weren't good quality and I was only taking 600mg. You have to take 2000 mg a day + for it to work.

The only thing that sucks is the 1000 mg ones on Amazon from Source Naturals are big so I pour a little olive oil in my hand and coat the pills with them and slam them with coffee every morning, it's worth it and I hate swallowing pills.

The one at GNC suck and don't work you have to take 2000 mg minimum for it to work and rebuild your receptors; so I think after two months I totally noticed the drastic change in my pulling and overall anxiety, but definitely within a few days I felt much, much better and it got so much better from there.


The clinical trials on the national institute of health's website for Nac have strong positive reviews. It's helped my depression and trich immensely.

Go to amazon and look at the reviews for the source naturals ones; it's a really powerful antioxidant that not only cures ocd and grooming disorders like skin picking and hair pulling, but they think it cures addiction and depression too by calming inflamed brain pathways from trauma or stress. It's helped me immensely and it also detoxes your body from environmental pollutants. Go look at the reviews on amazon. Here is the link to clinical trials and promising results from amino acids http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19581567

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036554/



NAC also detoxes your body from environmental chemicals and over the last 5 months I have slowly weaned myself of Wellbutrin and Celexa with no side effects or brain zaps like last time. I really think this is a new cure on to something for people with OCD and depression, because my meds weren't working for my trich anymore after being on them for 10 years.


Hair
It has drastically cut down on my pulling but it took like two years for my bald spots to really come back and start growing again; after extensions,
but the place where I frequently pull are growing back much, much faster than the bald spots from traction alopecia from extensions.

I'm going to post pictures of my bald spots. I had extenstions to hide the bald spots that did more damage than trich so my hair is growing back faster from the spots where I pulled frequently than the smaller patches from extension damage.

Extensions and weaves do more damage than trich, I promise. I've had trich since I was 8 and now am 40 and my hair from pulling is growing back faster than the damage from wearing extensions and weaves.



Abstract

N-acetyl-cysteine, N-acetylcysteine, N-acetyl cysteine, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine are all designations for the same compound, which is abbreviated as NAC. NAC is a precursor to the amino acid cysteine, which ultimately plays two key metabolic roles. Through its metabolic contribution to glutathione production, cysteine participates in the general antioxidant activities of the body. Through its role as a modulator of the glutamatergic system, cysteine influences the reward-reinforcement pathway. Because of these functions, NAC may exert a therapeutic effect on psychiatric disorders allegedly related to oxidative stress (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) as well as psychiatric syndromes characterized by impulsive/compulsive symptoms (e.g., trichotillomania, pathological nail biting, gambling, substance misuse). While the dosages, pharmacological strategies (monotherapy versus augmentation), and long-term risks are not fully evident, NAC appears to be a promising, relatively low-risk intervention. If so, NAC might be an ideal treatment strategy for a variety of psychiatric conditions in both psychiatric and primary care settings.







I felt a difference almost within 3 days but breaking the pulling habit of having my hands in my hair in my favorite spots to pull is the hard part. I think the majority of the pulling and clawing and picking when I was about two weeks into taking the NAC and finally found a good brand that worked.

The one at GNC suck and don't work you have to take 2000 mg minimum for it to work and rebuild your receptors; so I think after two months I totally noticed the drastic change in my pulling and overall anxiety, but definitely within a few days I felt much, much better and it got so much better from there.

The only thing that sucks is the 1000 mg ones on Amazon from Source Naturals are big so I pour a little olive oil in my hand and coat the pills with them and slam them with coffee every morning, it's worth it and I hate swallowing pills.

NAC also detoxes your body from environmental chemicals and over the last 5 months I have slowly weaned myself of Wellbutrin and Celexa with no side effects or brain zaps like last time. I really think this is a new cure on to something for people with OCD and depression, because my meds weren't working for my trich anymore after being on them for 10 years.

The NAC repairs your brain glutamate system (your receptors for reward/dopamine) read in on the NIH website.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036554/



It has drastically cut down on my pulling but it took like two years for my bald spots to really come back and start growing again; after extensions,
but the place where I frequently pull are growing back much, much faster than the bald spots from traction alopecia from extensions.

I'm going to post pictures of my bald spots. I had extensions to hide the bald spots that did more damage than trich so my hair is growing back faster from the spots where I pulled frequently than the smaller patches from extension damage.

Extensions and weaves do more damage than trich, I promise. I've had trich since I was 8 and now am 40 and my hair from pulling is growing back faster than the damage from wearing extensions and weaves.


The only drawback is big ass horsepills but they aren't super large and if you coat them in a bit of olive oil in your hand; they go down easy. That's the only drawback for me so far and it cured most of my pulling and made me feel so much better so it's worth it.

Please try it, it has cut down on almost all of my pulling.

Hello drttm
I hope you are doing okay. Miss you on the forum. I am trying to check in every day and find that it helps me too, in my efforts to stop pulling.

drttm
Look at you! Going from feeling hopeless to 47 days pf. It has been a few weeks since you have been back here, and I'd like to know more of your story. Working to beat trich is an on-going process. Many of us beat it for awhile, then we slip, and come back to do battle again. The point is to keep trying. University is hard on pullers. Don't be down on yourself, if you have slipped up. Just keep going. Every hair not pulled is a triumph. I developed a technique for myself which has helped me a lot. I call it my ABC's. I will bump it for you.

Wow, 47 days pf is such a huge achievement!! Phoebe wrote "Many of us beat it for awhile, then we slip, and come back to do battle again. The point is to keep trying." YES, THIS.

How's things?

We miss you dr. I sent you and a whole bunch of my friends on here a general message today, imploring them to please come back to the forum on a regular basis, as it really helps not only ourselves, but our fellow members. I am concerned that this forum will die if we do not get more people participating. I don't mean here so much as I do at the general forum. We need more people to post in the general trich forum. I am tired of seeing my name as the only poster or one of the few at the trich forum. I hope you are doing well, and even if you are not doing so great, please come and talk to us. We are here for you xoxo

Hey I don't know if this will be any comfort to you but I'm happy, gave a (relatively) normal family and a loving relationship but I still pull. Honestly for me it's not a symptom of a deeper problem, it's just a problem. I think realising that helped me.

I've had times when I've been pf, over two years in fact and other stretches of over 6 months...but then I start again. It frustrates me but I'm trying more and more to accept and just try to move towards the pf faster! Xx

Hi, I hope you're doing okay. I'm 21 and I've been pulling for over a decade. Though I definitely still struggle, I realized the other day that trich is a CHRONIC problem -- it might never completely go away. So what has helped me recently is the understanding that I don't have to waste all of my energy trying to get rid of my trich. Instead, I should focus on managing my trich, taking it one day at a time. Pulling hairs does not make you a bad person or a failure. It makes you a human with trich, and that's all! Please try and forgive yourself, because I think that's the only way to start getting better.

So much of dealing with trich is about acceptance. I used to try to "get over trich" and thought I could learn to control it. Now I just aim to cope with it, and it doesn't feel like giving up...it feels like having a goal that is actually attainable.