Recall, neurotransmitters (such as serotonin and dopamine) are chemical messengers that control most of the body’s functions – everything from mood and the urge to pull to cravings and sleep. Stress can create both short and long-term imbalances in neurotransmitter levels, which can cause you to want to pull more.

Stress is a ‘loaded’ reaction

Stress affects everyone differently and can affect each individual differently on any given day. This is because the overall effect of stress is what is often called a ‘load reaction’. This simply means it is the combined effects of all the stressors in your life at any given moment that will determine the overall ‘load’ or impact that stress has on you at that time. This is the reason, for instance, that sometimes a certain stressor, like arguing with someone, affects you very little one day, but throws you into a state of utter turmoil on another day.

Many things can cause us stress, including:

It can be a fragile balance that keeps us functional when stresses mount. If the stressors overwhelm us, even for a period of time, many hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances can occur, which can increase the urge to pull. Under ideal circumstances (stress gets under control and neurotransmitter levels can rebalance), this increased urge will typically last 3-5 days. If the stress continues or your neurotransmitter levels do not rebalance, the increased urge can last a much longer time.

Addressing the causes

We know of two sure-fire ways to help restore proper neurotransmitter levels which will reduce or eliminate the urge to pull: (1) reduce the cause of imbalance and (2) replenish neurotransmitter function with amino acid therapy. The first has to do with reducing the effects of stress in your life. This may include exercise, establishing a regular sleep cycle, meditation, counseling or any number of other longer-term therapies to help mitigate the ongoing effects of stress.

The second acts more quickly, as providing the body the nutrients it needs to rebalance neurotransmitter function can lead to a dramatic decrease or elimination of the urge to pull, often within days or weeks. This allows you to incorporate the longer term stress reduction strategies into your life so you can have a life that is free of the urge to pull, no matter what stresses life throws at you.

Then she met Dr. Chad Oler, and everything changed. Listen to her story, and find out how she learned to stop pulling hair out.

Lacy’s Podcast

When Lacey found Dr. Chad, she discovered a way to stop pulling hair out that’s surprisingly easy, has produced dramatic results, and is ready for you to start IMMEDIATELY.

First, many people see results in just a month or two, just as Stephanie did. In fact, about 80% of people can completely eliminate the urge to pull in that time frame. For those 20% that don’t, additional testing is used to help them eliminate the urge to pull.

Second, once we find the right dose of amino acids that a person needs, they need to take them about 6-9 months before we can start tapering the dose without the recurrence of symptoms. If a person misses a dose or multiple doses, the urge to pull will often return within a few days and will persist until a person gets back on the recommended supplements for about 3-5 days. This means that the person continues to need the amino acids to eliminate the urge to pull.

Third, eliminating the urge to pull does not mean that a person automatically stops pulling. We’ve talked in other posts about the difference between the urge to pull (the compulsion) and the behavior of pulling. Once the urge is gone, a person can still find themselves pulling when they get triggered by certain events (the most common one is stress). When this happens, they may find their hands playing with or pulling their hair before they even realize what is happening. The difference is that once they become conscious of it, a person on the proper dose of amino acids and stop pulling and not think about it anymore. This is where other therapies, such as stress reduction, exercise and Cognitive Behavioral therapies can be a big help.

Fourth, exercise, lifestyle and dietary recommendations can often decrease the need for amino acids. If a person addresses the day-to-day reasons for neurotransmitter imbalance, they can often substantially reduce the amount of amino acids they need over time to eliminate the urge to pull.

And finally, just like Stephanie, many people can reduce and eliminate the need for the amino acids and still have no urge to pull. Most of the time, these people have taken the amino acids as recommended for at least 6-9 months and have incorporated other strategies to help deal with the behavioral and environmental component of pulling (we help guide them through this process as well). This provides them the life skills that they need to function as they want to without the need for the amino acids. This doesn’t always happen, but it happens a great deal of the time, and it’s so wonderful to see the confidence, the pride and the relief in the people that ‘beat trich’ as Stephanie did.

