Random Scarring The Past Months (Please Help!)
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free skin care · Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:52 am

bethany wrote:

Boafriend, while I prefer to find root causes of issues instead of just treating with drugs, it is not always possible.

When I was having the scalp tingling initially, they put me on Elavil which they also use for treating shingles related nerve pain...it worked wonders! Over time that stopped working unfortunately, and they put me on a very low dosage anti-anxiety med instead which also worked.

Until you find the root cause, I would consider also treating the symptom....it will make your daily life far more tolerable.

Yeah, I definitely agree, which is why I've been trying like a madman to find doctors who can help. My insurance is becoming a problem though, with many of these specialist doctors being out-of-network. I don't have money to be paying $100-499 or so per visit. I usually just have a $20 co-pay, but it's frustrating running into these coverage issues. I really need help with this - it's ruined and is continuing to ruin my life.

free skin care · Sun Sep 01, 2013 11:41 am

boafriend wrote:

bethany wrote:

Boafriend, while I prefer to find root causes of issues instead of just treating with drugs, it is not always possible.

When I was having the scalp tingling initially, they put me on Elavil which they also use for treating shingles related nerve pain...it worked wonders! Over time that stopped working unfortunately, and they put me on a very low dosage anti-anxiety med instead which also worked.

Until you find the root cause, I would consider also treating the symptom....it will make your daily life far more tolerable.

Yeah, I definitely agree, which is why I've been trying like a madman to find doctors who can help. My insurance is becoming a problem though, with many of these specialist doctors being out-of-network. I don't have money to be paying $100-499 or so per visit. I usually just have a $20 co-pay, but it's frustrating running into these coverage issues. I really need help with this - it's ruined and is continuing to ruin my life.

It was just a regular derm that prescribed the Elavil for me.

free skin care · Sun Sep 01, 2013 8:13 pm

Boafriend - I really suggest that you ask as many acquaintances as possible if they notice anything wrong with your skin. Include in that group as many pharmacists as you can. If the general consensus is that they feel your skin looks perfectly normal - I think you might consider that maybe you have some type of body dysmorphic disorder. And believe me that's not unusual - all of us peer in the mirror (usually a magnifying one) and see all sorts of things about our face that we don't like - things that other people don't notice.

As for the tingling in your scalp - my husband suffers from this when he's under a lot of stress. His mother used to get it too. So the tingling is probably caused by you being so stressed about your skin.

Have you considered being pro-active and doing a series of chemical peels or maybe a laser treatment - this might make you feel better about yourself.

I hope you take the above advice in the manner in which it was meant and get the problem sorted out. Wishing you the best. Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Sep 03, 2013 1:33 pm

Keliu wrote:

Boafriend - I really suggest that you ask as many acquaintances as possible if they notice anything wrong with your skin. Include in that group as many pharmacists as you can. If the general consensus is that they feel your skin looks perfectly normal - I think you might consider that maybe you have some type of body dysmorphic disorder. And believe me that's not unusual - all of us peer in the mirror (usually a magnifying one) and see all sorts of things about our face that we don't like - things that other people don't notice.

As for the tingling in your scalp - my husband suffers from this when he's under a lot of stress. His mother used to get it too. So the tingling is probably caused by you being so stressed about your skin.

Have you considered being pro-active and doing a series of chemical peels or maybe a laser treatment - this might make you feel better about yourself.

I hope you take the above advice in the manner in which it was meant and get the problem sorted out. Wishing you the best. Very Happy

Thanks, I appreciate your help. Another member on a diff forum thought of body dysmorphic disorder, but I can assure you I am not that crazy. I have had dermatologists confirm and see my scarring as well, so it's definitely not something imagined.

I'm trying to see diff doctors at the moment but it's very difficult, like said. My insurance is under my dad and I don't understand much about it, such as deductible and all that since he handles all of it. I want to see doctors but I mean if I end up having to pay a lot of money out of my pocket, then I cannot see these doctors since I cannot afford those expenses. My dad told me before that our health insurance kinda sucks because it doesn't cover a lot of things.

free skin care · Wed Sep 04, 2013 3:48 am

boafriend wrote:

Thanks, I appreciate your help. Another member on a diff forum thought of body dysmorphic disorder, but I can assure you I am not that crazy. I have had dermatologists confirm and see my scarring as well, so it's definitely not something imagined.

I'm trying to see diff doctors at the moment but it's very difficult, like said. My insurance is under my dad and I don't understand much about it, such as deductible and all that since he handles all of it. I want to see doctors but I mean if I end up having to pay a lot of money out of my pocket, then I cannot see these doctors since I cannot afford those expenses. My dad told me before that our health insurance kinda sucks because it doesn't cover a lot of things.

