Eating the scabs from picking linked to eating disorder?

I'm a 54 year old female who has been "picking & eating" since my teens. Yes, that's right, approximately 40 or more years now! How disgusting is that? I finally admitted that I have a serious problem, the skin picking and eating scabs is so far out of control I have scarred my navel, upper arms and my legs beyond belief. I had abdominal surgery in 2002 and my navel is still infected from scab picking 6 full years later. Now I'm actually acting on this terrible addiction as some very close friends of mine got together when I was away on vacation to discuss it and when I returned did an "intervention" so to speak. I was so embarrased and ashamed of myself that I am actually making the first step to do something about it. It has been the hardest and loneliest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. I have told my health care provider and have asked to be referred to a mental health facility for an in-patient program, not only to deal with this issue but obviously others like low self-esteem, binge eating, compulsive overeating, a financially crushing shopping addiction, depression and anxiety. Multiple issues to say the least. I just want everyone to know the following... Believe me, other skin pickers and scab eaters...if you think that others don't notice you are doing it...you are sadly mistaken. I can only be thankful that these very dear and close friends of mine love and care enough for the screwed up person that I am to want to help and stand by and support me through this very critical time in my life. I have cried myself silly since I realized people around me have witnessed my habit. What actually made me see how bad the problem is was when I returned from vacation with a co-worker of 30+ years travelling with her for the first time, she mentioned to one of the "intervention" friends that she would never travel with me again because it repulsed her and she couldn't wait for the vacation to end...and here I thought we had a great time travelling together. Boy, was I sadly mistaken! I know it's not going to be an easy road but it is one I must travel. I know not everyone can go down the road I have chosen but I do wish you all good things in life on any path you choose whether it be to deal or not to deal with this issue. I hope I haven't offended anyone as this is definitely not my intention, but I have to tell you it feels soooooooooo good to share with others who have this same affliction.

hello. im a 16 year old guy. i pick my scabs wenever i have dem nd eat da scabs. i never knew y. i used to tink cuz i saw my dad doing it. im kinda bi ploar,, but not very badly. i take break ups bad and all that nd iv done it since i was like 9. i av scars on my for arms that are fading now, but i still do it....... eh,, y do people do this? is it pyshological or us a habbit we got in2?

It is such a relief to find others who understand this problem. I am 32 female, married, no kids. I am an accomplished person with three college degrees and working on my second graduate degree. No one would ever guess that I have this picking issue. As I type this, I do so with bandaids on both of my thumbs because I pick the skin around them until the sides of my thumbs are open wounds. My arms have sores all over them that I have picked and picked. My legs have a nice collection of sores as well that I pick at. I also eat the scabs. I tell people that the sores come from mosquito bites that I have scratched. That is a lie. I have Keratosis pilaris and I pick the little bumps causing sores to form. I then pick the scabs. Even my husband doesn't know that I am basically causing these sores to form myself. He believes the mosquito story. It's embarassing and I am trying desperately to stop. I have made a decision that tonight was the last time I will pick. It will be hard to break free, but I am going to try and substitute another habit such as working out, which I enjoy, but haven't done for a long time. I cannot keep going on with picking at my skin. I am on Zoloft already. I also have a perscription for Xanax, which I will start taking more regularly to help with the picking issue. Thank you everyone for being here and contributing to this forum. None of us are alone. It helps to know that especially when no one around you seems to understand and constantly tells you to stop picking...as if it were that easy.

Hi there. Reading these posts today has been helpful for me, if only to know I'm not alone in this compulsion to pick and consume bits of my own skin. I've had a combination of OCD and depression since childhood, the OCD first manifesting itself in me washing my hands with harsh chemicals (Comet, rubbing alcohol, etc.). I've started on a low dose of generic Zoloft, but it doesn't seem to be helping (low dose only because of my low body weight -- about 85 pounds). If anybody has any new suggestions on dealing with dermatillomania, I'd be eager to know. Thanks so much, and good luck in your healing processes.

