A few months ago, maybe in September or October of

last year, I was told by a psychiatrist who

specializes in TTM and who is an associate of Dr. Fred

Penzel that "it has been known for a long time" that

Ritalin and other stimulants can cause Tourette's and

trich. Dr. Richard Schloss of Western Suffolk

Psychological Services in Huntington, Long Island, New

York, wrote those exact words to me in an email. He

claims to have "treated" hundreds of cases of TTM.

(I'm highly skeptical of his use of the word

"treated"; he prescribes prozac and other SSRIs, which

I believe will someday be found to have the capacity

to cause TTM, and which I KNOW have failed - in two

different placebo-controlled, double-blind,

scientifically sound studies -- to prove effective in

treating TTM.)

Some of you may remember the posts I sent last fall,

soon after I realized that Prozac was the probable

cause of my TTM.

To summarize my story again here for new list members:

I began taking Prozac in June 1994 when I was 22. By

December, the symptoms for which I had taken prozac -

circular, negative thinking and compulsive overeating

- - had disappeared. But also by December, six months

into taking Prozac, I was pulling out my eyelashes and

eyebrows. I didn't suspect Prozac, and I wasn't being

closely monitored by a doctor of any kind, because the

prescribing psychiatrist only had me come back once in

the first 5 months, and then I moved to a different

state. I didn't start seeing a psychiatrist again

until June 1996, and that doctor didn't suggest that

Prozac could have caused my TTM. I recall telling her

that I didn't think it had caused it (I had no idea at

the time what kind of brain-poison Prozac was), and

she didn't correct me or disagree with my assertion

that Prozac had NOT been the cause.

I was on Prozac for five years. I tried stopping it

several times during those years--both because I was

morally opposed to being on a mind- and mood-altering

drug, and also because I feared unknown, adverse,

long-term effects--but every time I tried to stop it,

I became afraid that my compulsive eating would

return, so I went back on it. But in the fifth year,

Prozac's appetite-suppressing effect was wearing off,

and my life was just as crappy as it had been before I

started taking it*. So I finally stopped it in

September 1999. (*Before I started it, I had had such

bad confidence problems that I dropped out of an Ivy

League university. After 5 years on Prozac, I was no

better off. I hadn't returned to school. I wasn't

making enough money. I didn't have the confidence to

pursue what I really wanted to do. I didn't have

enough good relationships, etc..)

While I was on Prozac, I occasionally experienced mild

episodes of akathisia, which is neurologically driven

agitation or restlessness. It is sometimes described

as a feeling of electricity coursing through the body

or brain. It is, I believe, by definition

drug-induced. That is, it is caused by psychiatric

drugs; it doesn't occur naturally as a symptom of any

illness or disease. Last July, nearly 2 years after

stopping Prozac, I experienced the most distinct

episode of akathisia I had ever had. Always having

been concerned about unknown long-term effects of

Prozac, this episode disturbed me very much, and I

resolved to investigate it. This is when I discovered

that Prozac had the capacity to cause TTM, and

probably did cause mine, although to this day no

doctor will agree with me, and I probably will never

be able to prove it.

I think one of the most convincing facts in the case

against Prozac (let's say we're making a list of

things in support of the theory that Prozac did cause

my TTM) is that I remember when I was little--maybe 7

or 8 yrs. old--being told by a friend about the

superstition of making a wish on an eyelash. From

reading the TTM remailers, I believe that this is how

many TTMers got started. When I learned about the

eyelash-wishing, I was in a phase where I dreamed of

becoming an actress and playing Annie in the Broadway

musical. I distinctly recall pulling out a few

eyelashes and wishing on them that I could "be" Annie.

However, I DID NOT develop TTM. I never pulled out

more than a couple at a time, and I never pulled hair

>From any other part of my body!

Another aspect to the story is that I had a pretty

stressful childhood and adolescence. I was/am a

perfectionist. My parents got divorced and it was

very hard on me. I was a state gymnastics champion

when I was 13, but then I grew so much in the next

year that my gymnastics career came to an abrupt end.

But my response to the overwhelming emotions and

stress associated with all these things was *not*

trichotillomania. It was an eating disorder. I

developed a form of bulimia when I was about 14 or 15,

and was institutionalized for it for 7 weeks when I

was 19. Never during all these difficult times did I

develop trich. Not until I was 22, with the worst of

my troubles behind me, and having just started Prozac

did I develop TTM.

In addition to the details of my own experiences, I

found support for a case against Prozac in the

research and reading I did last fall. In two books on

Prozac, the authors point to the many similarities

between the effects of Prozac and those of stimulants.