Well maybe it's time to take action on the situation yourself - as I said above, being pro-active will make you feel better. I suggest you do a series of Lactic Acid peels. They're very easy to do, quite safe and not expensive. Lactic Acid is also very good for the skin. You can buy Lactic Acid from here:
http://www.makeupartistschoice.com/65-Lactic-Acid-Kits_p_36.html

On this website you will find allot of useful information about doing home peels - so make sure you read and familiarise yourself with the treatment. Also, follow the instructions carefully.

I have a condition called Sebaceous Hyperplacia which is basically blocked oil glands which causes lumps and bumps on the skin. I went to three different derms who told me not allot can be done accept laser treatments (which I do recommend but they're expensive). However, I've had great success in smoothing out my skin with Lactic Acid - so please give it a try.

free skin care · Thu Sep 05, 2013 3:46 pm

Keliu wrote:

boafriend wrote:

Thanks, I appreciate your help. Another member on a diff forum thought of body dysmorphic disorder, but I can assure you I am not that crazy. I have had dermatologists confirm and see my scarring as well, so it's definitely not something imagined.

I'm trying to see diff doctors at the moment but it's very difficult, like said. My insurance is under my dad and I don't understand much about it, such as deductible and all that since he handles all of it. I want to see doctors but I mean if I end up having to pay a lot of money out of my pocket, then I cannot see these doctors since I cannot afford those expenses. My dad told me before that our health insurance kinda sucks because it doesn't cover a lot of things.

Well maybe it's time to take action on the situation yourself - as I said above, being pro-active will make you feel better. I suggest you do a series of Lactic Acid peels. They're very easy to do, quite safe and not expensive. Lactic Acid is also very good for the skin. You can buy Lactic Acid from here:
http://www.makeupartistschoice.com/65-Lactic-Acid-Kits_p_36.html

On this website you will find allot of useful information about doing home peels - so make sure you read and familiarise yourself with the treatment. Also, follow the instructions carefully.

I have a condition called Sebaceous Hyperplacia which is basically blocked oil glands which causes lumps and bumps on the skin. I went to three different derms who told me not allot can be done accept laser treatments (which I do recommend but they're expensive). However, I've had great success in smoothing out my skin with Lactic Acid - so please give it a try.

Thanks, I have been using serums aimed at helped various scarring, including indented/pockmark scars.

The problem is that...I can't get to the root of what is causing all this. I feel any treatment or stuff done to fade the damage is only in the moment - the random scarring will still continue. I'm pretty much fighting something that is unknown and unstoppable.

I think I've mentioned in this thread, but I've had random scarring on my body as well...I noticed little very faint pockmarks and what appear to be lines on my arms too. Some even look like what would be natural folds or creases in the skin, but I know 100% for sure that I've never had them before. It's ridiculous.

Also, the neurologist visit ended up in the doctor suggesting I take a daily multivitamin in addition to magnesium, since I told him I have random muscle twitching and vibrations. As for the prickling and twitching all over, he's pretty stumped too since he asked me a lot of questions about my lifestyle habits and I've had nothing unordinary or abusive. I did bring up the mass fish consumption that went on for 7 months or so prior to all my scarring and twitching and he did (like the naturopath I went to) feel that heavy metals could be a possible culprit. We're not 100% sure though - I did a blood test at a lab and that'll take a week or so to get back to me with results. I am really losing hope, though. I feel with every blood test (this is my 4th this year), I always hope the tests will detect something that could possibly explain what I'm going through, but everything has always come back normal or "within range." I'm really stumped and feel so cheated in life.

Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:47 pm

Hi Boafriend,

Any updates on your skin? Have you seen any improvements, or has a doctor provided you with a diagnosis??

*dream*

free skin care · Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:01 pm

Have you searhed for demodex mites?

If it is parasites then begin to take de-wormer.Apply
over the itching areas castor oil and coconut oil and rinse well after.
Take lots of garlic.
A seabuckthorn soap will kill demodex mites.
Stop eating meat and fish(source of parasites).
Also vegetables can be a parasite problem.
Pineapple kills them also.
Dandelion root,olive leaf extract,bathing in oregano oil(dont put too much ,cause it burns-if yu put it on problem areas always dilute it with carrier oil).

free skin care · Sat Oct 05, 2013 4:14 pm

panoslydios wrote:

Have you searhed for demodex mites?

If it is parasites then begin to take de-wormer.Apply
over the itching areas castor oil and coconut oil and rinse well after.
Take lots of garlic.
A seabuckthorn soap will kill demodex mites.
Stop eating meat and fish(source of parasites).
Also vegetables can be a parasite problem.
Pineapple kills them also.
Dandelion root,olive leaf extract,bathing in oregano oil(dont put too much ,cause it burns-if yu put it on problem areas always dilute it with carrier oil).

Parasites and/or demodex mites were one of the first things I had checked for, but the skin scrapings I did came back negative. Two derms who looked at me said my scarring was not consistent w/ scabies or mites.

