Trichotillomania-worse during pregnancy?

[annaspanner]

Hi
Does anyone else have Trich? Have you found it gets worse during pregnancy and/or after birth? I had mine under control and it just seems to have gone haywire again now I'm pregnant.

[SparklyGothKat]

Hi, mine got really bad after the birth of dd2. I would normally point you in the direction of the trich website but its down atm.

[SparklyGothKat]

lol SS. There has been a huge research project going on at Addenbrooke hospital into Trich, which is shows some great results. I had a brain scan done last week for it (I hope they found mine!!) lol

[annaspanner]

Wow That was quick! Thanks. Actually, I live in Spain and have given up looking for support here-so little is known about it....but I was really freaked out when I noticed how bad it had got about a month back. My dp (boyf?) noticed it for the first time. Now I'm panicking about it getting worse after the birth. How did you deal with it SGK?

[SparklyGothKat]

Does your BF know? I started at 11, and kept it a secret for 13 years. I only told DH the truth 3 years ago. He was ok with it, more upset that I lied to him for 6 years. I deal with it in the same way you possibly do, hiding it, and being ashamed of it. Though I do realise that its made me the person I am today. Even on saturday when I had the brain scan and they wanted me to remove my head band and take my hair down, I freaked out and this was in front of doctors that are researching the disorder..

[SparklyGothKat]

I also found a great hairdresser who deal with trich and had a special system done which covered the patches and gave my hair a chance to recover. It did cost a lot though.

[SparklyGothKat]

you can email me at mieow79 (at) hotmail (dot) com. remove the words and replace them with @ and .

[annaspanner]

Thanks for being so honest SGK. I started at 12 and was ashamed of it til I discovered what it was at 30. That's when I got my first computer and typed 'hair pulling' into Google. Since then I've told most people I know. I spose mine, even at its worst, isn't that noticeable(two patches at the back which I can cover) ...except at the dreaded hairdressers, that's another story. But why does it get worse in pregnancy? Hormones? Have you found any info on this? Is there any treatment on offer in the UK for Trich? I'll try you on your email too-speak soon.