Image: scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Once this happens, you will stay on that dose of amino acids for 6-9 months while your body replenishes its stores of neurotransmitters. After that time, we will work with you to steadily decrease the amino acids to the minimum dose necessary to keep your symptoms under control. Many people can eliminate the need for the amino acids altogether with the proper dietary and lifestyle adjustments.

There are four reasons why someone would need to take amino acid products ongoing in order to control their symptoms:

1. Head trauma – this can cause permanent nerve damage and the need for continual amino acid therapy
2. Neurotoxicity – this is caused by environmental and/or other toxic exposure that permanently damages neurons
3. Genetics – a person can have impaired ability to create or maintain proper neurotransmitter imbalance from birth
4. Continuation of dietary or lifestyle habits that cause neurotransmitter imbalances

The first three are permanent states and people with these impairments will need some amount of amino acid therapy to remain symptom free. However, the amount needed long-term is often much less than the amount needed to establish proper neurotransmitter balance. The fourth cause is completely correctable and we will work with you to establish the dietary and lifestyle habits to help you maintain neurotransmitter balance.

Note: you cannot substantially increase your neurotransmitter levels through diet or lifestyle alone, but you can maintain your neurotransmitter levels using diet and lifestyle. This is because in order to achieve proper neurotransmitter balance, you need specific doses of specific nutrients at specific times to maximize absorption and conversion of the raw materials into neurotransmitters. Even though the raw materials used are normal components of food, they are administered in much higher amounts and in different combination than those found in food.

Also note: many medications can cause depletion of neurotransmitters, including all anti-depression, anti-anxiety, migraine and sleep medications. If you have taken or are currently taking medications that deplete neurotransmitter levels (including all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) medications), you may want to consider taking the following to restore proper nutritional status:

CoQ10 (100 mg) – 1 gelcap daily with food

Glycogenics – 1 tablet twice daily with food

In addition, taking a low level of amino acid therapy along with these medications will help stop further depletion of neurotransmitters and will help improve the effectiveness of anti-depression, anti-anxiety, migraine and sleep medications (including all SSRI and SNRI) medications.

For more information, please visit our websites (www.naturalpathhealthcenter.com, www.optimalbodybalance.com or www.stoppullinghairout.com ) or www.neuroassist.com.

Amino acid therapy involves giving the body the nutrients it needs to rebalance neurotransmitters. This begins with using two formulas NeuroReplete or D5, and CysReplete (depending upon your condition). These formulas provide the necessary amino acids and cofactors the body needs to bring up the two primary neurotransmitter systems (serotonin and the catecholamines (which include dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine)) in a balanced manner.

It takes 3-5 days for the body to reestablish its new level of neurotransmitters. Therefore, after 7 days of taking your recommended supplements exactly as directed, if you are still experiencing symptoms, your amino acid dosing needs to be adjusted. Your new dosing level will be determined at your next appointment. If need be, a simple urine test can be run to help determine the proper amino acid dosage.

In order to eliminate your symptoms as quickly as possible, it is imperative that you take the amino acid products as recommended and follow up after being on a new dose for 7 days if you are not where you want to be. There is no point in waiting longer to see if they will ‘kick-in’; this just delays you reaching your goals.

There is only one known side effect when beginning amino acid therapy and that is nausea. This occurs when a person’s serotonin levels are exceptionally low. If this happens, it is a sign that a person needs the amino acids, but we must slow down the dosing schedule to allow the body to adapt to the increased neurotransmitter levels. When serotonin levels are very low, taking the amino acids cause nausea because the body converts the 5-HTP in the supplements into serotonin immediately in the gut, which you experience as nausea. The solution is to discontinue taking the amino acids during the daytime and follow a protocol (that we will provide to you) where you slowly introduce the amino acids, beginning with just one pill before bed.

It is very important that you take the recommended doses of each supplement every day. If you miss a dose, you need to take it as soon as possible to avoid fluctuations in neurotransmitter levels. Missing even a single dose of amino acids will cause your neurotransmitter levels to drop and it will take 3-5 days to get back to the level you were at before missing the dose. This means that you will have a higher probability of experiencing symptoms during that time.