And dreamer, I have not found any diagnosis yet. I started a new job recently that required intense 6 day a week workdays, so I have no time to see any more doctors. The scarring seems to have stopped, although I still spot some seemingly new dent looking marks on my face on and off. My twitching and prickling sensations have not stopped either. A neurologist was 'r able to help me either. A heavy metals screening I did came back negative.

I've looked online and a symptom called benign fasciculation syndrome seems to be what I have.

Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:04 am

This is just horrible, I am going through the axactly same thing as BOAFRIEND. I dont know what to do I constantly keep getting little white scars now and I cant even think straight anymore. I am convinced no one in the world knows what this is or what is causing it and that is really what messes me up. Any new updates boafriend? No one in my family thinks this is a problem, which I dont even understand. I randomly keep getting these white scars and white lines all over my body, knowing that they will be there forever. I am beyond depressed at this point. Sad

Mon Oct 21, 2013 11:06 am

not to mention the bug like feeling all over my body. I only notice it when I lay down and it is horrible

free skin care · Tue Oct 22, 2013 8:22 am

I have the same think kind of but for me I just get these strange red spots on my knees.

Before it was just mostly on one knee and the past week or so I was quite itchy and just noticed I have all these small red spots that leave strange scars.

I did ask the derm and he just told me to use exfoliating products and that make it worse.

Also have some strange redness on one elbow that is not going away or should say I did.

I just tried a sample of a cream called Zyderma HS, it is made with silver but the size of the molecules is too big to be absorbed into the skin, which I was told helps the silver stay on you skin and kill bacteria all day.

My elbow now looks much less red and rough and my skin has calmed down a lot, but is still a bit sandpaper looking as I had this issue w my elbow at least 1 year.

(I did try many other creams and most were just ok but did not fix my problem).

If you go to the Zyderma website you can buy asample bottle for $15 inc shipping.
Normally a 30ml bottle is $25 + shipping.

I do with the cream was cheaper as I have a bunch of spots to apply it too.

free skin care · Tue Oct 22, 2013 1:50 pm

Ottawa Shopper wrote:

I have the same think kind of but for me I just get these strange red spots on my knees.

Before it was just mostly on one knee and the past week or so I was quite itchy and just noticed I have all these small red spots that leave strange scars.

I did ask the derm and he just told me to use exfoliating products and that make it worse.

Also have some strange redness on one elbow that is not going away or should say I did.

I just tried a sample of a cream called Zyderma HS, it is made with silver but the size of the molecules is too big to be absorbed into the skin, which I was told helps the silver stay on you skin and kill bacteria all day.

My elbow now looks much less red and rough and my skin has calmed down a lot, but is still a bit sandpaper looking as I had this issue w my elbow at least 1 year.

(I did try many other creams and most were just ok but did not fix my problem).

If you go to the Zyderma website you can buy asample bottle for $15 inc shipping.
Normally a 30ml bottle is $25 + shipping.

I do with the cream was cheaper as I have a bunch of spots to apply it too.

Some thing that come to my mind.

Elbow usually is known to have bad circulation.
Bad circulation leads to accumulated waste that gets trapped there and is ause by acid foring diet.
Parasites dveloping there doing THEIR JOB which is to disintegrate the waste.

Have you tried putting diluted oregano oil(never apply it neat) into the red spots to see what will happen?

free skin care · Tue Oct 22, 2013 10:22 pm

I have not tried Oregano oil, but have tried tea tree oil creams and lotions and they did help but not entirely.

Also tried some cream that helps with inflamation that had Arnica and herbs and it did work but my elbow would just be mostly better, while with the Zyderma cream, my skin looks like it is getting back to normal.

Also the funny thing is the elbow that has redness, my arm has no circulation issues.

My right shoulder has a injury and so does my wrist, yet my right elbow looks entirely normal...

free skin care · Sat Nov 02, 2013 2:23 pm

delo wrote:

This is just horrible, I am going through the axactly same thing as BOAFRIEND. I dont know what to do I constantly keep getting little white scars now and I cant even think straight anymore. I am convinced no one in the world knows what this is or what is causing it and that is really what messes me up. Any new updates boafriend? No one in my family thinks this is a problem, which I dont even understand. I randomly keep getting these white scars and white lines all over my body, knowing that they will be there forever. I am beyond depressed at this point. Sad

I feel your pain but mine aren't white. They're just indented scars. Some small pockmarks and mostly small linear indents.

I've done what I can and nothing is helping. I saw an endocrinologist in regards to my prickling and twitching - he did a detailed blood test for possible inflammation and electrolyte imbalance, but he got back to me and said nothing seems unordinary (pretty much what I expected. Most posts you'll find online by people experiencing this have had multiple bloodwork come back perfectly fine. No doctor can find anything!). But I am suggested to find a neurologist to do more advanced testing for my prickling and twitching.

All the talk about parasites inside freaks me out because blood tests....it doesn't seem like they'd detect these parasites, right? Would one have to go to an internal doctor for all this? I'm asking since I have tons of horizontal indented lines and scars on my knees.

