Aspies For Freedom

I always thought it was a bad habbit like biting my nails or something like that. I consider it a problem, and self-control is the only "cure" known, and it's really, really hard (at least for me).

i banged my head yesterday Sad

i have dried blood on my head.

Its OCD.. I have it.. lack of body retaining the proper amount of seratonin.. I take Lexapro like I take my estrogen patch... both work to repair.. Smile

simple as that.. pluse CBT helps as well... SO many to educate and so little time!

Lili Marlene Wrote:

Duke University has identified two gene "mutations" associated with hair-pulling, a behaviour that is known as "trichotillomania", a rather ridiculous and melodramatic psychiatric term.

http://www.dukemednews.duke.edu/news/art...hp?id=9887

This is relevant to AS and autism because this habit is often associated with autism, even though this article does not mention this association. Perhaps the genes identified are also "autism genes"?

It's an interesting question as to why the association between autism and hair-pulling was consicuously not mentioned in this article. I think the authors deliberately left autism out of the article so as not to alarm people. Autism is a word that seems to provoke hysteria and irrational concern.

These researchers appear to be trying to convince us that it is a bad thing that hair-pulling "often goes undiagnosed and untreated", but when you read the article you find out that "Currently, there is no specific treatment for trichotillomania..."

So what's the point of diagnosing, then? I think these thoughtless boffins just want to identify prosepctive subjects who they can study, with no thought at all for the implications of stigmatizing people, who only have a harmless and inconsequential habit, with a psychiatric label. According to the article up to 5% of the population are (mostly untreated and undiagnosed) hair pullers, but the article makes Trich sound like some major public health menace. To call hair-pulling a mental illness, as this article does, is to grossly trivialize REAL mental illnesses that cause real suffering and many serious problems in the community a large, like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimers and clinical depression.

I think the only practical innovations that may result from this research will be advances in identifying the genes for conditions that go along with trich, such as autism and Tourette's, and possibly also a prenatal test specifically for trichotillomania, that may one day be part of a barrage of many different genetic screening tests that doctors will expect all pregnant women to take during early preganacy. Lili Marlene is a hair-puller from way back. No more Lili Marlenes. Bugger.

Why Lexapro, I wonder? I took Lexapro for 3 months a little over a year ago and I don't remember OCD being on the list of conditions it was prescribed for. Of course, it being an SSRI and some other SSRIs being prescribed for OCD, I can see Lexapro being helpful as well. Still, it being new it's expensive... I used it because I got free samples, but I wouldn't want to pay for the thing myself. Btw, it did nothing for me other than make it impossible to orgasm. It didn't reduce my trich, nor my dysthymia, nor my anxiety.

I'm currently on the generic version of Prozac, which is *cheap*, actually seems to help with my depression and anxiety, but doesn't seem to do anything for my trich, despite OCD being on the list of conditions it's prescribed for. Oh well, I don't worry too much about my trich, it's mostly a cosmetic issue.

Marieke Wrote:

Why Lexapro, I wonder? I took Lexapro for 3 months a little over a year ago and I don't remember OCD being on the list of conditions it was prescribed for. Of course, it being an SSRI and some other SSRIs being prescribed for OCD, I can see Lexapro being helpful as well. Still, it being new it's expensive... I used it because I got free samples, but I wouldn't want to pay for the thing myself. Btw, it did nothing for me other than make it impossible to orgasm. It didn't reduce my trich, nor my dysthymia, nor my anxiety.

I'm currently on the generic version of Prozac, which is *cheap*, actually seems to help with my depression and anxiety, but doesn't seem to do anything for my trich, despite OCD being on the list of conditions it's prescribed for. Oh well, I don't worry too much about my trich, it's mostly a cosmetic issue.

Prozac has too many side effect...Lexpro has far less and is very effective for retaining seratonin... Lack of seratonin is what causes OCD.... Several in my real life OCD support group take Lexapro for OCD... It works.. One has to experiment with what amt of Lexipro they need. we each have different seratonin needs... as I said over 25 % of all aspies have OCD... perhaps more.. we had several OCD people who were not diagnosed till I mentioned my Aspergesr and they learned they were too from their therapists... Same with Aspergers... we had 10 on one day in our aspie support group who had OCD.
What was the amount of Lexapro did you take.. My doctor said most are okay with 10 mg.. I tried also 15 and 20 .. it was too much for me.. but some take up to 40 to solve their OCd challenges along with CBT.... You have to work with your psychiatrist to find the level right for you...