You can quickly see that missing doses regularly will mean that you will never be able to rebalance your neurotransmitter levels, so establish a routine and stick to it. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as possible. One good trick is to always have a small bottle of whatever supplements you are taking with you at all times (or keep the bottles in your purse, at work, at home and/or where ever you regularly find yourself) so you are never in a situation where you miss a dose.

“I believe I actually started “pulling” to a very minimal extent as a teenager.  I loved to find the really coarse, kinky hairs to pull out, but then I was able to stop.

Around 2005, I had an increased level of stress at my job, so I guess I soothed myself by pulling, but I still had some control over it, so it wasn’t obvious to anyone but my husband.  Just to note, I’ve always, until 2005, thought of my head of thick reddish brown hair as one of my best features.

As my stressors increased (from 2005) so did my pulling.  I had surfed the net long and hard, dismissing some treatments as too involved or difficult to access due to their being in another area of the country, or seeming like a gimmick.  Then, early this year (2011), I found articles about Dr. Chad and amino acid replacement therapy for trich.  I took a few days to read everything about it, also finding other sites to verify it, had my husband read some of the material, checked out Dr. Chad on the Madison BBB (Better Business Bureau), and then made my first phone appointment.

Once I spoke with Dr. Chad the first time, I really allowed myself to have hope that this therapy could work.   After starting the supplements, I noticed within a week that I was much less restless at night, and I was sleeping better.

After my second phone appointment with Dr. Chad, I was noticing that I would start pulling, but it was more out of habit than anything, and I would question myself, “Why am I pulling, I don’t feel the compulsion to pull”  and most importantly, I could stop.  I found that it helped to keep my hands busy during that time, so I did a lot of needlework.

Now that I am a few more weeks into treatment, I can happily report that I no longer have any compulsion to pull, though occasionally I will pull a hair or two out of habit.

My hair is growing back in very nicely; even my husband checked it and seemed pleased.  If you are looking for a wonderful treatment for your trich, you have very little to lose by trying Dr. Chad’s therapy.  It’s easy, based on sound science, and very effective.  Dr. Chad and the amino acid replacement therapy have been a Godsend to me, my own miracle.”

Jessica’s hope turned into her “own miracle”. She wanted to share her story in the hopes that others may benefit from it. If you or someone you know would like to stop pulling once and for all, please look around this site and do whatever research you need to. Once you are ready, give us a call and we’ll get you started; you can eliminate the urge to pull, and we can help you do it.

Monoamine Neurotransmitter Synthesis from Amino Acids

Figure 3: The synthesis of serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine from amino acid precursors.

The synthesis of serotonin and the catecholamines (i.e., dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) is illustrated in Figure 3. Note that the same enzyme catalyzes the conversion of 5-HTP-to-serotonin and L-dopa-to-dopamine everywhere in the body. The implications of this fact are profound.¹⁰ The administration of only 5-HTP or L-dopa will compete with and inhibit the synthesis of the opposite precursor (dopamine and serotonin respectively) at the enzyme. This means that if you take only 5-HTP (serotonin system) or only L-dopa (dopamine system) you will decrease the synthesis of the other system (dopamine or serotonin respectively).⁵⁷. This is why it is so important to have properly balanced amino acids when you are attempting to increase neurotransmitter levels. If you take only one amino acid precursor, the administered amino acid precursor will dominate the enzyme and compromise proper synthesis of the other system’s neurotransmitters, creating further imbalance.

Amino Acids and Neurotransmitter Metabolism

In the same manner, the same two enzymes –  Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) and Catecholamine-O-Methyl Transferase (COMT) – metabolize both serotonin and the catecholamines (i.e., dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine).The implications are equally profound.  When neurotransmitter levels are increased, enzymatic activity also increases.^{14,23, 24, 25, 26} That means that the levels of these two enzyme systems are not static; they fluctuate in response to changing neurotransmitter levels.

If you administer L-dopa or 5-HTP, the activity of MAO and COMT increases due to the increase in dopamine or serotonin levels respectively. The problem is that when L-dopa is administered without 5-HTP, both dopamine and serotonin will be subjected to increases in metabolism by these two enzyme systems. However, serotonin will not experience an increase in production (because none was taken), which leads to further depletion. The same rule is true of 5-HTP administered without the use of dopamine precursors. The bottom line is that the administration of 5-HTP or L-dopa that is unopposed or improperly balanced with the amino acid precursors of the other system will deplete the other system as a result of the increased metabolism of MAO and COMT, decreased synthesis, and uptake competition.