I'm in a state of depression that is unimaginable. I feel robbed of the right to live happily and healthy.

I recently bought a scar cream from a company called Syrex that claims to truly help indented scars. I came across it many times online but didn't buy since the website wasn't very professional looking. The testimonials nudged me to give it a shot, though. Even though this isn't solving the root of my problem (what is causing the spontanuity of the scarring), it's all I can do to stay sane. It sucks trying to fight something you cannot fight.

free skin care · Tue Dec 24, 2013 3:42 pm

It's been a long time, and I wanted to revive my thread to see if any of the people who were once in here have found any help. My scarring continues, and while none of them are very deep scars, they're scarring nonetheless, and they're all in linear form or small pockmarks.

Sun Feb 16, 2014 5:30 pm

boafriend wrote:

It's been a long time, and I wanted to revive my thread to see if any of the people who were once in here have found any help. My scarring continues, and while none of them are very deep scars, they're scarring nonetheless, and they're all in linear form or small pockmarks.

Hi, I have read through this thread and I think I have the same problem as you.
I have lots of scars/dents on my face but I have never suffered from acne /trauma to my face.

21 year old male. Not seen any doctors.

I have a photo if there is a way of uploading to compare.

free skin care · Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:34 am

Hey guys, this was a lot to read so I kind of stopped reading after a certain point, but I had similar issues for years now like both of you. Crawling, pricking needle-like sensations on face and body, enlarged pores, lines, dents forming, but I also had pretty severely red skin on face when it started which lasted months. I have not had the wrinkles on knees...to me that sounds like severe dehydration. It is odd that you mention it though, I am curious if you tried taking the knee skin and pinching it, does it bounce back quickly or does it seem to hold in place and slowly melt back down? If I were you, I would take myself to a hospital if I still have it and have them hook me up to an IV and see if the wrinkles subside from the hydration of the IV. There's nothing quite as hydrating as an IV, I have found. Anyway, is there any chance either of you had a bed bug infestation in your home?

Next, did you take an antibiotic like the z-pack before this started? I am curious about the two kids with this issue...did they both take antibiotics at least 2 months before this happened?

Next, did you try anything new like a new product or something a dermatologist gave you perhaps for acne or a lotion even or any new products. If you could please list them.

Is there a chance you have candida/prone to fungal health issues?

I had a skin scraping done and demodex mites were found. The reason I think the derm found them was because I was using tea tree oil and it was peeling my skin so dead skin was sloughing off pretty easily and the critters were there. He gave me permethrin which started helping my skin to look somewhat normal again, but I stopped because I was worried of toxicity cause I had to keep using it daily to subside crawling sensations.

Now years later, I am uncertain if this was a demodex mites issue, maybe it was or maybe it didn't exactly have to do with the demodex because from what I once remember researching, there is some correlation with demodex and fungus. I think perhaps it's a strange fungal type of issue...but I'm no doctor. Have you posted pictures? I would like to see the scarring all over your face. Can you use moisturizer with no problem? Or does moisturizer make the skin look worse and increase indentations as well as enlarge the pores? Does your skin look greasy in the Tzone area or over dry?

If you want to try a demodex product, look into demodex solutions, it was helpful for me but not the holy grail.

IF it were the AMVC that you mentioned, stop taking fish oil if you are and lower your intake of omega's because I remember reading on those acne.org forums that someone realized it was fish oil and omega's causing the issue. There may have also been some other cause, I urge you to research this.

I don't have a lot of help I can give, but yogurt masks stopped the crawling and made my skin look a bit normal, although not completely normal. Also, I used poland spring water to wash my face and never let faucet water touch it for months and that seemed to help too. Eventually, I found a moisturizer I could use on my face which is eucerin daily perfecting lotion spf 30, though I have no idea what in it was helpful. I also used a deep pore gentle cleanser which I think contributed to helping. Yogurt masks are highly drying and I was unable to use moisturizer at the time without issues, so I had to do yogurt masks every few days so as not to give myself premature wrinkles. Ivermectin and all that junk was no help. Although, I do wish I had tried fluconazole. I had a derm prescribe it to me and then I was fed up with all the treatments I had tried and never ended up taking it, thinking it wouldn't help. Now, that I feel it may be a fungal type of issue, wish I had given it a shot.

There is also a chance it's Morgellon's disease. I ask if you had bed bugs prior because I think they can cause morgellon's in some people. There are people who I think have beat morgellon's so I urge you to look for their stories and what they did.

Does the sun make your skin better? Also, do you have other skin conditions? Severe acne and what type? Cysts? Do you have keratosis pilaris on body?