In his book "Talking Back to Prozac," Dr. Breggin

alleges that Eli Lilly took careful steps to conceal

the stimulant-like profile of Prozac. Breggin says

that the way the side effects are categorized and

formatted on the label is one way the drug maker hides

the stimulant-like effects. Dr. Schloss wrote in his

email that Prozac is not a stimulant in the strict

sense, but that it does have stimulant-like effects,

especially initially. I would send you the exact

verbiage from the email, but unfortunately, I moved

recently and don't have access to all my computer

files. But I can assure you I'm not changing the

meaning of anything Dr. Schloss wrote, and in fact my

words are pretty close to his.

Dr. Breggin testified before Congress on the dangers

of Ritalin and other stimulants widely prescribed for

children, and he used a table listing the wide range

of adverse effects. This list of adverse effects

on "Congress investigates Ritalin and ADHD - Dr.

Breggin testifies"; then click on "Table I: Harmful

effects caused by Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall and

similar stimulants")

I also went to the medical library at Rutgers and

photocopied dozens of articles from psychiatry

journals. I found an article written by doctors at

the Yale Child Study Center in which they describe 3

cases of TTM that began in young boys within their

first 6 months on Ritalin. One case did not resolve

when the drug was discontinued.

I photocopied and read the 2 studies that I described

above, in which researchers tried to find evidence of

Prozac's effectiveness for TTM and failed to do so.

When the first study, in 1991, failed, Eli Lilly put

up the funds for the second study, which was longer in

duration and as scientifically rigorous as the first.

This study also failed to find Prozac effective.

Nonetheless, psychiatrists and other doctors routinely

prescribe Prozac and other SSRIs to patients for TTM.

(Prozac has been tested for TTM; the others haven't).

In my humble opinion, this is medical malpractice to

give someone a dangerous drug (yes, I know, they say

it's safe; that's what I believed, too), when there is

no evidence that the drug will help the condition for

which it is prescribed.

As further evidence (of the anecdotal and admittedly,

therefore, weak variety) in support of both

allegations - that stimulants can cause TTM and that

Prozac can cause TTM - I have several correspondences

with people through the internet. I've corresponded

with people from the parents' TTM mailer, this mailer,

and a couple of mailers for people who've taken or are

taking SSRIs. Unfortunately, I can't access my

collection of stories, because of my recent move, but

I have a large collection. I'll write here from

memory. I have talked with 2 people who were

compelled to pull out their leg hair (like Elizabeth

Wurtzel) while on Effexor. I've talked to people who

picked and mutilated their cuticles while on some SSRI

(I can't remember which). Effexor is either an SSRI or

an SNRI. I can't remember which, but they all

interfere with the serotonin system, and no doctor can

know how any one drug will affect any one person, so

all of these psychoactive drugs are just different

ways to play Russian roulette with your brain. I've

corresponded with parents who say their children's TTM

began within their first six months on Ritalin. I've

corresponded with a woman (who I believe is on this

mailer still) whose TTM was made better by Zyprexa (an

antipsychotic drug), but the side effects were

horrible (i.e., not worth it), and when she was taken

off the drug, not only did her pulling return with a

vengeance, but she plunged into a suicidal depression

that took her 2 years to recover from (she had never

been depressed before).

This last story about Zyprexa helping TTM illustrates

the idea (which I didn't understand or accept until

recently) that drugs can and do have an effect on TTM.

That is to say, if you don't believe me that Prozac

caused my TTM, then does it make sense to believe that

there's some drug out there that can cure it? I don't

think so. If you can accept that a drug can cure it

(and many of you I know have tried drugs, so you must

have some belief in that), then you have to accept

that a drug can cause it.

I do believe there is or will be a drug that can cure

it, although I wouldn't take it, because I'm sure the

side effects would be horrendous--much worse than TTM.

Actually, I've seen the drug clomiprimine (sp?? )

mentioned in several places. My impression is that

the psychiatric community accepts that this drug is

effective for TTM, but that, maybe, it's very powerful

and has too many adverse side effects. I saw it

mentioned in the scientific articles I read. I could

have the spelling wrong. There are several

psychiatric drugs with similar spellings -

clomipramine, chorimipramine, chlorpromazine, etc.

Again, I wish I had all my documents with me so I

could sound a little more like I know what I'm talking

about. Unfortunately, all my stuff is in a storage

unit...

So, to wrap this up, I'd like to put out a call for

your stories about your experiences with drugs and

TTM. I continue to collect stories, so please write

And please tell anyone and everyone you know that

Ritalin and other stimulants can cause TTM.