I'm going crazy! My son is ADD... he's been on meds since 2nd grade and does pretty well as long as he's on them. The problem is, every time he is on them he pulls out his eyelashes and eyebrows. It doesn't seem to matter which med... he's been on a billion it seems like... and dose real well for about a week, and then comes home from school one day looking like his entire face was shaved! It makes me feel horrible, so I can only imagine what he feels like. I have tried a stress ball... thinking maybe it would keep his hands busy and give him something to focus on rather than the pulling... no go. I have done some research and found that he does "trans pulling" which litterally means he's in such a deep thought that he has no idea he is doing it. He will actually tell me "I haven't been doing it Mom!". There are times that I have to show him in the mirror that he has pulled them all out that day, and then he gets upset/frustrated and becomes a different kid the rest of the day. He was off the meds all summer (I try not to give them to him when he has a big break from school as I can handle him without them) and didn't have one problem with it. Without the meds when school started, he had 3 f's and 10 tardies in the first two weeks of school. Back on them, he has one D (the rest C or
above) and hasn't had a tardy in 3 weeks.
Has anyone had to deal with this either in a child or themselves? If so... WHAT HELPED??? Its bad enough that he's going through puberty and it's hitting hard so I am hounding him about hygiene (boys smell!!!), acne treatment, etc.
It may be time to see a specialist about OCD. Trichotillomania is a compulsion of not dealing with anxiety well. GL!!
My daughter 13 years old and has Aspberger's syndrome, she also pulled out patched of hair, eyelashes and eyebrows and swearing she didn't do it, she does has a few permanent bald patches in her head about he size of quarters - thank god she has tons of hair and you can't see it. Anyway, instead of medicating, I use a gluten free/casin free diet. Unless she comes into contact with gluten, I would say she's virtually "aspberger" symptom free - she's not "weirder" than any other 13year old - haha. The hair pulling stopped almost immediately with the diet. I know the diet works as well with ADD - if you are interested, let me know, I'd be happy to share with you what I've done and how to start.
I have an adhd kid also. He doesn't pull out his hair. But does have some anxiety issues that come out. So I agree that this hair pulling is probably anxiety. At first I thought it might be the puberty, because I have read that when adhd kids reach puberty, you might have to change meds. But reread your post and see that it started before that. Sorry I can't help you in stopping the hair pulling. I would see your ped and get a referral for a psychatrist or something.
If u can home school do it. Other than that I would try a specialist
If doctors could find a few more letters to come up with they would most definately be medicating every child born.
TAKE HIM TO A REALLY GOOD HOMEOPATH. I know you live in or around Salem and can find one there or in Portland.
Look hard as it has to be someone with 10 years in practice.
Take you son there and he will become an easy to be with well behaved child and a healthy adult.
I gave an answer about my own experience a few weeks ago. I will look for it and send it to you privately.
So it sounds like the UNDERLYING problem isn't the hair pulling, or the add, it's school. Have you considered homeschooling? Or is there an alternative school that will allow your son to succeed without sitting in a desk all day and adhering to rules that apply to "typical" kids? If he is managable without meds all summer, I think he should be managable without meds all fall, winter, and spring too. I understand that this may be an impossible request of a teacher with a classroom full of students and state requirements of what she needs to teach in a certain length of time... but it sounds like this simply isn't the right environment for him if he has to be medicated to even survive there.
