Skin crawling/formication

I have this too. I keep showering with warm water, helps for an hour and the sensation is back unfortunately. I take an antihistamine tablet before going to bed which also helps a little.

 

I just had a ME moment where I looked at this thread and was surprised to see that I had started it!!
The funny thing is - I’m not getting this at all at the moment. I don’t know when it stopped - but for now, it seems to have gone.
Of course, it will probably return now I’ve noticed it’s gone!

 

I go wonder if this is a hormonal symptom that may indicate issues with liver? Synthesis and bio transformation of many steroid hormones is part of liver' s job, and the liver ( I read somewhere) does a lot of housekeeping at night when we are supposed to be asleep.
There seems to be an issue with estrogen / testosterone balances for many, but liver also breaks down thyroxine and gets rid of many potentially damaging compounds . If stage 1 and 2 are not balanced there can be significant issues. If one of the conjugation paths in phase 2 is compromised, there can be significant issues.

What impact does lack of deep sleep have on the liver? Our issues with crawliness peak when sleep deprived.
Tagging the resident liver theorist @mariovitali

This is a common problem here, and it's difficult to offer comfort when even ears and eyeballs are Crawley.

Eta - also seems to be a symptom with mercury load. Interesting given recent info from Ron Davis.

 

Interesting @Amw66 about mercury load and altered sensations. Lots of sources of mercury out there -fish, amalgams, and environmentally to name a few. Environmental medicine theories would say
toxins are interfering with people's liver function.

Which info from Ron Davis are you talking about. I know they are looking at heavy
metals. Thanks in advance for your info.

 

@Amw66

"Resident Liver Theorist" ...LOL

I had the skin crawling sensation when i had ME synptoms and after several hundreds of days of symptoms data tracking and analysis, i managed to find what was going on. In my case, it had nothing to do with the Liver. The trigger i found was a real eye opener. I am not disclosing more at this moment for a good reason, please take my word for it.

 

There was a woman in the news who said she had that feeling just before shingles broke through.

 

Sorry @DokaGirl , I missed this reply. From memory he has recently said that they have found higher levels of mercury in ME patients.
I'll try and find a link

 

Thanks @Amw66. I've just looked too. Found some info on Twitter, but so far nothing more detailed.

Thanks again for your comments, and info.

 

Scroll down to the paragraph immediately above " a common theme" near the end. High mercury and uranium due to low selenium
https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2019/04/15/nih-chronic-fatigue-lipkin-davis-prusty-oh/

 

Thank you @Amw66, for finding this info!

From the article - link noted just above:

"Then came a preliminary but really weird finding – elevated levels of mercury (not so weird) and high levels of uranium (really weird) associated with low selenium levels in the hair analyses of a significant subset of patients. Both the mercury and uranium issues derive from low selenium levels. Selenium, interestingly, also plays a role in the conversion of T4 to T3 in the thyroid. (Chris Kressler recommends getting your selenium levels tested and, in general, using dietary methods (not selenium supplementation) to safely increase selenium levels in hypothyroidism.)"


Several years ago, I tried to supplement with selenium as per medical advice. My symptoms really flared. I didn't get an explanation for this when I asked.


Mercury - one of my "favourite" topics. Especially that from dental amalgams. Until almost a decade into being ill with ME, I thought they were "silver" as described by dental personnel. No. They are 50% mercury, about 30% silver, and the rest are things like copper, zinc and tin. These fillings have been used for over a century, which somehow seems to mean they are safe?
Break an old fashioned mercury thermometer and you need an environmental spill kit to clean it up. Mercury warnings are posted about eating fish in lakes, but dentists can install mercury in your mouth. And odd world we live in.

From the FDA on mercury dental fillings:

https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/dental-amalgam/about-dental-amalgam-fillings

From the link just above:

"Dental amalgam is a mixture of metals, consisting of liquid (elemental) mercury and a powdered alloy composed of silver, tin, and copper. Approximately 50% of dental amalgam is elemental mercury by weight. The chemical properties of elemental mercury allow it to react with and bind together the silver/copper/tin alloy particles to form an amalgam."

 

our last hair test had high mercury and aluminium - better ratios of calcium/ potassium etc; my assumption was that improving methylation had released some of these from tissues - perhaps selenium is also playing a part.

 

The feeling of things crawling on your face can be caused by the same fungus that causes dandruff, Seborrheic dermatitis. It will eventually develop into a rash. Ask your doctor for the treatment.