I go off my lexapro when creating art.. my visions.... it seems to interfere with my creative genius.. then I go right back on!... only take a few days to get the image down...and then back on it to control my OCD.. I only need 10 mg.

Lexipro is an SSri... it helps the body not destroy surplus Seratonin. It does not have the side effects of Prosac its sister drug. Lexapro is simply Prosac with the other things removed that are not needed and consequently those are the very elements which cause all the bad side effects of prosac.

Yetti Wrote:

Marieke Wrote:

Why Lexapro, I wonder? I took Lexapro for 3 months a little over a year ago and I don't remember OCD being on the list of conditions it was prescribed for. Of course, it being an SSRI and some other SSRIs being prescribed for OCD, I can see Lexapro being helpful as well. Still, it being new it's expensive... I used it because I got free samples, but I wouldn't want to pay for the thing myself. Btw, it did nothing for me other than make it impossible to orgasm. It didn't reduce my trich, nor my dysthymia, nor my anxiety.

I'm currently on the generic version of Prozac, which is *cheap*, actually seems to help with my depression and anxiety, but doesn't seem to do anything for my trich, despite OCD being on the list of conditions it's prescribed for. Oh well, I don't worry too much about my trich, it's mostly a cosmetic issue.

Iirc I was on 10mg. The different SSRIs all work to increase the amount of serotonin, but they work in slightly different ways (obviously they're all reuptake inhibitors, but there are multiple ways to accomplish this... serotonin is involved in sooooo many brain systems etc... very complicated)... so some might work better for certain people and others better for others. I considered increasing the dosage, but my problems were very mild at the time (I went to the psychiatrist for my social anxiety issues... she diagnosed me with dysthymia and GAD, but those two were so mild at the time I didn't care), and my husband and I wanted kids and SSRIs are not recommended during pregnancy unless you need them, and I didn't feel I did (and I didn't, at the time).

Now I've been taking Prozac for 2 weeks and I know that they say that it tends to take at least 3 weeks for full effects, but I'm pretty sure I was already noticing a positive change really quickly after starting taking it. I'm on 10mg, which is the kiddie-dose (kids 10-60mg, adults 20-80mg), because I'm pregnant. I don't seem to be having any side effects whatsoever. I've read that a lot of adults notice effects at 5 or 10mg though, and the larger the dose the bigger the odds of side effects.

Btw, I'm for CBT, and I think counseling is first choice. Had a lot of counseling in the past though and lately I was just too depressed to even deal with the thought of talking about stuff.

There you go.. I am 56, hysterectomy, no other things except for OCD and Aspergers...and mild hypo manic.. Type A personality. Go by you doctors advice..

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quote=Marieke]
Iirc I was on 10mg. The different SSRIs all work to increase the amount of serotonin, but they work in slightly different ways (obviously they're all reuptake inhibitors, but there are multiple ways to accomplish this... serotonin is involved in sooooo many brain systems etc... very complicated)... so some might work better for certain people and others better for others. I considered increasing the dosage, but my problems were very mild at the time (I went to the psychiatrist for my social anxiety issues... she diagnosed me with dysthymia and GAD, but those two were so mild at the time I didn't care), and my husband and I wanted kids and SSRIs are not recommended during pregnancy unless you need them, and I didn't feel I did (and I didn't, at the time).

Now I've been taking Prozac for 2 weeks and I know that they say that it tends to take at least 3 weeks for full effects, but I'm pretty sure I was already noticing a positive change really quickly after starting taking it. I'm on 10mg, which is the kiddie-dose (kids 10-60mg, adults 20-80mg), because I'm pregnant. I don't seem to be having any side effects whatsoever. I've read that a lot of adults notice effects at 5 or 10mg though, and the larger the dose the bigger the odds of side effects.

