Another new member

[jules]

Hi All,

I've been lurking on this board for a while, looking for support. It has really helped me to read about "people like me" and I am very greatful that this board exists.

I am a 25-year-old female from the states. Have been picking my face since I was 14 or so. I have mild to moderate acne, but will pick at "nothing" for hours as well, like many of you will know.

I have had many episodes when I would miss school/university/work because of a picking session. It has limited me greatly in my social life as well. Everything would be centered around how my skin looks that day. And again, it has helped tremendously knowing that I am not alone and not a complete freak who has this horrible problem.

Thank you all for being here.

Jules

[Me2]

Hi Jules!

Welcome to the board. I am 27, from british columbia, Canada. I am having some luck with a new medication. I hope you will do a search on seroquel on this site, to find out what I am talking about. I am not the only one that it works for.

Take care,

Fay

[hoppe]

Jules -
I want to welcome you to the board also. I hope this place will help you. And thank you for your posts in my journal.

I am sorry you have missed a lot in your life because of this. We are in the same boat - but I guess you know already from reading my journal .... I am spending another saturday hiding indoors, because I look like such a freak .... .


Fay -
Seroquel really seems to be a wonder drug for you. I read about it in every post from you. Funny thing is, my boyfriend works at the company who invented it. I could not help telling him that they at least made one person very very happy! ;D But maybe you should remember that we all are different and this drug might not have the same great effect on everybody else.


Wishing you both a nice, pick-free day.

hoppe

[jules]

Thank you for welcoming me to the board, Fay and Hoppe.

Fay, congrats on the drug working for you. I personally haven't seriously considered it yet, but may be it is something I should consider...

Hoppe, sorry that you are hiding today. It is so lonely and isolating to hide on weekends because of the picking when everyone is out there enjoying their days. I hope tomorrow will be a better day for you.

I also picked a few spots yesterday. The thing that gets me is that I have an event to go to today and I've been able to control the picking for a whole week in anticipation of the event. But what do you know, I go and ruin it the night before! I now have a "shot between the eyes" kind of look because I concentrated on that area.

How frustrating.

Jules

[Me2]

Hi Hoppe,

For some reason, I can't get around being a little bit bugged by your reply. I know that you only meant to remind me of people's differences, but there are are a few things that I'd like to point out. You can't have read about seroquel in all of my posts, because I have been a member on this board for a year and a half, and have only been taking seroquel for 2 months. I don't want anyone to think that I might be one of the few people who post on this site who are just trying to advertise for the products they use. Also, I wouldn't have tried seroquel if I hadn't heard about it from Moon on this forum. We are all trying to get better and help each other get better as well. I know that everyone is different. I also know that Seroquel is making a major change in my life, and it has definitely been worth trying. Interesting that your boyfriend works for the company that invented it! Is there anything that I should know about it? I hope you are well today, and I also hope that you take this post as just a clarifier. Sometimes it is difficult to read the tome of a written message. I wish you all the best.

Fay

[brad]

Fay,

Way off topic here, but I read about the seroquel in a report a dr. published. He said it was mainly for Schizophrenia, but it did in fact help a lot of people stop picking. He stressed that even though it was a med for shizophrenia, it didn't mean you had it if you used it to help stop picking (I don't know the medical term).

The only reason I bring this up is I am a med phobic, and am a bit wary about meds in this category. What does the seroquel make you feel like? Are there any weird side effects?

Jules, I am new here too and one "bit" that helped me from the forums was the statement "Your skin will heal itself if you let it" It hit me like a ton of bricks. So simple, so rational, so scientific why had it never occurred to me to stress that to myself?

[Me2]

Hi Brad!

I only take 100mg, 3 times/day. A person with schizophrenia may take at least 800. My psych thinks that reason it works for skin picking, even when related to OCD is that skin picking often results from a semi delusional belief about the skin blemishes we focus on and pick. Its just his theory though.

The first few days I was pretty sleepy. Also, I had a few days of hangover-like headaches. Now I feel so normal. More normal than I have for years. My skin just doesn't call to me in such an intense way. I can mostly let it go.

The one side effect that does bother me is the small weight gain I have experienced (8 pounds). I seem to have little control over my food cravings, and I have slightly less energy than I used to, and so I find it difficult to get enough gumption to do a lot of cardio. Also, I find I am (sorry) constipated. I use wheat bran in my granola to counteract this.

An example of the positive change: I am aware that I have a semi infected pimple on my chest. It has been there all day. I have made plans to wash it in the shower tomorrow morning, and I feel confident that I will be able to not pick it. That doesn't mean I am completely pick free. But, when it counts, I can hold off, so much better.

Good luck!

By the way, seroqel is the more gentle of this class of drugs. The next one on the the list to try in terms of effectiveness and lack of side effects would be risperidol.

Fay