TTM and ANTIBIOTICS

Questions to John Kender, and his reply

> I have been taking antibiotics for the past five days for an infected > surgical wound. The pulling has been completely out of control. I'm > taking cephalexin (brand name Keflex) in 500 mg capsules every 6 hours > (I'm allergic to penicillan). Has anyone else experienced uncontrollable > increases in pulling while on antibiotics?

I was recently on antibiotics for three weeks and experienced uncontrollable pulling urges, too. I was on antibiotics for the firsttwo weeks for a sinus infection and the medication gave me stomach upset, so I interspersed the dosages with acidophilus and yogurt. I had urges during that time, but was able to control them. The last round of antibiotics was for something different and I actually ended up on two different ones, because the first one gave me hives after two days. I was not taking the acidophilus in between the doses of this medication and ended up with horrible pulling urges. The results of this, however, could be compounded by the fact that the last round of antibiotics fell at the same time as PMS, which is always my worst time for controlling hair pulling.  Still, you may want to try the doses of acidophilus in between your antibiotics. If nothing else, it will help restore the balance of your digestive tract which gets thrown off by antibiotics.

 Answer

Xxxx  asks if increased pulling while taking Keflex is related to the yeast hypothesis. The answer is yes and yes. The first yes is because Keflex is a systemic antibacterial--but not an antifungal--medication. All the bacteria in the body are attacked by it, killing off the competition for yeasts. They grow unhindered, in the scalp and elsewhere. The second yes is because Keflex is being used because of an allergy to penicillin, which is itself derived from a mold, a kind of fungus;  allergies to yeasts or their byproducts (some of which end up in penicillin) may be what causes the maddening trich itch.

John Kender