Btw, I'm for CBT, and I think counseling is first choice. Had a lot of counseling in the past though and lately I was just too depressed to even deal with the thought of talking about stuff.
[/quote]

Yetti Wrote:

Lexapro is simply Prosac with the other things removed that are not needed and consequently those are the very elements which cause all the bad side effects of prosac.

I wouldn't put it that way... Prozac is one molecule and Lexapro is a different molecule. There are a variety of serotonin receptors etc in the brain, so that both molecules can have different effects. Sadly I haven't taken neuropharmacology yet, so my understanding of the matter is somewhat limited. I know that Lexapro supposedly has fewer side effects than Prozac for a lot of people, and if that applies in your case, cool. I was just asking because a lot of doctors just prescribe the latest drug without thinking about it, even though that means that the patient gets to spend more money while the patient might have been just as well-off with an older, generic drug.

Yetti Wrote:

There you go.. I am 56, hysterectomy, no other things except for OCD and Aspergers...and mild hypo manic.. Type A personality. Go by you doctors advice..

Not sure what you mean...

Yetti Wrote:

Go by you doctors advice..

The psychiatrists my husband and I have dealt with so far are quite pragmatic when it comes to which drug they prescribe. I got Lexapro prescribed to me because they had tons of free samples of that, other than that my psychiatrist didn't care which SSRI to give me. Same reason my husband got the extended release form of Depakote... because of the free samples. He'd had the non-extended release form in the past and was perfectly satisfied with that, but hey, why turn down freebies?

This time Lexapro was still the only antidepressant they had free samples of, and because a) I didn't respond to it in the past and b) Lexapro hasn't been around long enough to know whether it's safe in pregnant women, the psychiatrist and I decided on Prozac, also because of its long half-life. We could've picked another antidepressant, but the tons of research data in pregnant women (when compared to the other SSRIs) and the low cost were the deciding factor. In practise, finding out which SSRI fits which patient best is close to purely a trial-and-error thing... aka, the doctor's advice isn't really worth all that much.

Marieke Wrote:

Yetti Wrote:

Go by you doctors advice..

The psychiatrists my husband and I have dealt with so far are quite pragmatic when it comes to which drug they prescribe. I got Lexapro prescribed to me because they had tons of free samples of that, other than that my psychiatrist didn't care which SSRI to give me. Same reason my husband got the extended release form of Depakote... because of the free samples. He'd had the non-extended release form in the past and was perfectly satisfied with that, but hey, why turn down freebies?

This time Lexapro was still the only antidepressant they had free samples of, and because a) I didn't respond to it in the past and b) Lexapro hasn't been around long enough to know whether it's safe in pregnant women, the psychiatrist and I decided on Prozac, also because of its long half-life. We could've picked another antidepressant, but the tons of research data in pregnant women (when compared to the other SSRIs) and the low cost were the deciding factor. In practise, finding out which SSRI fits which patient best is close to purely a trial-and-error thing... aka, the doctor's advice isn't really worth all that much.

I agree .... My psychiatrist told me to see if I felt I needed more or less. I found the right level for myself.. but for me , as I stated , my age... no pregnancy worries.. it works.. you may want to consider it after child bearing years.... yes its used for OCD and works for many of us! I am 56... The only side effect I have is dry mouth.... so I just drink more h2O Smile

Yetti Wrote:

...you may want to consider it after child bearing years.... yes its used for OCD and works for many of us! I am 56... The only side effect I have is dry mouth.... so I just drink more h2O Smile

Which might be a good thing, as iiuc most people drink too little water.

Anyway, not sure I'll even remember this after my child bearing years are over... I'm 22yo and I don't quite know yet how many kids I want but possibly a bunch. Smile

I was wanting to try Paxil, as it's known for making people more outgoing and such (to a larger extent than the other SSRIs), but the whole pregnancy thing put me off of that... Not sure about its effects on OCDs, but again, I don't particularly care about my trich... I mostly do it when I'm anxious... when I'm not anxious I still do it some but not on my eyebrows.

I wasn't aware that it isn't trich if it's under stress only... anyway, with me it's mostly under stress, but not solely so.

I scratch also, but that's mostly a dustmite allergy thing, although it gets worse when I'm stressed too. And I keep touching my zits and such, also more so when under stress.

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