Replied by Jane (Blackfoot, Id 83221) on 08/18/2010
It sounds like you have ocd(obsessive compulsive disorder). I have it too. It comes in many forms from picking out your hair, eyelashes, hoarding things, excessive worry about cleanliness, checking to see if the door is locked, etc. My mom said when I was a baby I pulled out my hair so much she had to put mittens on my hands. It is sometimes activated by certain things. I think when I got pregnant the second time it got worse. My daughter got strep throat and pulled out almost all of her eyelashes. I wouldn't have believed this but there is an ocd foundation which publishes a newsletter. You can write to them. (not sure of address. )You might look under earthclinic and hair pulling. I think my symptoms got a lot better with taking acv(apple cider vinegar). Hope this helps! God bless you!Replied by Tom (Regina, Sk) on 08/21/2010
Jane:
All alphabet acronyms are just labels given by the mainstream medicos for "syndromes", a hodgepodge eclectic list of real symptoms (not in the patient's head! ). So ADD from one doc could easily be diagnosed (or misdiagnosed) as ADHD by another. Or OCD. Or anything else.
This site has a library full of recent news as well as science behind the effects of the thousands of artificial chemicals we are exposed to daily, and the imbalances and sickness and symptoms they cause:
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/
Example right off the main site page:
Artificial colours pose risks of cancer, hyperactivity in children, and allergies, and should be banned, according to a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. A top government scientist agrees, and says that food dyes present unnecessary risks to the public. See Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006291.html.
From July 21st 2010, a warning about artificial colours: "may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children" must be used on foods in the EU. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:354:0016:0033:en:PDF. This warning is not required in Australia where it is still up to parents to read labels. So, I realize someone may have been diagnosed from an early age, but all that may mean is that the chemicals are still in the system. After that is gone through, if there's nothing extreme found there, then the next likely cause I think is a shortage of critical minerals, first in the diet then in the body. There are some very good multi-mineral supplements out there like the fulvics and a few pill/capsule supplements (but not those average "daily multi-minerals" you see mass advertised, IMHO. )
The key is to find one that has at least 60 mineral complexes, with as many as up into the seventies! A label check of those regular "daily multimineral pills" shows most have at most about 15 or so. OCD as a true symptom of a real mineral deficiency is no different than people with very poor deficient diets who have a craving for eating DIRT, because dirt can contain not only those missing minerals, but homeostatic beneficial bacteria. It's called pica. So there's 2 possible causes to start with, one of things in the diet that shouldn't be there, and one of things not in the diet that should be.Replied by Noelle (Denton, Tx, Us) on 09/15/2010
To Jackie from Belfast, I too suffer from the compulsion that you described. I researched it once and found the name "psychogenic excoriation. " I had done it since I was 10 or so. It gets worse in times of stress or anxiety. I'm 40 and have dyed my hair for the last 20 years or so (premature grey hair runs in the family) but last year stopped dyeing my hair. That seems to have helped, but sometimes I still get the compulsion. Best of luck to you... I have no suggestions but you are not alone.Replied by Kay (Destin, Fl) on 03/05/2012
Some people have an OCD, but many people do this unconsciously when they are bored and/or inactive for too long.
My roommate has scarred her arms really bad from picking while watching TV; so I bought her the little rubber finger covers (in the bandaid section) and a tube of antibiotic ointment... Now instead of picking, the rubber finger tips remind her to put on the ointment instead... It works; her sores are almost healed up now!!! Next I will buy her aloe vera so she can rub it into the scars while she watches TV; hopefully they will heal up too. Then we will buy a long sleeve shirt with tight sleevs and find something else for her to fiddle with/pick at to replace her habit of picking at her arms... If it doesn't work, I hope she will pick the lint balls off all our sweaters and towels instead!
Replied by Metoo (Victoria, Bc, Canada) on 11/29/2012
I do this too and it's gotten pretty bad, but I can't pinpoint why I do it. The previous poster's comments about her roomate watching TV reminded me that I was way better when I used to play GameBoy (dating myself! ) or crochet while watching TV. Thank you so much! I'm going back to multi-hobbying!Replied by Hotlava (Seattle) on 10/21/2013
Try googling "PANDAS": pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with strep.
Many people are over exposed to strep in utero or during childhood from abcessed tonsils or tooth cavitations, leading to the body creating an autoimmune disorder in the brain. Often OCD behaviors develop a month or two after a wicked strep infection (loss of voice/deep sore throat/possible pneumonia- all strep related).
Just because it's called "pediatric" doesn't mean adults don't suffer from it! The research is pretty new (only 10 yrs or so), and only focuses on children, unfortunately. It seems that psychiatrists would rather diagnose "hysteria" than strep treating antibiotics and immunomodulation. The idea that psychiatric disorders could be a physical, rather than mental, illness is too radical for them (and their pharmaceutical overlords).
There are great parent support groups on "PANDAS" found online. Also consider plugging it into PubMed and take the abstracts to your doctor so they can educate themselves. Look particularly for "asymptomatic carriers of strep", if you have OCD behaviors but very few sore throats.
Often, kids get it from their parents, who had chronic sore throats during their childhoods and got their tonsils removed (but still had a lingering, asymptomatic infection)! Perhaps there is a genetic component as well, but infectious transmission makes more sense...
Vitamin A/zinc/magnesium, strong summer sunshine skin exposure (tan without a burn- use coconut oil), salt up the nose and down the throat (ex: clean ocean water), probiotics, organic-grass-fed bone broth (for the marrow), a real food diet (good nutrition makes for a healthy immune system), changing kitchen sponges and toothbrushes frequently, avoiding/removing silver amalgams and vaccines with thimerosol (the mercury in them could trigger autoimmunity) and taking strep antibiotics like azithromycin and cipro are all supportive for kicking a strep-induced OCD or impulse control disorder.
There are blood tests that can measure strep antibodies in the blood, and strep throat swabbs, to see if you have latent or active infections that warrent antibiotics.. symptoms can go away (although not permamently) after only a day of antibiotics!
Also, make sure any tooth removal or oral surgery heals up properly, emphasizing wound cleaning... infections can get locked inside "healed" bone and cause a strep foci for years to come.
Good luck...
Replied by Anonymous :) (Anonymous) on 04/21/2018
Hi there! I know exactly how you feel. I believe you have dermatillomania. The best way to deal with it is by seeing a psychologist. It has helped me a lot! Tell him/her what you have and they'll give you like a sign-up sheet so that you know how much and how many times you spend picking. The point for this is so that you have more awareness of what you are doing and it can help you prevent the situation. The is an app called SkinPick that does this for you where you can write what triggered it and how you feel afterwards. I also recommend meditating and keeping your affected areas as clean as possible AND moisture. When you moisturise often, you'll have a mindset of taking care of the affected areas instead of affecting them. I know this is really hard, but I know you can do it. I am still working on controlling the situation and being aware if what triggers the situation so that I can avoid it. REMEMBER, YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM OF DERMATILLOMANIA, BUT YOU ARE MAKING YOURSELF A VICTIM. You can fight this by believing you can do it and putting your best effort.
