Maybe not bird mites but scabies?

[Guest guest]

I'm starting to wonder whether I have scabies. Human scabies or

canine scabies.

A friend of mine had scabies long time ago and suggested about a

month ago that maybe I have it too but I dismissed the idea b/c I

don't have any of the symptoms that are associated w/ scabies, at

least the symptoms I read online. I don't have intense itching,

huge rashes, or skin burrows. Bear with me here...

So I've been getting a lot of the creepy crawlies on my face.

If I take a shower, I do the ESP soap 5-min leave-in or masque if I

take a bath.

Usually within one hour, I start to feel the crawlies on my face.

Not so much on my body though. When I'm around ppl and when I have

the crawlies, I can't help but notice that they begin to scratch

their face/bodies when around me, typically the ppl sitting closest

to me and on the sides that are facing me. For example, if someone

is sitting close to me and their left side is facing me, then they

will begin to scratch their left cheek, left eye... basically left

side of the body. One of my sisters, while very supportive of this

ordeal, thinks I'm being hypersensitive and over-analyzing. As far

as I'm concerned, I am not (I'm sure you've all had similar

experiences). The way ppl scratch isn't like when scratching itchy

dry skin. It's as if almost to pick off a particle from their skin,

using their thumb and index finger... or rubbing the tip of their

nose... or rubbing the eyes, digging into the tear duct part with an

index finger... do you get what I'm trying to say?

So today I googled, " crawling sensation on face " and ended up at a

scabies forum. Now this site seems like it's moderated by a company

called " safe2use " so I'm not sure if the moderators are just putting

good stuff up there to increase sales. But the symptoms described

in this post is exactly like what I have.

http://scabiesboard.lightjump.com/viewtopic.php?t=9

This Priscilla person describes black bugs (I had lots of black

specks in the beginning) and white fuzzies (I have white,

fuzzy " fiber mites " (that katiejill termed)). Does anyone have

experiences with scabies and safe2use products. Would you recommend

them?

As always, self diagnosis can be extremely misleading and often

times flat out wrong.

But as you guys know, I've been on the birdmites forum for almost 3

months now... I think I've gotten the environment controlled to a

point where it's livable (by only me of course!) but it's far from

over. I can knock them down but not eradicate them altogether. As

I realize that we are often dealing with different types of

critters, what may be working for one may not work for another.

What I have been dealing with are:

- I don't itch but I do get biting sensations.

- Some bites feel like bites - they hurt but tolorable. This

happens alot. Sometimes, twice in one min... randomly throughout

the day.

- Some bites are pin pricks and these hurt! They feel like stabs.

Fortunately this doesn't happen so often, especially now that I

always bake my clothes at 200F before wearing them. But I still may

get 5-10 a day when bad, maybe 2 that I can remember per day when

not so bad.

- I don't get raised bumps or welts

- If I look closely, I have tiny red dots - maybe those are where

I'm getting bit?

- I mentioned earlier that I get crawlies mainly on face... but

that's after taking a shower/bath, putting on freshly baked clothes

and walking out of the house. Then my face crawls. If I'm at home

all day, I do get crawlies throughout the body. A borax/epsom salt

mix sprayed onto the skin usually reduces the crawling feeling.

- When this first started, I used to see many black specks and white

specks.

- Now I don't really see black specks but only white specks.

Sometimes when I'm feeling crawly and look under black light, I have

white specks all over. If I spray down, lint roller, or vacuum

myself (with a brush attachment), I feel better and the crawlies are

reduced.

So I think I've mentioned that I got whatever it is I have from a

used car I bought almost 6 months ago. I don't think I've mentioned

however that the previous owner had 2 big golden retrievers and he

also mentioned that he and his wife rescue dogs. Infact, they've

rescued something like 19 dogs in the past 2 years. Now it all

seems to make sense. Perhaps I have canine scabies??? Again, I

just didn't consider scabies b/c my symptoms don't sound like

scabies. Do scabies cause pin-pricks? (which I get) Or are they

more about intense, uncontrollable itching (which I don't get). And

I have yet to go to a doctor but since scabies is a " real "

and " accepted " condition, whereas bird mites are not, maybe there

will be a doctor who can help me. If I wanted to get tested for

scabies, do I just set an appt w/ a dermitologist and tell him/her

to take some skin scrapings? Do I tell them beforehand that I want

to get tested for scabies?