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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Shelley Madryga on September 25, 1999, at 17:53:24
My sister lives in Toronto. She has a 5yr old boy who has been diagnosed as having trichotillomania by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is advising the boy to be put on the drug Prozac. The boy has been doing this for about 3yrs and has has other compulsive habits in the past. Does the drug Prozac an appropriate course to take? Are there any places in Toronto for his mother to contact for further information on this? Is it a chronic habit? Are there other places to look for solutions to trichotillomania?
Thank-you
Any answers would be appreciated.
S. Madryga
Posted by Bob on September 25, 1999, at 19:56:07
In reply to Trichotillomania, posted by Shelley Madryga on September 25, 1999, at 17:53:24
Go to Excite or another search engine, type trichotillomania in, and let it spin. For such a polysyllabic tongue-twister of a word, Excite came up with 843 hits for me. This is the first on the list:
http://members.xoom.com/ets/index.html
Check it out -- it looked promising from my brief examination.
It seems like prozac would be a good call, since its supposed to be effective with OCDs as well. If its not working well enough after three years, tho, looking at other treatments also sounds like a good call.
It does remind me of a close friend of mine from back in high school. She was a very nervous, jittery sort of person and she was always pulling out her hair as well. One thing that seemed to work miracles for her was this teardrop-shaped plastic thing her dad found for her. It was just a little larger than her palm. Whenever she felt the urge to reach for her head, she just started rubbing this teardrop with her hands. It was really easy on her hands, and it didn't seem to wear out the way her hair would! She always had it with her, and it was out most of the time.
For a five year old, that might be a tough call. Having something to keep his hands busy -- he might not remember to use it, and who knows how many opportunities he'll have to lose it. Other kids in his class might pick on him for it, just because its different ... but so is the hair loss. Having mom have a conference with his teacher to talk about this and, if the teacher is too inexperienced to suggest it in the first place, suggest that the teacher talk with the class and explain what it is and how it helps him be well (if it works) may be a good idea as well. Young kids who have these sorts of differences explained to them by an adult --instead of picking up on the adult's avoidance as it being something wierd -- tend to respond really well.
Check out those web resources!
Bob
Posted by jd on September 25, 1999, at 23:20:44
In reply to Trichotillomania, posted by Shelley Madryga on September 25, 1999, at 17:53:24
Hi Shelley,
SSRIs like Prozac have been documented as useful for trichotillomania, though obviously nothing's 100% and prescribing antidepressants to children
remains controversial. If the behavior is severe enough and accompanied by other compulsions then medication may make sense, but make sure the child has a doctor that has experience with these things and is willing to procede slowly and cautiously. Even adults are often prescribed too high a starting dose of meds like Prozac, so you don't want a 5-yr old to overdo it if he is going to take this course. You might want to also inquire whether doctors are prescribing other SSRIs (Zoloft, Paxil, etc.) for pediatric use yet--they can be a little less intense than Prozac for some people.There are a couple other medicine options for trichotillomania too, but understand that--especially for a child--there's still controversy about what the best therapy is, and even whether medicines are necessarily the best way to go.
Good luck,
JD> My sister lives in Toronto. She has a 5yr old boy who has been diagnosed as having trichotillomania by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is advising the boy to be put on the drug Prozac. The boy has been doing this for about 3yrs and has has other compulsive habits in the past. Does the drug Prozac an appropriate course to take? Are there any places in Toronto for his mother to contact for further information on this? Is it a chronic habit? Are there other places to look for solutions to trichotillomania?
> Thank-you
> Any answers would be appreciated.
> S. Madryga
Posted by Janice on September 26, 1999, at 0:19:44
In reply to Re: Trichotillomania, posted by Bob on September 25, 1999, at 19:56:07
Hi Shelley,
I'm from Toronto too (unfortuneately I don't know who would be good to treat trichotillomania there). I have also had trichotillomania since I was 6 years old-almost 30 years now. For me, it was a direct manifestation of my Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I can not keep my body still and if i must be still, then I must pull my hair or ... I can't even imagine it...go insane.
There's a great website about this. I think it's called fairlite. Amazon books has a few titles about it. Usually trichotillomania starts at the youngest age that i've ever heard of at about 6, and females are more likely to get this than males.
The only thing that has ever helped my trichotillomania was running for 1 and 1/2 hours a day, and taking dexedrine for my ADHD.
No anti-depressant ever helped me, most made it worse, but they do help other people. I like what the doctor wants to do, and I think it's fantastic that your sister is taking care of this while he is so young.
Ithink trichotillomania also often comes with other disorders, so I'd keep myself alert to the possibility of them. Good luck. Janice
Posted by Noa on September 26, 1999, at 4:02:01
In reply to Re: Trichotillomania, posted by Janice on September 26, 1999, at 0:19:44
I have heard that relatively high doses of prozac and other SSRIs (starting out gradually, tho) help with trichotillomania, but don't extinguish it altogether. Perhaps once the meds kick in and control it somewhat, some supportive therapy, with some behavioral strategies, such as redirecting the energy (as someone already mentioned) might help. I know a girl who used this combined strategy successfully. For her, wearing a hat helped too. I think it is a hard disorder to treat 100% and requires multiple strategies and a lot of understanding.
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