scab picking was a problem in the past and is coming back again

[kellyjoe]

picking at scabs has been a problem in the past and is getting bad again i now have scars yet find it hard to stop


This discussion is related to RE:RE: Compulsive scab picking.

[kellyjoe]

wow what a story i am getting back on the meds i used to be on.,  i started back on welabutrin  after i stoped breastfeeding my latest daughter was taking zoloft during pregnancy but that wasnot enough  i picked at my back and arms alot  and have scars.. i hate when people ask me what happened i say i had bad poison ivy last summer i get so itchy i think i make most of the cuts myself bandaids help as long as i keep them on  i know its stress related and a coping thing i always knew in the back of my mind that this must of been some type of condition  my mom had this problem and  i think one of my sisters  the 1st time it started to become a problem was when we started having trouble with my ist daughter when she was a teen ager  about 12 years ago ..i got on meds after i started picking at my scalp till it bled i dont do that anymore . i also did counciling stoped working for a while and lost weight and that really seemed to help i was on alot of meds and was doing better even when my ist husband was sick and dying from cancer i was ok   but soon after he died i remarried was pregnant and had to go off all my meds i thought have way through the preg i was having another nervous breakdoown and got on zoloft it helped with depression but i started picking again after about 3 years of having it under control. my arms were terrible last summer when i was breast feeding now they are healed except maybe a new 1 every now and then but they looked bruised some are fading.  i guess the next time i am at the doc he is increasing my meds i may call sooner and also get back on my seroquel my back is bad about 5 areas are healed and about 5 are not  sometimes i dont scatch i just rub because it itches so bad i use calomine lotion that helps a little.. right now i am dealing with the fact my new husband got a brain injury  from a chemical at work goes to therapy but he still cant talk after 6 months he cant work or drive because he got a type of dementia from the chemical  he also has a long term disease we didnot he had which had made his brain vessels leaky which probly allowed the chemicals to get into his brain he can care for himself but needs reminders and has alot of trouble working tv and computer  we have a running joke im dummer leading dum humor and faith has really seen us through and my little daughter is such a blessing i know i can overcome this again but i think i will always battle this my oler daughter told me she sometimes pulls of some of her eye lashes i hope she can get over this i told her she should get on meds too her problem is no insurance and she hates to aways ask for help. i hope my little girl doesnot get my nerves or her dads condition which i was told by the dr it can be heridty  well got to go and get my bainaids back on my back really itches   kellyjoe

[NanaTanya]

I never imagined that I'd find anyone else who had this same problem, let alone that there is a name for it!  I've been a compulsive scab picker ever since I can remember.  It began when I was as young as 4 and just starting school.  My parents used to take the family camping quite a bit every summer, and being fair complected with strawberry blonde hair, I would sunburn easily, even blister at times. I loved to peel off the dead skin and often would pick until I'd pulled off new skin, causing bleeding and scarring.  Same goes for mosquito bites.  When we camped, I'd get bites from head to toe that itched so I scratched until they bled.  Then when they'd scab over, I'd pick the scabs again and again.  My mother would always try to cover them with Calmine Lotion to stop the itching, but it was no use.  I couldn't stop. At the age of 21 I married a man who was controling and verbally abusive.  During our 12 year marriage I endured constant criticism which caused me to develope a nervous habit of picking the skin on my lips. I did this sometimes until they bled.  My husband would tried to tell me to stop whenever he saw me doing it, but his comments only made me more aware of what I was doing and made it harder to stop.  Eventually, I went to a psychiatrist who had helped many people stop smoking by hypnotizing them. He attempted to hypnotize me one time, although  I'm not sure that I was actually under hypnosis and I'm certain that it had no effect on my compulsion to pick, I eventually did stop (the lip picking) when finally I decided to get out of my marriage and away from his controlling personality.  Even though I've never started the lip picking again, it's safe to say that I my compulsion to pick never completely went away.  I am now 48 years old, have rheumatoid arthritis, hypo-thyroidism, both are auto-immune diseases.  The meds I take for these diseases suppress my immune system which means that when I get a cut or scrape or acne, anything that gets a scab, they take a long time to heal even when left alone or treated with antibiotic ointment, but with my compulsion to pick, there are at least a dozen or more scabs that have never really completely healed!  I am happy being single, but don't want to spend the rest of my life alone and yet I'm too embarassed to let anyone see all the scars and scabs all over my body!  I too, like so many others, find it somewhat comforting at times.  There are other times when it's as if I'm in a trans.  I can be staring at the tv, not even listening to the show I tuned in to, my mind is a million miles away, or just thinking about everything that's going on in my life and I will even think to myself that I need to stop picking, but I stop for a minute only to realize an hour or so later that I'm still picking!!!!!!   Why???  I relate it to stress and times when I'm feeling overwhelmed and depressed.  I recently added venlafaxine to my arsenal of medications along with a new pain reliever called Tramadol, though I've had a set back with some of the meds causing stomach upset.  When I'm sick to my stomach, I have little desire to even get out of bed, let alone pick at myself so I'd say that the new meds are only helping me to stop picking because they've made me "too sick to pick"!!!!  I've even started sleeping with my bra on to prevent myself from scratching the itch that most women feel when they first remover their bra.  Apparently I do a lot of scratching in my sleep, from my arms and breasts to my stomach and my legs.  When my skin feels dry or itches, I scratch!!!  And scratch, and scratch......until I bleed, causing lots of ugly scabs that are there for days, weeks, even months.  Because I can't stop picking!  It helps to know that I'm not the only one who suffers from this type of compulsive behavior.  Something that has helped me in the past that might be of help to any of you women.......if you can afford the luxury of acrylic nails, have them put on and maintain them for as long as you can.........it's nearly impossible to pick (or scratch) when you have them on, no matter how hard you try.  For those who can't afford acrylic nails and any men who are suffering, try clipping your fingernails as short as possible.  That's what I do now and it helps a lot, as long as I clip them every couple of days.