eyelashes

Fuck.

I can't say I didn't know this would happen. I sort of did.

But I forgot.

So now that I have gotten rid of my addictions and my pharmaceuticals, I have the urge to pull my eyelashes out.

It was a compulsion I had since I was a little girl. I don't understand how or why I ever started. My eyelids bothered me; they itched and sometimes one or the other would twitch. I know it sounds disgusting. Here's the worst:
I pinched my eyelashes between my thumb and index finger and I pulled. My eyelashes came out one or two at a time. Sometimes I continued until I had no eyelashes on one eye.

I did this fairly regularly until I started Prozac and Xanax, years ago. I don't even remember when I started taking Prozac and Xanax. It's been well over one decade and probably two. In all these years I have not pulled my eyelashes out.

Tonight, if I were not typing, I would be tugging over my right eye. My eyelid feels hot. I started to pull at my eyelashes earlier tonight while I was watching a movie. I became fully aware that I was tugging at my lashes and I forced myself to stop before I had pulled a single one.

If I am to overcome this really embarrassing tic, I'm going to have to think of a plan.

to be continued.

 

Something that might help is having your eyelashes tinted. You're going to be less willing to pull at your eyelashes if you invested money in them. It's worth a try, just be sure to have it done by a licensed professional if you decide to go this route.

 

I've never heard of a compulsion like that before, but the weird itchy feeling I know very well; I sometimes get a phantom itch at the end of my nose and no matter how hard I scratch it,it just doesn't go away.....it's bloody annoying.

 

I used to do that when I was a child. Two things I can think of could have been the cause, and maybe you can relate to this. I don't know-- 1) I still lived with my parents. They abused me. The tic could have been a result of the trauma. 2) Allergies. My parents' house was foul. There were 15 cats and my father chain_smoked. (Nobody did any cleaning.) I'm allergic to both of those things, and whenever I was home and exposed, my eyes itched severely.

How I quit: I decided to Stop It. By that, I mean that I formed a conscious resolution to quit. Whenever I caught myself doing it, I restrained myself. The first day, I remember having to stop myself around 100 times. The second day wasn't so bad. It took a few days of conscious effort.

 

This sounds like a classic case of Trichotillomania, if you didn't know that already. I've actually heard of several people with this same problem, only not with their eyelashes but their hair on their head. I do remember eyelashes still falling under the category of Trichotillomania though.

So maybe you could look that up if you haven't already to learn more about it and maybe find out why you do it and if you can find some help for a plan because while I'm aware of it, I'm not really an expert on the subject.

 

Thank you, MikeOekiM, socko, dopemegently, and spork.

I've been following the research and publishing on Trichotillomania for years. I have a few theories about why I started pulling but I choose not to disclose those.

I like the suggestion to tint my eyelashes. I will look into it.

Yesterday I discovered that a brow wax is close enough to make me feel good.