Avatar Posted by SnrF41 188 days ago (Question)
I have been wondering this for a while now, because I have a weird habit of eating things off of my body. I don't eat like, soap or rocks or paper or anything, but I eat like, scabs, dandruff, boogers and eye mucus.i am concerned because I do not know what it could do to my body by eating this stuff. I have been doing it for as long as I can remember and I'm 18 years old now and still doing it. I would see a doctor about it but have no insurance or money to do so. Could I get someone's honest opinion please??
Also, I know it sounds disgusting, but please don't judge me. We all have our own problems we deal with everyday... Thank you all.


Answers


Chemar
188 days ago
It's really difficult to answer a question like this as you do need a professional clinical evaluation for such a diagnosis.

The potential for health problems that I can see would be possible infection if there was any contamination of what you are eating.

I know you said you had no money for a doctor but there are state and county health clinics that will see patients on a sliding scale so if you are not employed it would be a very low fee.
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bella
188 days ago
I agree its best to be honest with a doctor about this and there are free clinics that offer care. Usually PICA involves eating inedible things and I'm not sure if eating stuff from your own body counts as PICA. There are other diagnoses, that involve picking/eating things from your body.

Do you pull hair? Please get the right help since you run the risk of getting staph infection and secondary infection from picking scabs. Try keeping your hands bust and when you feel the urge, get busy with something else. Maybe keeping sunflower seeds nearby, would help with the fidgeting urge. If you can't control these urges, then please get some help. Are you obsessive in any other ways - this could indicate OCD and you can look into 'compulsive skin picking'. Good luck in controlling this.
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Starfall
185 days ago
I think you should try to get a doctor for this. But if you really can't at the moment, maybe it would be good to try and analyze it on your own a bit? Is there any particular reason why you eat those sort of things? Do you like the flavor or texture or whatever else? Can you remember what set it off? Any other issues in your life that could be affecting it?
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