Have anger outbursts, pulls hair from head and is suspicious. On medication. Alternate treatment?
Patient: Hi! I have a friend who is a mother of 2 & had been physically abused by her mum since she was a baby. This friend has been pulling her hair (literally) from her head, brows, lashes & has anger outbursts, is suspicious, fears her husband will leave her etc. She was prescribed Citanew 10mg, Tryptinol 25mg for a week & then 50 mg after that & Tab Dosik 1.5mg. She says that she is not functional now & is always sleepy. Is there something that can be done for her without the meds or should there be other help along with the meds? Doctor: Hi there, thanks for asking. Pulling hair from the head and eyebrow is called trichotillomania and it is often accompanied with anger bursts as you mentioned. Citanew and Dosik are good medications for such a condition which are commonly prescribed by doctors. I am sure that her doctor has prescribed Tryptonil for a special reason. In most of the time it can cause sleepiness during the day, since it remains in the body for long hours. She can talk about this issue with her doctor and she may decrease or discontinue Tryptonil to see if her sleepiness is improved. Her condition may become quite satisfactory after several weeks with just Citanew and Dosik. The response time for trichotillomania (pulling hair) and its related symptoms is longer than depression and is almost like the time needed for obsessive compulsive disorder (about eight weeks). I wish the best health for her.