Eating roots

I started pulling my hair when I was 9. I had been living with my grandma because my parents were in a legal separation. Then my father got killed in a motorcycle accident. I didn't start pulling right away but I believe that is what set it off. At least that is what makes sense because I've read many times that a stressful event can start it.
I also use to see my uncle pull his hair out when I was younger until he started shaving his head. I've read that it is biological or hereditary. I sometimes wonder if he has it too but I have never asked.
I eat my roots. I like the crunchy wet ones as many others. It feels great when I find one of those but I feel like $#%^ when I look in the mirror.
I've quit pulling a few times before. One of the times I was around the age of twelve and my aunt had offered me a hundred dollars if I let my hair grow in. I did it but started up again soon after. I quit again a few years later but started again within a couple months. When I was 18 I shaved my entire head which made people stare at me since I'm a girl. A pretty girly one too. I'd walk around in my skirt and force myself to keep my head up with a smile on my face, which lucky for me I'm not bad looking so even though people stared at my shaved head, they didn't for long. Keeping my head shaved helped me break my habit for a little while but once it grew out a few inches I started again. The past couple years it's just gotten progressively worse and now it's the worst it's ever been.
I'm 23 now and I just had my first child. I really want to be the best mom I can and I know to do that I have to be the best me. To me that means a happy, non self conscious me.
So I'm trying to quit yet again. For real this time with hopefully no relapse.I'm on day three. Now that I've found this forum, I feel less alone and my fiance is %100 supportive. When I'm relaxed and I feel the urge to pull, he sits and holds my hand and we talk about what I'm feeling.
When I think about the crunchy juicy roots beneath the skin on my scalp I get an anxious or angry feeling. Instead of pulling a hair out I'll do something that takes my mind away from it like playing a video game or taking a shower. I know it's really not productive but it works. Especially if neither of my hands are free. Right now I'm a stay at home mom with a 3 month old and so I have down time. That is usually when I pull and it seems like that is when a lot of others do too.
My advice to anyone that pulls is to try to keep your hands busy and hope you have the will to quit when you notice you are doing it. Remember you are not alone.

I am so happy I have found this page, I hope I can help, I am not a psychiatrist or a counsellor but i do the same as you. I first started pulling my hair out watching a film i have had no issues and have been brought up by a wonderful mother. But i have experienced this for so long and it first started when I was 11 which was like i said in the middle of watching a film and i did eat the root i then got told by an opare that i had a bald patch i didn't realise how bad it was until i reached down the side of my bed and found a clump of hair which should've been on my head, i was completely mortified and stopped immediately. However I started again about 6 months ago and had multiple bald patches I even started in school. My amazing mum is a hypnotherapist and she insisted in giving me hypnotherapy to stop me from doing this and suddenly i stopped she hypnotised me to every time i put my hand to my scalp question myself to why i am doing it, and i stopped just like that. I haven't pulled my hair out since even though i am more stressed than i have ever been. But i would like to ask can you die from eating the root? Whoever asked that question has really freaked my friend out. Thanks for this website.

I actually used to do this! When I first started pulling my eyebrows when I was 10 I would check the hair to see if there was a root I could bite off, the bigger the root the more satisfied I would be. I stopped that part of my pulling ritual pretty quickly, but I was sure I was the only one who did this.

I am so glad I found this site. I can definitely relate with just about every post. I was researching to see if there were any side effects to eating the root of the hair for long periods of time as I have been pulling out my hair and eating the root since I was 12. I am 27 now. I have had periods in my life where I didn't pull but most times, especially when I am stressed or worried and even bored, I find myself pulling. I remember when I strted and at first I only targetted the less smooth hairs, the coarse ones because i didn't want them on my head, and eventually I discovered the root. I don't know about any of you... but I enjoy the crunch of the root. Those are so rare... the ones that crunch when you bite onto the tip. I know it's nasty and none of my friends know I do this. I would be so embarrassed to tell anyone, including my boyfriend or a doctor. I am sure they wouldn't be able to help as much as every thinks they would.The only persons that know are my sister and mother...however, they think I stopped that bad habit a long time ago. I mean I did, but only for a from some time. I stopped when I was getting several bald stops on my head during high school abnd I knew I didn't want to go through any embarrassment, so I ceased the urge. On occassion, I would still go through my hair pulling/eating root sessions from time to time...and ashamed after these sessions when I would see the amount of hairs I had pulled. But my oh my did I enjoy those roots. I must admit, it has decreased over the years because I don't want to get bald, but I can't get myself to completely stop, I susally start to when I panick and start stressing about things. I now have found any excuse to pull my hair... such as when I see a grey hair. However, I have noticed that they do not contain any roots. Err I hatre this. But anyway I am glad I can relate with someone here.

