Trichotillomania

[smartyjones]

i'll save you the details of why I am asking -- this is not an issue we have dealt with personally -- from those here who have, is trichotillomania something best managed with reminders and prompts to not do it?

 

if you saw a kid with it and other issues, such as sensory needs, high activity, ADHD, itchy skin and scalp, and high intelligence, what would you think?

 

thanks.

[MomWithOCDSon]

I'd think "PANDAS."

[MaryAW]

My daughter had trichotillomania (that went away) one year prior to her PANDAS explosion date. I'd advise whoever's child this is to check their vitamin D level. If it's below 30, I'd supplement to get it up to the 50-80 range recommended by most PANDAS treating doctors. Some speculate that the low D may be the cause of the disorder. I'd also supplement the omega 3s for brain health. We did nudge our daughter and explain to her that she was going to have bald spots if she kept doing what she was doing. I don't know if that helped or it just went away. She had other little PANDAS symptoms here and there before her onset. I'd be very careful!

[SSS]

It's a compulsion (I know you know that) so a reminder not to do it when seeing it works for 5 seconds.

Then they'll start to hide to do it.

My dd developed it at the end of last summer, with skin picking.

She started picking moles or freckles on her body, turned to sore spots, picked again.

I had let her excessively chew Trident gum w/ aspartame all summer,

think it ramped up glutamate in brain.

Did a few weeks of PharmaNac, suppose to counter glutamate,

and the skin picking stopped.

School then started,

and she picked up Impetigo for the first time, on her face no less,

back on antibiotics (we had been off all for quite awhile)

but I wonder if strep entered through healing skin sores,

or was the strep there already? (no outward signs)

She hasn't excessively/ compulsively picked since that episode.