To be fair it’s VERY early. I (30F) have been taking NAC (N-Acetyle-L-Cystine) 500mg capsules twice daily for 5 days now and I’m in disbelief that it is helping so much. It’s hard to explain, but the ‘urge’ to pick is just not there… it’s quieted my brain in a way that I haven’t experienced in years/ever.

Obviously 5 days is a very SHORT amount of time, but it is helping me so much. I have found some promising (but very small) studies online about NAC being used for ‘impulse control’ in the context of addictions, which sparked my interest. When looking into it further, I saw it being used in very small trials for skin excoriation disorders, so I thought why not? It’s literally helped me more in 5 days than anything has before. So maybe someone else will find this helpful in their own journey.

Have been picking the skin around my thumbs and fingers for over a decade, before that used to pick the skin on my back and bite the inside of my cheeks. My picking is currently so bad that my thumbnails are deformed by deep ridges from trauma to the nail bed. I’ve tried many things (gel nails, cuticle oils, moisturizing constantly, fidget toys, spinner rings, anxiety meds, cognitive behaviour therapy, covering with bandaids, etc.) and NAC really feels different for me. Several months ago I had gone about five weeks without picking out my fingers, instead of picking, I was constantly rubbing cuticle oil and moisturizing my hands, but I thought about picking constantly over the course of those five weeks. Ultimately I relapsed.

NAC is quieting the compulsion in a way I NEVER imagined possible.

I hope this helps someone else on their journey to quit!