Yasmin works for me

[Caileag]

I have been picking my arms, face, shoulders and chest for 13 years. I began shortly after having my first child. I am now 35 years old.
I have tried: wearing gloves, cutting my nails completely off, thought stopping, yoga, snapping a rubber band on my wrist, vaseline, bandaides, asprin ground up and put on sores, hydrogen peroxide, neosporin, oral antibiotics and acne medication from the dermatologist, scar reducing cream, skin lightener, dermablend, proactive, bandages completely covering my arms, knitting, avoiding mirrors...you name it and I have probably tried it. Nothing has worked or improved my situation until....
Four months ago I changed birth control pills from Orthotricyclen to Yasmin. With a week I had gone from picking 1-2 hours a day to less than 5 minutes a day. Some days I forget to pick at all. The only thing I can attribute this to is the Yasmin. I am not on any other medication and nothing else in my routine or diet has really changed.
It certainly is not a will power issue-I have none! I still have the urge to pick, just not as strong. My arms are still scarred but they look a thousand percent better and I am considering wearing a short sleeved shirt (without dermablend) for the first time in 13 years.
I thought this information might be helpful to someone else.
There is hope.

[Froglet not signed in]

How do you even go about getting on such drugs?
Ive been to the doctor, and they sent me to a psycologist. All he did was talk to me about breaking the cycle stuff. I knew all that already, it would have been more usefull i think to address the underlying issues that cause me to pick, since I have trouble pin pointing them myself. Ive never been back about it. When I called skin picking a condition he told me ' lets not make it into something it isnt - this is just a bad habit, an addiction. What a jerk. I really want to stop picking, but the feeling I got from the Psycologist, that this wasn't a real problem, put me off seeking help again.
Lara

[Caileag]

I have had bad habits before such as biting my nails. That was easy to quit. For me this is something besides a bad habit and I don't think even some of the "professionals" understand that. Don't let one stupid person put you off of seeking help. There are a range of psychologists out there from great to mediocre to plain bad...just like in any profession.

My dermatologist acted like he had never heard of such a thing when I got up the nerve to talk to him about it. I explained it like this. Picking my skin is like brushing my teeth. It is something I feel is necessary to make me feel clean even though my brain knows it just makes me look and feel worse in the long run. It would actually be easier to stop brushing my teeth.

Yasmin is easy to get onto since it is a birth control pill and not a psychiatric drug. Any doctor or nurse practitioner can prescribe it. However, as with all birth control pills, you can't be a smoker and it contraindicated for people with clotting disorders.

I am sure not all picking is hormonally linked so it won't help everyone. But I had never even thought of a hormonal link before and thought there was NO help for me so I was really surprised that this medication made a difference.

[lifetimepicker]

Your scenario sounds exactly like mine, unfortunately I'm on Yasmin and it didn't help me. I think it's supposed to help clear the skin so maybe if your skin doesn't breakout to begin with you can't find as much to pick at. I am also taking meds for anxiety disorder. They help the anxiety but they don't seem to help with the picking. The best cure for me is to keep busy. I pick more when I'm bored.

[lurker]

i switched to yasmin and it helped too ! but after a month it just seemed to stop and im picking again
whenever i get uptight nervous or anxious, which happens often my hand gravitates to the face. its so embarrasing. im so ashamed