After 5 years of hell I'm free

My scalp has healed. I no longer have excoriation disorder. I have zero compulsion to pick at my scalp. I’m free. Well, I still have OCD it’s just that I don’t have that manifestation anymore.

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Was it because you were taking NAC?

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No, it’s a medicine I’ve been taking the whole time. My pdoc just increased the dose. It’s The Topamax. For some people at higher doses it works on excoriation disorder. She doubled the dose and little by little the compulsion faded.

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And actually, now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t currently have any compulsions that I can think of.

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Yay! I’m happy for you. I know how much it bothered you.

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Thank you @Ooorgle my next haircut I won’t have to be embarrassed.

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As you know,

I have the same problem and tried to quit the past month because I knew I was getting my hair done and didn’t want to be embarrassed.

The stylist was cool so I told her I pick my scalp and she told me it was no big deal.

Then, as she separating my hair for the color, she told me my scalp looked really good and that she only saw a few spots that just looked like dandruff.

It was very encouraging.

Good luck with your next haircut and congratulations on the progress.

I know how hard it is to stop.

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Congrats & good job!! :relaxed::blossom: I knew a girl that picked her scalp & eyebrows. She was embarrassed about it. I hope she found a way to quit, eventually.

I’m happy for you! Big accomplishment!!

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Thank you @GoldenRex and @Blossom

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What great news!!! That must have been a tough habit to break.

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It’s one of the hardest things I’ve been through in my life. I was desperate. I tried everything, nothing worked. I was so unhappy about it and ashamed. And it’s gone. I’ve got 3 little dry patches left that will just go away with shampooing over time.

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Good news!
I’m so glad!

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I’ve heard that Topamax is good to treat alcoholics. I might ask for it myself. It’s been four and a half years since I last drank, but the compulsion is still there.

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If it works as well on alcoholism as it did on picking you should definitely give it a try.

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Thanks @Wave hey! you brought the good old avatar back, nice!

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Ha yes thanks, I switch back and forth between them :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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this one is my favorite!

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Congrats. For me my hairline has stopped receding since I haven’t been working. It was receding when I was working. I lost a little hair when I almost lost my job. I was working on a notch bar at work. I was very stressed out.

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Really that’s great. My girlfriend has Trichotillomania just wondering if that’s similar or you know anything that can help

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It is I believe similar in the sense that is on the OCD spectrum. I would think the same treatments would be tried for it. Some things they tried on me before the one that finally worked were bumping up my antidepressant, Naltrexone, NAC, and finally the thing that worked Topamax.

There is an old school ad that supposedly works really well on OCD but I wasn’t able to take it, Anafranil.

Other things I tried were replacing the behavior with another activity like squeezing a stress ball, I also tried wearing gloves, wearing a hat, and wearing fake fingernails.

tell her I said don’t give up, good luck

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