[catfish123]

I am so upset. I haven't picked myself in two years. I quit smoking and have noticed that I started picking my skin with a vengeance. I have horrible red marks and sores all over my face, neck, arms, and lower back. I've been on two rounds of antibiotics for a skin infection. I am so sore I have to sleep in our recliner downstairs so I don't roll over and hurt them more. I am a bloody mess. I feel like I want to start smoking again so maybe this will stop. I'm in so much pain. I can't start smoking because my husband got me a Himalayan kitten for stopping. I also want to stay healthy for me and my family. I'm embarrassed for anyone to see my skin. My husband is understanding as well as one of my sons who is a psychiatric nurse. HELP!

[bluekoi]

catfish123, You poor dear. Read the article below. I know we are talking about Dermatillomania, but maybe some of the meds would be helpful? Take care.

Compulsive Hair Pulling: Understanding and Treating Trichotillomania | Psych Central

[standardizedgirl]

I've gone through this. I've picked away to the point where I looked like I was attacked my a cat. Eating Starbursts when anxious along with klonopin helps.

[ChildlikeEmpress]

((((((catfish))))))
I suffer with this too, I am so sorry you are in pain. I had a good stretch where I was not picking/chewing also but then started up again when things got super stressful. I don't have any good advice about making it go away forever but in the past I found it helpful to get a bunch of leather or other thick type of fabric pieces and use a hot glue gun to put tons of little glue dots all over them. Then go about picking the glue off. It felt similar to picking my skin, especially with the leather so it would give my skin a break for awhile.
Oh yeah -- also I found crocheting to put me in a similar trance-like state as picking.... so it's a healthier way to numb out for awhile. It's just hard to get to yarn and crochet hook when you are trying to go about your day and do stuff. But, it helps with anxiety to get a chunk of time to do that. Do you have any hobby like that which is real repetitive that could be relaxing?