Hope to hear your responses.

free skin care · Sun Mar 09, 2014 10:40 am

Hey there boafriend, I was looking on this forum through topics and realized you haven't seen my last post yet and decided to read through your posts on this last page. You have the muscle twitching and prickling as if someone snapped a rubber band against random spots on your body? Yes, I had that too. I came to a conclusion about that. It's from poor circulation. Because when I started working out a lot, working at a job where I am moving a lot, and I also wear compression stockings (are for increasing circulation to legs) for my job, and all this in conjuction with drinking throat coat tea (I dont understand why it helps, there must be an herb that increases circulation I think), that twitching and pricking doesn't happen much anymore. Thought I'd share this so you can figure out somethings to do for your poor circulation.

free skin care · Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:51 pm

pokerlady888 wrote:

Hey guys, this was a lot to read so I kind of stopped reading after a certain point, but I had similar issues for years now like both of you. Crawling, pricking needle-like sensations on face and body, enlarged pores, lines, dents forming, but I also had pretty severely red skin on face when it started which lasted months. I have not had the wrinkles on knees...to me that sounds like severe dehydration. It is odd that you mention it though, I am curious if you tried taking the knee skin and pinching it, does it bounce back quickly or does it seem to hold in place and slowly melt back down? If I were you, I would take myself to a hospital if I still have it and have them hook me up to an IV and see if the wrinkles subside from the hydration of the IV. There's nothing quite as hydrating as an IV, I have found. Anyway, is there any chance either of you had a bed bug infestation in your home?

Next, did you take an antibiotic like the z-pack before this started? I am curious about the two kids with this issue...did they both take antibiotics at least 2 months before this happened?

Next, did you try anything new like a new product or something a dermatologist gave you perhaps for acne or a lotion even or any new products. If you could please list them.

Is there a chance you have candida/prone to fungal health issues?

I had a skin scraping done and demodex mites were found. The reason I think the derm found them was because I was using tea tree oil and it was peeling my skin so dead skin was sloughing off pretty easily and the critters were there. He gave me permethrin which started helping my skin to look somewhat normal again, but I stopped because I was worried of toxicity cause I had to keep using it daily to subside crawling sensations.

Now years later, I am uncertain if this was a demodex mites issue, maybe it was or maybe it didn't exactly have to do with the demodex because from what I once remember researching, there is some correlation with demodex and fungus. I think perhaps it's a strange fungal type of issue...but I'm no doctor. Have you posted pictures? I would like to see the scarring all over your face. Can you use moisturizer with no problem? Or does moisturizer make the skin look worse and increase indentations as well as enlarge the pores? Does your skin look greasy in the Tzone area or over dry?

If you want to try a demodex product, look into demodex solutions, it was helpful for me but not the holy grail.

IF it were the AMVC that you mentioned, stop taking fish oil if you are and lower your intake of omega's because I remember reading on those acne.org forums that someone realized it was fish oil and omega's causing the issue. There may have also been some other cause, I urge you to research this.

I don't have a lot of help I can give, but yogurt masks stopped the crawling and made my skin look a bit normal, although not completely normal. Also, I used poland spring water to wash my face and never let faucet water touch it for months and that seemed to help too. Eventually, I found a moisturizer I could use on my face which is eucerin daily perfecting lotion spf 30, though I have no idea what in it was helpful. I also used a deep pore gentle cleanser which I think contributed to helping. Yogurt masks are highly drying and I was unable to use moisturizer at the time without issues, so I had to do yogurt masks every few days so as not to give myself premature wrinkles. Ivermectin and all that junk was no help. Although, I do wish I had tried fluconazole. I had a derm prescribe it to me and then I was fed up with all the treatments I had tried and never ended up taking it, thinking it wouldn't help. Now, that I feel it may be a fungal type of issue, wish I had given it a shot.

There is also a chance it's Morgellon's disease. I ask if you had bed bugs prior because I think they can cause morgellon's in some people. There are people who I think have beat morgellon's so I urge you to look for their stories and what they did.

Does the sun make your skin better? Also, do you have other skin conditions? Severe acne and what type? Cysts? Do you have keratosis pilaris on body?

Hope to hear your responses.

Thanks for the responses. I have not come back here after a very long time due to work.

Unfortunately, the prickling sensations have not stopped. I continue to have them every few seconds. My hair has multiple static zip/zap twitching sensations every few seconds as well and my face has squiggly bug like sensations still. I also have twitching throughout my body, in addition to random cold sweats and cold flashes for no reason. I also have unexplainable random sharp pains.

From summer 2013 till now, I have seen one endocrinolost, one general doctor, and three neurologists, all which have been unhelpful. They either do not find significant findings or just blow my issues off as being attributed to stress or anxiety. It's been so frustrating. Early this year I started having diarrhea everytime after I ate in the morning and a stool test with an internal doctor detected Clostridium Difficile Toxin A and B, EIA. The doctor said I must have taken a ton of antibiotics to have caused this, which in summer 2012 I did after suffering food poisoning abroad. Furthermore, I took doxycycline for 2 months during September-November 2012 after a horrid few months of cystic acne. This internal doctor gave me probiotics and an antibiotic, which fought off the Clostridium Difficile, but she says it's easy for me to have this issue come back.