I have been Google-ing about 'trich' for many years but was too nervous to join one of these forums. However, each of your stories are so similar to mine that I felt comfortable joining the conversation.

I also bite the roots. Of any hair---from my scalp, eyebrows, underarms, or pubic. (except not eyebrows). I have been pulling since I was around 7 and I am now 22. The descriptions of the "wet" root and the "crunch" when you bite into them are so accurate. If I pull a hair where there isn't a root, I just throw it on the ground, but I savor the ones with a big root. Likewise, I put them on the mirror, book pages, or just brush them against my face before eating them.
I also recently discovered pulling out scalp hairs with a tweezer. Almost every time I pull out a root, unlike using your fingers. I love the feeling, but I hate myself when I look at myself in the mirror. The worst patches are on the top of my head, and the sides right above my ears.
Not only do I want to stop for good because it is abnormal, but it makes me sad. Every 22 year old girl my age takes so much pride in their hair. I never have felt that way. Always hiding it with bandanas, headbands, or clips. I have worn my hair the same way for almost 10 years.

Discussing it makes me feel better. But I hope we can work together and find things that work and don't work so we can all get through it!

I have been pulling my hair out for almost FORTY years. I started in grade school when my parent's marriage was falling apart, and quit for awhile when I was 9 and was grounded from going trick-or-treating after my mom noticed the bald spot on the crown of my head. When my parents eventually divorced when I was 13, it got bad again - and it has been that way on and off my whole life.

I have quit for spells as long as 7 years, but then something will happen to set it off again. It is so frustrating. Right now, it is the worst it has ever been. I wear a wig, and about 90% of my head is bald. I have always been prone to oily hair, dandruff, and zits on my scalp. My routine involves picking at the sores or zits on my scalp and eating the skin. I too am obsessed with the hair roots. There seem to be 2 types- the "normal" ones- they are white and slightly wet with a little crunch. However, the type that I really crave, or the buried treasure, are the rare ones that are plump, sometimes have a little red tint on the end, and pop in your mouth.. a wonderfully satisfying crunch like a pomegranate seed or a piece or Freshen-Up Gum. If the lights are on and I can see this type, I will rub it on my lips, suck on it, or "savor" it for as long as I can stand it. I feel totally insane even typing this, but it's true. These types of roots seem to be more likely to be mined from areas around zits or sores, which may be why I continually pick at them. It does NOT hurt to pull out my hair- on the contrary, it feels wonderful. The added pain of pulling from the area near a sore seems to enhance the experience.

Thanks for listening. It is nice to know I am not alone.

Oh, my God. I am 15 and do the exact same thing. I feel like a freak. I need help. My family can't understand. I am on meds but I don't think they help. I need support from people who understand. I need suggestions on how to quit...

Same issues. Gummy bears are the right substitute texture for the roots that are the most satisfying to find, especially if you bite through them with your front teeth. I try to have them available when I know I'm going to be sitting around under stress and more likely to pull. To Andromeda and everyone else looking for a replacement craving for those roots - gummy bears are a good studying & other anxiety tool to deflect that urge (anxiety disorder here). Though they have gelatin in them, there are probably also vegan and/or lower sugar versions you can find.

I do the same exact ritual with my roots as well. Here's what baffles me, WHY? Why is it that we all have the same ritual? No one taught us to do this, and we didn't learn from imitation... so what's the deal? Don't you guys find it mind blowing that we all rub the roots against our lips to feel the cold sensation, inspect the roots, stick the roots to surfaces, pull with the goal of finding a large root?

This is something we all need to band together and discuss and try to understand.

I have had trich for a few years, since I was like, 11 or 12 (14 now), and I've been eating the hair I pull out for as long as I've been pulling. I'm at the point where one of the ten year old boys I babysit asked me if I went through chemo! I try not to eat the hair, but... It just seems so... I don't know! Pretty? Like why would I waste something that I worked so hard (I pull out an average of five hairs, I did the math, before I find a hair that I eat) to get?
I'm actually really glad I found this! My many counselors for this say that generally people oth trich don't eat the hair, I thought I was the only one!
What happens with me is, I'll be reading, or on the computer, or watching tv, etc. etc. I'll reach up to feel the stubble at the top and left side of my head where I pull, and then I'll move my hand and start twirling my hair, then I accidentally pull out a hair. And then I just keep pulling until I've got a pretty impressive hair ball on the floor next to me.
If I find one with the bulb thing attached, I run it along my lips, across my arm, and then I bite off the bulb and eat the rest of the hair. The hair has to be dark and thick and with the bulb.
I have no idea why I do it, really. I've always played with my hair, even before I started pulling and eating it. Maybe that has something to do with it?