Re: Crawly sensations, the medical explanation

[Guest guest]

Very interesting article, Patty. I had that feeling recently as you

all know and I also had it when I discontinued taking the Methadone

that I was on for 7 years for adhesions. I did not sleep for over a

year and lived with that everyday. It feels exactly like bugs crawling

under the skin. I firmly believe that it can be caused by candida

toxins as well. When I slowed the detox and added some grains, it

totally went away.

Thanks again, Patty,

Joanne

>

>

> Sandy and others who have had this sensation of insects crawling under

> the skin,

>

> We know that women with implants have experienced various

> paresthesias--the numbness, tingling and " pins and needles. "

> Neurological healing is what must occur.

>

>

> Formication is a somewhat unusual, but medically well-known, abnormal

> sensation. This sensation closely resembles the feeling of insects

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insect> crawling on and/or under the

> skin, and can also include sensations which resemble those of insects

> stinging or biting. There are many known causes of formication.

>

> The word is derived etymologically from the Latin

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin> word formica, meaning " ant

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant> " , precisely because of this

> similarity in sensation to that of crawling insects.

>

> Formication is a specific form of the general set of abnormal skin

> sensations known as paresthesia

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paresthesia> , and thus it is related to

> the sensation known as " pins and needles " , and other tingling

> sensations.

>

> Some people suffering the sensation of formication find it to be

> annoying, others find it painful, and some find it itchy. Those who find

> it to be itchy may in some cases repeatedly scratch themselves until

> they bleed, causing skin damage and sores. (In the subset of cases where

> the sufferer is delirious or intoxicated because of high fever,

> substance abuse, or extreme alcohol withdrawal, this repeated scratching

> is very common indeed.)

>

> Formication can on occasion lead to people becoming fixated on the

> sensation and its possible meaning, and these people may develop

> delusional parasitosis

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusional_parasitosis> . This is a

> situation where individuals are convinced that there are real insects

> crawling on and/or under their skin, whereas in reality there are no

> insects involved, just a crawling sensation. It is fairly easy to

> misunderstand the significance and causality of the " creepy crawly "

> sensation of formication.

> Causes

> Causes of formication include medical conditions such as diabetic

> neuropathy <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diabetic_neuropathy> , skin

> cancer <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_cancer> , syphillis, or herpes

> zoster <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herpes_zoster> as well as normal

> states such as menopause <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menopause> (i.e.

> hormone withdrawal). Formication can also sometimes be experienced

> during high fevers <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fever> . Itching,

> tingling and formication ( " the creeps " ) often occur when surfacing from

> a dive or during ascent to altitude (decompression sickness

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompression_sickness> ).

>

> It can be a rare side effect of many prescription drugs such as Ritalin

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritalin> (methylphenidate), Adderall

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adderall> (dextro/levo-amphetamine) and

> Lunesta <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunesta> (eszopiclone).

>

> In addition, formication can be caused by the withdrawal component of

> substance abuse. It is a common side-effect of the extensive use of

> cocaine <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine> or methamphetamine, or

> the abusive use of amphetamines

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamines> . Extreme alcohol withdrawal

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal> may also cause

> symptoms of formication, along with delirium tremens

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delirium_tremens> , and can often be

> accompanied by visual hallucinations of insects.

>

>

> [edit

>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Formication & action=edit & secti\

> on=2> ] Referenced

> Formication was neatly described in 1890:

>

> A variety of itching, often encountered in the eczema of elderly people,

> is formication; this is described as exactly like the crawling of

> myriads of animals over the skin. It is probably due to the successive

> irritation of nerve fibrils in the skin. At times patients who suffer

> from it will scarcely be persuaded that it is not due to insects.

> Yielding to the temptation to scratch invariably makes the disease

> worse.[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication#cite_note-0>

>

> The term formication has been in use for several hundred years. In the

> 1797 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica> , a

> description of the condition raphania

> <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raphania> includes the symptom:

>

> ...a formication, or sensation as of ants or other small insects

> creeping on the parts.[2]

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication#cite_note-1>

>