I went to a neurologist for a few months, who did an EMG and forwarded me to do an MRI of my neck and back (supposed to have done my back, but the report did not say anything about my back...). The report found nothing. She tested my thyroid, magnesium (which I know is inaccurate when measured from blood, but this neuro was stubborn and refused to listen to me), vitamin b12, b-vitamins, and T3 and T4 from thyroid, but found nothing significant. I asked if I could be recommended to someone for a Lyme disease test or a hair analysis to see if a major deficiency was at play, but this neuro again, was stubborn and brushed off my concerns.

I have since gone back to the internal doctor to perform a stool test to test for candida, which I brought up my concerns about. I have yet to wait for the results. But because aside from my twitching I have unexplainable cold sweats and random sharp pains, the only other thing possible as a culprit is my thyroid. My TSH level measured on 1/24 came in at 0.39 on a 0.40-4.50 scale. Measured again on 2/21, it was a 0.57 on the same scale. There was an increase, which is okay according to the internal dcotor. But still, it's pretty low on the scale, don't you think? And I know people say you have to look at the T4 and T3 levels to be accurate, but both are seemingly within range. T3 is a 107 on a 76-181 scale and T4 a 9.3 on a 4.5-12.0 scale. So I really don't know what to believe now.

The internal doctor however, was nice in that she genuinely listened to me and advised me to see an endocrinologist at USC. The appointment is 2 months away, but I'm really hoping they can get to the bottom of this shit. I've been extremely miserable over this past year and I have no idea what is causing all this. The strangest thing is that every 2 weeks or so, there will be one or two days where the twitching, crawling, and random pains and cold sweats will completely stop....then come a few days later, boom - back in full swing.

Scarring wise, I think my random scarring has stopped. I still notice random pockmarks and little dents here and there, but right now I am attributing these to the copper peptides that I have been using as my last bid to save my face (Dr. Loren Pickart of Skin Biology claims that these copper peptides are very intense skin remodelers, thus damage beneath the skin may be unearthed during this remodeling process).

As for your questions about my knee, there is no bounce back or whatever. There are just a bunch of unsightly stretch mark/linear indentions I see that I ranted about when I started this thread.

I had skin scrapings done June of last year and all came back negative for mites, scabies, yeast, or fungal growth.

Morgellon's I have heard of and looked into, but it's honestly too crazy for me to consider right now. I don't exhibit any of the said rashes nor do I ever see bugs or what not crawling on my skin, so I can't really speak too much for that.

Anyways, I really hope maybe someone who reads my updated response can make something out of the TSH thing. I don't know about candida to be honest...I've researched and it seems possible to me, but I have to let the stool test do the talking because when I was detected for the Clostridium Difficile, the internal doctor said that the other accompanying tests (EIA NO. 2, EIA NO. 3), which cover candida albicans, did not detect anything.

I really just want my life to get back and I want to feel NORMAL again. I do not know how I previously lived my life taking the everyday "normal state" of my body for granted. I would really give anything to just have my body okay and not screwed up in some undiagnosed way. You guys have no idea the trauma from over a year of doctor visits, only to have every single one shoot you down or brush off your concerns as stress or anxiety related. The neurologist I saw who performed the EMG on me really ticked me off, blowing off my suggestions and findings online for what she could do to help me. Really really sucks.

free skin care · Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:39 am

One major sign you will know you have candida and it is in bad shape is when you have severe cravings to eat and you know you are not hungry, it is hard to explain but from inside it's like some parasite inside is forcing you to eat and you are trying to control this urge very hard with your mind but you give in because the cravings to eat are too overwhelming, even though you know you don't need to eat and are not actually starving or hungry.

Personally, I would never continue with something that was making my skin look so terrible before getting better...

I know nothing of thyroid problems, but your symptoms are pretty close to what I had and I did not have thyroid issues and I had myself tested many times. Just go to another doctor and ask to have the test done again, I always go for a 2nd to 3rd opinion from multiple doctors.

The stool stample and the finding of the toxins and your food poisoning are alarming. When did the food poisoning happen and how long after that incident did you start having your symptoms?

Toxins leaving the stool are signs of parasitic involvement, but it can also be fungal/imbalance of yeast in the body and your body cannot re-balance the yeast and the fungus continues to grow. Everyone has candida but an imbalance can cause trouble, I read this in a doctor report I found on the internet at one point. I really lean toward parasitic in your case because the stool and the toxins are highly alarming and point to this. You also said you had a candida test done and it showed nothing and I believe it's accurate. Your issues are not from just a simple lack of vitamins or minerals etc. There are Morgellon's sufferers who do not see bugs and have severe symptoms, but just enough for it to be considered strange, I still urge you to read about it and see what success stories did to get their body back. I think I remember one remedy was colloidal silver.