I am new to this site and have many similarities to what has been described here. I am 43, female, and have been picking since I was young. I have Keratosis pilaris, a "common skin condition in which a protein in the skin called keratin forms hard plugs within hair follicles" (quoted from AARP.com medical definitions). My mom used to pick these off me and my sisters when we were little. I don't blame her for this, or for my now OCD skin picking, even if it contributed to this. I remember pulling out the hairs on my knees when I was young, too. For a time I picked my scalp, badly, for over a year. I don't pick my scalp now, but I have scars, open sores & lots of scabs or bloody spots all over my arms (this past year is the first time my forearms have been a real target), and my buttocks, and my legs. This past month I have gone very wild picking my calves, then I started on my tummy, breasts, and inner thighs, more than I used to. Then, yesterday I started on my face! I have always been able to limit my face to only what a normal would pick if they pretty much never pick. Stupid me! I have my niece's bridal shower on Saturday, and her wedding next Wednesday, and here I am with sores all over my body and even infection on my face (I have occasional flare-ups of infection pockets in a few areas of my face. One is right smack dab in the middle of my big fat nose, and one next to the inside of my eyebrow- right where everybody looks!!!) Anyway, Today I have decided to wage war on this demon of mine! I am so compelled and so obsessed and can't stop even when I am late for something and people are waiting on me and I am telling myself STOP! over &over, I just... can't! But now, I have found this site & info so I am really going to make a real effort to STOP! and at the very least, get back in major control so I can stop. Well, I have a real question for everyone. Have you had Rheumatic Fever or lots of cases of Strept throat? I did have Rheumatic Fever when I was 5, and I had Strept throat on & off until my tonsils were removed at age 16. There is a possible link between this and OCD. I found this article called PANDAS THE OCD/STREP CONNECTION, written by Marc W. Reitman, MD. It intrigued me. Please reply! Thanks! OmniSekhmet

I am a 48 year old female. I've always bitten my nails, my toenails when I was a kid & my finger nails. I always ate the thumbs out of my mittens as a kid. I chewed on shirts that were tight around my neck. I pick my nose & eat my buggers. I pick scabs. I place bandaids over the scabs to stop picking, and I then break out where the bandaid adhesive was & get 2 more spots to pick at. My scalp is constantly broke out with zits, which I pick, scab over, and I pick again. I eat the scabs as well. I went through a bad time with anemia. During that time I craved dirt & chalk. I was able to not pick up dirt in the driveway to eat, but I did eat chalk. I would eat 1/2 piece of chalk at a time 4-5 times a day & still crave chalk even though I am no longer anemic. My mother says that as a small child I would eat dirt. I have been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, diabetes, under active thyroid, sleep apnea, and am being treated with 6 prescriptions & a cpap machine. I used to smoke but was able to quit. I abused alcohol when I was in my late teens & early 20s, smoked marijuana, snorted cocaine, and also tried acid & hash. I no longer do those things, but again I have 6 medications. I've decided that I'm not going to worry about the nail biting, scab picking, or bugger eating. As long as nothing is infected, I figure I'm not hurting anyone. I don't want more medications & I've seen a dermatologist who basically said "Don't pick". Was no help at all. Good luck to everyone who wants to stop, but for me, I do it in private & it's ok.

You are NOT disgusting! You're just a person dealing as best you can, like everyone else. Are you still in contact with whomever first diagnosed you with depression? If you trust them and feel comfortable you should tell them about the picking, the bulimia...all of it. Because it could all be related, like you mentioned, to OCD. Which is chemical disorder. It's biological, and it's not your fault. You didn't choose it, but there are things you can do so you won't feel out of control. Firstly, begin forgiving yourself because you didn't do anything wrong! It's easier than it sounds but you can get there. Find a therapist, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, physician or any health care professional that you trust! They are not all created equal, people (myself included) have a tendency take the word of health care professionals as law and silently allow them to usher us out the door. If you can, interview a few and find one you like, after all he/she will be working for you!

I have a cure for this. if you feed a pet bitter food, it will not want the bitter food. the human is also the same. if you dont like the taste of something then you dont eat it. buy a lotion that has a bitter taste to it. Or buy lotion and add 25% tarter seasoning to a mix. put this on your picking spots. over time you will think of bitterness before you pick. always think to apply when you want to pick. or make it a morning habbit to apply. you can also try hypnosense. one can make the mind think of it being vary painful to pick. and bitter to eat. lastly you can change your outlook views. one can do anything. Anything!!!. you control your life so prove it. tell your self its bad/wrong/gross and think of these when you get the feeling. or think of people watching you 24/7 on hidden video camera. think of theres being able to mind read all your habbits and thouts. most people that eat scabes are low on iron. some even like the taste of blood. try asking a doctor to see if your iron in take is low. this dose not cure a habbit you started over a lack of iron. also some skin infections make these scabes. theres also a texture to taste, smell and feel. its like sun flower seeds. most like the taste texture and smell. this makeing them compulsive eatters. the texture on the teeth added with the taste. this makes the compulsive to pick and eat scabs. you dont just put it in your mouth. you also feel it. what happens when you lose track of a scab... you feel as if you lost your house keys and you where late of work. or looking for the tv remote. doing this makes it a habbit. hope any of this was of help