This means that a person has to take these amino acids in the proper balance to obtain long-term balance in neurotransmitter levels. This is complicated further due to uptake competition, which we will cover in future blog posts.

14. 5-HT immunoreactive hypothalamic neurons in rat and cat after 5-HTP administration. Brain Res Bull. 1984 Jun;12(6):721-33. Sakumoto T, Sakai K, Jouvet M, Kimura H, Maeda T.

23. Platelet MAO-B Activity and Serotonin Content in Patients with Dementia: Effect of Age, Medication, and Disease Neurochemical Research June, 1998: 863-868 Zsuzsa Meszaros, Dora Borcsiczky, Monika Mate, Jozsef Tarcali, Tamas Szombathy, Kornelia Tekes and Kalman Magyar.

24. Effect of L-dopa administration on islet monoamine oxidase activity and glucose induced insulin release in the mouse. Pancreas. 1991 Sep; 6(5): 522-7 Lundquist, I : Panagiotidis, G : Stenstrom, A.

25. Monoamine metabolism in human brain. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1977 Jan;34(1):89- 92. Robinson DS, Sourkes TL, Nies A, Harris LS, Spector S, Bartlett DL, Kaye IS.

26. Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Inhibition Improves Set-Shifting Performance and Elevates Stimulated Dopamine Release in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex Journal of Neuroscience, June 9, 2004, 24(23):5331-5335 E. M. Tunbridge, D. M. Bannerman, T. Sharp, and P. J. Harrison.

First, some background. This is a woman in her mid-40s, we’ll call her Tracie; she had pulled off and on for many years, but started pulling uncontrollably in 2004 when she was finally diagnosed with trichotillomania. However, she had a number of prior imbalances that most likely led to, or at least exacerbated the neurotransmitter imbalances that led to the compulsive urge to pull.  Tracie was diagnosed with depression in the mid-80s and started medication to address it. About 10 years later, she was diagnosed with major depression and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and put on more medications. She was also experiencing extreme pain, diagnosed with arthritis and given heavy doses of pain killers. Finally, just last year, she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. Just today Tracie confided in me that she has experienced gastrointestinal (GI) distress since she was a child. She also mentioned that she was a very restless sleeper and never slept through the night or felt rested.

The reason all this matters is that every one of these conditions and treatments has an adverse effect on neurotransmitter levels. Most people know that depression is thought to be due to imbalances with a neurotransmitter called serotonin. What most people don’t know is that the medications used to treat depression actually make the underlying neurotransmitter imbalances worse over time. This makes it nearly impossible for people taking these medications to get off of them and they may feel worse and worse – unless they begin a program using amino acid therapy to address the underlying neurotransmitter imbalances.

Once more, FMS and pain are also related to neurotransmission. In our clinic, we have seen remarkable remissions of FMS and dramatically increased pain tolerance and reductions in perceived pain with properly balanced amino acid therapy. It has been shown in the literature that chronic pain often induces depression; this is due, at least in part, to the neurotransmitter imbalances that occur due to chronic pain, which then lower the pain tolerance, exacerbating pain, thus creating a vicious cycle pain inducing more pain.

Furthermore, chronic gastrointestinal disorders often cause neurotransmitter imbalance. This is thought to be for two reasons: 1) malabsorption of nutrients and 2) exaggerated loss of serotonin due to inflammation of the GI tract. The GI tract is where about 90-95% of the body’s serotonin is stored. Chronic GI distress can cause the body to ‘dump’ these stores, creating imbalance; GI imbalances can also be caused by neurotransmitter imbalances. In particular, recent research is suggesting that Crohn’s disease may be due to serotonin toxicity due to defects in neurotransmitter transporters in the gut. What’s exciting about this is that clinical experience also shows that reestablishing proper neurotransmitter imbalance using amino acid therapy can cause a complete remission of the symptoms of Crohn’s disease.

