Metanoia™ asked:
Every since I could remember I’ve had anxiety. I’m 19 now and over the past few years it’s only gotten worse. I can’t call and order food or set up appointments to do things cause i get anxious that somehow I’ll say something stupid on the phone and look dumb. I can’t get a job because I’m too scared of people looking at me weird, or if they are going to teach me how to do the job I somehow won’t learn it fast enough then I’ll be laughed at and looked at as stupid. I can’t ask people for directions .. I hate using public restrooms, that makes me really anxious also. I can’t really talk on the phone in public .. etc. I also have a horrible skin picking compulsion that has gotten worse over the years. I was also diagnosed with BPD three years ago and I have all the problems that comes a long with that, but it doesn’t explain all these other problems I have with anxiety and skin picking. This has really destroyed my quality of life and I feel like giving up.
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Every since I could remember I’ve had anxiety. I’m 19 now and over the past few years it’s only gotten worse. I can’t call and order food or set up appointments to do things cause i get anxious that somehow I’ll say something stupid on the phone and look dumb. I can’t get a job because I’m too scared of people looking at me weird, or if they are going to teach me how to do the job I somehow won’t learn it fast enough then I’ll be laughed at and looked at as stupid. I can’t ask people for directions .. I hate using public restrooms, that makes me really anxious also. I can’t really talk on the phone in public .. etc. I also have a horrible skin picking compulsion that has gotten worse over the years. I was also diagnosed with BPD three years ago and I have all the problems that comes a long with that, but it doesn’t explain all these other problems I have with anxiety and skin picking. This has really destroyed my quality of life and I feel like giving up.
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#1 by mini roo on June 5, 2009 - 3:18 pm
It sounds like you have Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and maybe Social Anxiety. You also have symptoms of Trichotillomania, which is strongly related to OCD and anxiety disorders. I have all these symptoms also, i understand how u feel, i have depression, OCD, social phobia and trictillomania. All of these conditions seem to be caused by a deficit in the chemical “serotonin” in the brain. SSRIs, many times, will help with all of these symptoms. SSRIs raise serotonin levels in the brain…but you have to take the SSRI for around a month for it to start working.
Other treatments that have worked for me include nicotine gum (very effective, it has been shown to reduce OCD and anxiety symptoms, however after long term use, its positive effects may diminish). Tramadol, an unsheduled opiate, has been shown to reduce depressive, anxiety, and OCD symptoms very effectively. It functions as a weak opiate and a weak SNRI. However tolerance develops rapidly.
#2 by MattNJ on June 7, 2009 - 4:14 pm
I assume you take medication so in addition I suggest meditation and if you use alcohol-don’t it gives you some help for a while and then adds to anxiety afterwards.(I would try Tramadol instead but extremly responsibly and only if you take no medication- it will relax you ,lasts long enough and no hangover(unless U missuse it or start to take it regurally or increase doses).
If you dont take medication I would try tramadol and if works as I wrote stop and ask doctor for lexapro or placiebo.(Don’t combine lexapro and tramadol)
And of course its just a “home made” suggestion.I would go to a doctor as a first choice!!!
#3 by PhuQue on June 9, 2009 - 3:02 am
you need to settle this skin picking problem. See an infectous disease Dr that follows the ILADS guidelines for diagnostic blood work PCR c3a c4a and whatever else he wants to do. The ILADS tested 1800 patients with anxiety and depression disorders and found that over 30% of this 1800 actually had bacterial blood infections…skin picking is a sign of these infections..you may even have lyme or morgellons disease. I suffered for decades until finally in 2006 I found the right Dr and was put on the right medications , the treatment is very difficult. My life is so different now..the drawback was that instead of dieing I had to go on disablilty for life as I mentioned the treatment is very difficult.
#4 by Cathy on June 11, 2009 - 9:53 pm
I have skin picked all my life. Any where, like eyebrows, face, especially fingers: I have nail bite yrs ago, my present favorite is picking my cuticles till they bleed. This habit goes on every evening and I hide my hands in public. Well I found a cure and the skin picking has completly stoped. It is the fake nails they put on in the salon. When i have my nails done -i do not pick-i don’t know why but it works for me. It cost 200$ yearly, but it is worth it!