I have been picking and eatting my scabs since I were a little boy. My family wasn't abusive at all, but since my very young school years I have been very fat, and got all the abuse in the world at school. Stupid children can be so freakin' harsh. I used to pick scabs on my legs. Sometimes, I would pick my dandruff until it bled, and then keep picking the scabs, for weeks, even months. One time, I had picked so many scabs in my hair, I felt my whole head throbbing. One other favorite spot is my back, behind my shoulders. Sometimes, I would plan my scabs, how many days should I leave them alone so I could get the best possible scab to pick. I also obsessively bite my fingernails and pick my nose, going the whole nine yards. I knew, theoretically, that I wasn't alone, but finding this site made me really feel that I am not alone. I don't think stopping this habit is what I really need. I need somehow to tackle the deeper trauma that is causing me to act this way on my body. Cause treating only the symptom, I don't think it will do much for the real cause. I wish I have the money soon to seek professional help.

Hello Everybody, I feel a lot better knowing there are a lot of people out there with this habit. I, myself am not a picker, but somebody very close to me is; my boyfriend. I have been with my boyfriend for almost 1 year. He is such an amazing, intelligent, loving, wonderful boyfriend. I started noticing blood stains on his sheets one morning, and I thought it was from me at first, thinking that maybe I started my period, but I did not see any result of that on me. I was a bit confused, but after time I noticed him doing something strange in bed with me. We would be watching movies or trying to go to sleep and he would lay on his side with his arm in the back of his boxers and I could feel the movement of him doing something back there that didn't seem normal. It got so bad that I would have to distract him from doing what ever it was that he was doing with out him knowing that I noticed he was doing something back there to get him to stop so I could go to bed. One day I woke up and there was blood all over my white sheets and quilt. I immediately put two and two together, "My boyfriend picks the scars on his ass till he bleeds. " I was pretty angry about the fact that he did not fess up to bleeding all over my white sheets. I just figured he was too embarrassed, so I let it go. Well, 7 months have gone by, and it is just getting out of control. He continues to pick his ass and now I have noticed he eats them. I do not have the heart to say anything to him, knowing how embarrassing that must be, being confronted by your girlfriend bout something so private. But the worst part about it is after he is done, he will go to kiss me and his mouth/lips smell like ass, along with his hands. I am so repulsed by it, but again, I do not have to heart to say anything so I just turn my head and act like I don't notice. I am so conflicted on what to do here. I love him dearly, but I do not want to upset him by confronting him and telling him how much this bothers me. It is unsanitary and just plain gross. Why does he do it when I am laying next to him? Doesn't he realize that I am very observant and I will notice?? Last thing, I stayed the night at his place recently and he thought I was a sleep while he was reading at his computer and I saw him pick the dead skin off his feet and eat it. WHY?? What do I say? What do I do? It is comforting to know he is not the only one. Thanks, Helpless Girlfriend

Hi, So I guess I am not the only one that does it. I am 30, and I don´t remember exactely when I started picking but I do recall I was just a child. I bite my cheecks, my lips, I eat my cuticles, I also cut dry skin from my feet and I eat them. I pick my scalp and I eat the scabs. I remove my acne and eat it. I know this is disgusting and I try to do it when there is nobody else watching me. The thing about the car, I also do it, and I guess it is a kind of safe place, because there you are alone. I tried once a therapist but it didn´t work for me. Now I try to control myself but I am not going to any doctors. I realy don´t know if I should see one. I hope we all can fight this problem.

Hi Caroline, I haven't heared about this type of disorder when a person eats the scabs he/she picks. However it does seem connected with your past eating disorder. CSP is often connected with this or other even in the past, and in your case it seems only logical. Have you tried going to a therapist before? I think that in cases like this psychology might answer a lot of questions, and also direct you towards asking the right ones.