Lastly, one of the latter stages of neurotransmitter imbalance is sleep disturbance and insomnia. The sleep cycle is regulated by melatonin. This compound is created from serotonin, a process which is regulated by another neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. Again, you can see that imbalances in these neurotransmitters will lead to sleep issues over time.

So what did Tracie experience? Well, she had quite a bit of nausea when she first started on the amino acids. This is very common in people when their serotonin levels are very low. This is because the gut is so depleted of serotonin that it converts the amino acids into neurotransmitters right there in the gut rather than putting them into the circulation where they can reach the brain, which creates the experience of nausea. The solution – go slower. So, we adjusted her dosages to allow her body the time it needed to absorb and utilize the amino acids properly.

The result: as soon as Tracie got up to the original recommended starting dosage, she noticed she was much less restless while sleeping and that she actually slept through the night a few times. Her husband also noticed, as he too was now able to sleep through the nightJ. And what about the trich? Tracie stated that after about 2-3 days on the recommended dosage she had absolutely no compulsion to pull, although she did catch herself pulling a few times out of habit. However, unlike before, she could now catch herself and stop pulling and not think about it (or obsess over it) again.

What can we learn from Tracie’s story – lots of bodily and mental functions are impacted by neurotransmitter balance. However, the solution is quite simple: reestablish proper balance. Tracie did it and has eliminated the compulsion to pull with the ‘side benefit’ of better sleep. She’s so happy that we are now going to work on her other health imbalances to reestablish optimal health and function.

Tracie’s story is not uncommon – reestablishing proper neurotransmitter balance can cause dramatic positive changes in your life, and quick. We have helped 1000s of people regain their health and their lives using amino acid therapy and we’d love the opportunity to help you.

After scrolling down through the informational sites, I saw a link to a YouTube video on trichotillomania. It was a video by a 16 year old named Rebecca that has trich; she was describing how she feels, what goes on in her head and how others have reacted to her. Her transparency was palpable and her story touched something in me – I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but something deep. I could connect with her.

Maybe it’s the culmination of working with so many young people with trich. Maybe it was seeing her struggle, right there on my computer screen, trying to explain what is happening within her and how she doesn’t feel she can do anything about it. Maybe it’s because I saw her suffering and watching this incredibly strong and brave soul sharing her personal experience so that others can know they are not alone.

Maybe it’s because I think I can help her eliminate the urge to pull. I know I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we have developed a protocol that is remarkably successful with trich. So much so, that we started this website to get the word out. Like I said, I’m not that tech-savvy, but I am very good at figuring out the underlying imbalances that prevent people from reaching their health goals and addressing them.

I need your help to get the word out. I just completed a very extensive series of posts that details the science behind what we do and how amino acid therapy can help eliminate the urge to pull. They’ll be rolling out this month.

Our protocol won’t get rid of the habit; that’s where other very impactful techniques like cognitive behavioral therapy can play a key role. But it can eliminate the urge to pull 86% of the time – nothing that I know of has this great of an impact on trich. Knowing what I know and seeing these kinds of results in our clinic make watching videos like Rebecca’s even more heart-breaking.

I opened a YouTube account so I could communicate with Rebecca; I sure hope to hear from her. If you have trichotillomania, please read the information on this site and do whatever research you need to do in order to wrap your mind around what we do to help eliminate the urge to pull. When you are ready to give it a try, please contact us – we may not be able to help everybody, but we can help a whole of people.

And if you are tech/internet/web savvy, please share this information with those that can benefit from it. I would love to see 1000s of follow up videos on YouTube about how Rebecca and others that suffer from trichotillomania have eliminated the urge to pull and gone on to fully enjoy every minute of their lives. I know it can happen – I’ve seen it.

photo credit: FindYourSearch

I was just asked by a client what our success rate was in working with people with trichotillomania. I knew it was high, but I couldn’t give her a definitive answer, so I crunched the numbers and found out. We have an 86% success rate with helping people with trich eliminate the urge to pull. That is an exceptionally high success rate, and the reason for it is that we help identify and address the underlying reason that causes most people with trich to pull – and that is neurotransmitter imbalance.

You can find out more by looking through this site. If you have a question or comment, don’t hesitate to ask.