Skin scrapings do not show what's going on inside your body and sometimes can be inaccurate. What food caused your food poisoning? What symptoms did you have when you had the poisoning and what country were you visiting?

I believe your body is too toxic and you need to also begin to find ways to get rid of the toxins inside your body. The toxins are causing all your symptoms. The toxins may be created from a parasite but it could be something else....whatever it is, you need to right now lower your toxin level significantly. Your body feels good every once in a while because it manages to clean up its system and clean up some toxins but not enough for it to relieve your symptoms for longer.

free skin care · Mon Apr 21, 2014 7:59 pm

pokerlady888 wrote:

One major sign you will know you have candida and it is in bad shape is when you have severe cravings to eat and you know you are not hungry, it is hard to explain but from inside it's like some parasite inside is forcing you to eat and you are trying to control this urge very hard with your mind but you give in because the cravings to eat are too overwhelming, even though you know you don't need to eat and are not actually starving or hungry.

Personally, I would never continue with something that was making my skin look so terrible before getting better...

I know nothing of thyroid problems, but your symptoms are pretty close to what I had and I did not have thyroid issues and I had myself tested many times. Just go to another doctor and ask to have the test done again, I always go for a 2nd to 3rd opinion from multiple doctors.

The stool stample and the finding of the toxins and your food poisoning are alarming. When did the food poisoning happen and how long after that incident did you start having your symptoms?

Toxins leaving the stool are signs of parasitic involvement, but it can also be fungal/imbalance of yeast in the body and your body cannot re-balance the yeast and the fungus continues to grow. Everyone has candida but an imbalance can cause trouble, I read this in a doctor report I found on the internet at one point. I really lean toward parasitic in your case because the stool and the toxins are highly alarming and point to this. You also said you had a candida test done and it showed nothing and I believe it's accurate. Your issues are not from just a simple lack of vitamins or minerals etc. There are Morgellon's sufferers who do not see bugs and have severe symptoms, but just enough for it to be considered strange, I still urge you to read about it and see what success stories did to get their body back. I think I remember one remedy was colloidal silver.

Skin scrapings do not show what's going on inside your body and sometimes can be inaccurate. What food caused your food poisoning? What symptoms did you have when you had the poisoning and what country were you visiting?

I believe your body is too toxic and you need to also begin to find ways to get rid of the toxins inside your body. The toxins are causing all your symptoms. The toxins may be created from a parasite but it could be something else....whatever it is, you need to right now lower your toxin level significantly. Your body feels good every once in a while because it manages to clean up its system and clean up some toxins but not enough for it to relieve your symptoms for longer.

Thanks. For the record, I don't have severe cravings or eat when I'm not hungry. To be honest, my appetite is not too good sometimes.

As for the food poisoning that happened in summer 2012, it's a shot in the dark at this point since I was in Taiwan and the 3 doctors or so that I saw did not do much for me. They literally just asked about what my stool was like and just prescribed medicine. I took like 5 different types of medicine. I don't even know what exactly caused the food poisoning (obviously it was food, but I don't know exactly what it was). My food poisoning wise, it was 3 weeks straight of horrible diarrhea, the worst I have ever experienced in my life. Everything was just very watery, and clearly something was very wrong. What is even worse is that I don't have the records of what medicines they prescribed me during that time. I must have taken those 5 medicines the entire month of July, well into the first few weeks of August when the diarrhea finally stopped. I went back to California in August, and all my symptoms started about half a year or so later, in March of 2013. Near the end of March I noticed my face started forming random indented scars, mainly linear or small pits. The damage increased every week with no explanation. Twitching wise, it started around this time as well, and the symptoms worsened over time. My heartbeat felt very fast for a week or so for no explanation and at this time, twitching started in my legs and moved up to my butt, torso, and eventually face, before hitting my scalp/hair. I had a finger tip randomly go slightly numb for over a month, and then started experiencing random cold sweats/flashes for no reason. Then a few months later, I started experiencing unexplainable random sharp pains anywhere in my body. It's been a very disturbing domino effect.

As for thyroid, yeah I'm just waiting on my appointment to come...unfortunately it's 2 months away, so I can't do anything right now. I still think the measured levels (at least TSH itself) is not too normal, so it could be something. But even at that, I don't see how thyroid imbalance could bring about the symptoms that I have. I constantly feel like bugs are jumping and pricking around on my face and hair. It's suffocating and miserable as hell.

Morgellon's wise, I don't know what to tell you. It's not going to help me to read more into something that a majority of doctors have no knowledge about. The stuff I've read on it in the past has provided zero help, with just tragic stories of people who have suffered for 10 years and counting, helpless. I came across websites about candida albicans and one guy suggested collodial silver as well, but I also cross checked other health websites that claimed taking collodial silver over time will cause damage to the body as well.

