My new anti-depressant makes me less anxious but I have to rest more

[Scapegoated]

Hi,

My new anti-depressant is working better. I no longer feel anxious and like i HAVE to do something or people will think i am weird for being inside too much. I feel better so I am grateful. I also feel less angry. I was taking another antidepressant and it was making me anxious and more angry. THere is something that I do though and i am doing it more. It is not self harm it is part of my ocd. I have body dysmorphic disorder and part of that is grooming or skin picking the other part is distortion of my physical appearance so with this new antidepressant i am free of the physcial appearance distorion and that bothers me SO MUCH MORE it is torture. If i have dead skin on my feet I pick it. And I try to only remove the dead skin but sometimes i go too far*not often) but it's like with a hangnail and then i feel sad because it hurts. I have told someone about this and read about it and I was doing it with the last antidepressant but i am more aware now than i was when I was taking my previous medication. I am on another medication and I feel bad that I have the urge to fix the dead skin on my feet but i know this is ocd. I have never bled or anything from removing the dead skin but last night I took off a piece that was too close to the good skin. It is the same as when you bite your cuticles and you think you ae taking a hangnail off but then you take too much off. ANyway. At least I don't feel anxious-well obviously if i have ocd I still feel a little anxious but nothing like when i was on the other antidepressant. I feel calm and not caring so much what other people think. And my body dysmorphic disorder is much better. THat was really torturing me if you look at my other posts. I was really distorting my appearance on my medications together. I read an email to my friend that was so bizarre i thought i looked like someone who I have nothing in common with-but that is becaus eof something my mother said to me when i was little and my mind distorted it. I am very creative LOL! ANyway this is good news even though some of you are probably thinking that removing dead skin from my feet is gross. I remember when I was little my mother did that and i thought it was the most disgusting thing i had seen. And now I am doing it. Also my father bites his cuticles so I guess it runs in the family. But i did not do it when I was five. And i only do it when I get callouses. Hope i did not gross anybody out.

[DJay___]

Hey there.

I hear you on the skin picking. I have been doing it for 40 odd years. I can't seem to stop. I get my feet healed and then a bit cracks and I just try to neaten it up but it never is that and I keep going. Its nasty and I'd love to stop it. I hope to one day as I like walking and being in bare feet but yeah, not being able to walk coz feet are picked bad in one spot, not good.

I don't have an answer for you and it didn't gross me out. I too suffer and do the same thing.

[HappyHelper88]

Hi Scapegoated, Thankkyou for your post
i am so glad to hear, anti depressants are trial and error for which one works best for each person, i tried multiple before i found a good fit but its never a perfect fit
Thats great that you have more awareness this time

Have you ever spoken to a Professional about this? GP, Psychologist,Psychiatrist i think they could work with you to help find triggers for your OCD. Its always worth a try to get some advice

If you want to talk this through with a Beyond Blue counsellor, we’re on 1300 22 4636 or you can reach us on webchat. Please remember to reach out whenever you need to.
Feel free to keep sharing, other members will likely be able to relate to what you’re going through.

[n2k12]

yea i hear you on the skin picking, its common. I also nail pick, and toe nail pick, down to the bedded part. sore, and some blood. sorry for the gross. it seems to be an automatic thing. same as biting nails. There may be alternative SSRI's or SNRI's. a good practice i find, is to give each treatment a month, then discussing it with your GP. its trial and error. yea,its frustrating. but good luck!