Oxcarbazepine for the treatment of trichotillomania.

OBJECTIVE: There is no pharmacological treatment of trichotillomania that has consistently demonstrated efficacy, although good results have been obtained with antidepressants and other drugs such as atypical antipsychotics, bupropion, lithium, and topiramate. The anticonvulsant oxcarbazepine has also been used as mood stabilizer and has been tested for treating binge eating, but there is no report on oxcarbazepine in trichotillomania.

CASE: We report the case of an obese 43-year-old woman with a diagnosis of trichotillomania in comorbidity with binge eating disorder who was treated with a flexible dose of the anticonvulsant oxcarbazepine.

RESULT: We administered oxcarbazepine at a dosage of 1200 mg/d, and this subject improved both in hair pulling and in eating behaviors with no relapse after 9 months.

CONCLUSIONS: Further studies with a wide sample of patients are needed to prove the efficacy of oxcarbazepine and the long-term maintenance of these benefits. Relationships of trichotillomania with bipolar spectrum should also be investigated.