As for my scarring, well...I really have nothing left, right? At least copper peptides have had extensive research and proof backed on them. I cannot afford laser, so what do you want me to do? The damage on my face is not severe, but it enough to be noticeable and it's caused me very deep emotional pain. I was treated like an overly-vain and obsessive person when I visited a few dermatologists in 2013 when this shit started happening - the worst was at UCLA's Dermatology - the dermatologist made me feel like I was crazy and a waste of her time. Other dermatologists just immediately prescribed me anti-acne topicals, trying to assure me that the vitamin A-based stuff would rebuild collagen over time. Not helpful. I care a lot about my appearance, so this hurts a lot. I avoid mirrors most of the time now.

I definitely wouldn't doubt some parasite/internal thing is at play here, but it's just odd how stool tests have not found anything (at least not to my knowledge, since the results of the last test I had done have not come back). I know this is TMI, but I've noticed that my stool smells VERY VERY bad, and the internal doctor I saw only attributed this to dairy products, but I really feel that it's not just caused by that. And I bring possible endocrine issues into here due to the unexplainable cold sweats/flashes that I randomly get - only the endocrine system can cause just weird stuff to happen.

free skin care · Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:05 pm

You should still try, it wouldn't hurt to look up morgellon's success stories and what they did to treat themselves. There are success stories out there and those people are readily giving information on what they did in blogs etc.

Retin A would actually help even if slightly for pitted scarring...it's just as risky to use as copper peptides, but maybe less so. I would give the Retin A a shot to try to rebuild the skin.

I know what you mean about being upset over your skin. I am upset everyday as well. My skin has changed as well. You're not alone on this feeling.

Your issues are stemming 100% from what happened in Taiwan. Whatever food you ate, whatever medicines you took, whatever happened it's all attributing to your health decline. I don't believe you have a thyroid problem and thyroid problems don't do all this. Your symptoms are still similar to the experience you had when in Taiwan.

My money is on parasite. You say you actually don't have an appetite. You do not have candida imbalance then. In fact, loss of appetite is more a sign of parasitic function because the parasite is eating more of your food than you are getting out of it, so you are not getting the adequate nourishment you are supposed to from your foods, thus setting of a loss of appetite....think of anorexics and that may help you understand, the parasite is getting the food, you aren't really and also you are getting toxins from the parasite.

I mean all you have said is so classic.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11321/10-signs-you-may-have-a-parasite.html

"Trouble sleeping, skin irritations, mood changes, and muscle pain can all be caused by the toxins that parasites release into the bloodstream." The parasite are releasing all those toxins.

I suggest your first priority be to find a doctor who specializes in this area and have him run a very thorough stool test using the comprehensive stool test as described in this article.

The reason you feel some relief now and again is because probably because this article explains that parasites life cycle rotate from being dormant to alive and is also the reason tests are not catching the parasite at play. If you can't get a test give you the positive result and tell you the parasite, try to treat generally for a broad range of them the way this doctor describes in this article. I feel positive this is what you have. It's clear as day. I hope this information helps you.

free skin care · Tue Apr 22, 2014 10:08 pm

pokerlady888 wrote:

You should still try, it wouldn't hurt to look up morgellon's success stories and what they did to treat themselves. There are success stories out there and those people are readily giving information on what they did in blogs etc.

Retin A would actually help even if slightly for pitted scarring...it's just as risky to use as copper peptides, but maybe less so. I would give the Retin A a shot to try to rebuild the skin.

I know what you mean about being upset over your skin. I am upset everyday as well. My skin has changed as well. You're not alone on this feeling.

Your issues are stemming 100% from what happened in Taiwan. Whatever food you ate, whatever medicines you took, whatever happened it's all attributing to your health decline. I don't believe you have a thyroid problem and thyroid problems don't do all this. Your symptoms are still similar to the experience you had when in Taiwan.

My money is on parasite. You say you actually don't have an appetite. You do not have candida imbalance then. In fact, loss of appetite is more a sign of parasitic function because the parasite is eating more of your food than you are getting out of it, so you are not getting the adequate nourishment you are supposed to from your foods, thus setting of a loss of appetite....think of anorexics and that may help you understand, the parasite is getting the food, you aren't really and also you are getting toxins from the parasite.

I mean all you have said is so classic.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11321/10-signs-you-may-have-a-parasite.html

"Trouble sleeping, skin irritations, mood changes, and muscle pain can all be caused by the toxins that parasites release into the bloodstream." The parasite are releasing all those toxins.

I suggest your first priority be to find a doctor who specializes in this area and have him run a very thorough stool test using the comprehensive stool test as described in this article.

The reason you feel some relief now and again is because probably because this article explains that parasites life cycle rotate from being dormant to alive and is also the reason tests are not catching the parasite at play. If you can't get a test give you the positive result and tell you the parasite, try to treat generally for a broad range of them the way this doctor describes in this article. I feel positive this is what you have. It's clear as day. I hope this information helps you.

Thanks for your positive words. My parents both think my current problems are rooted in the food poisoning I got in Taiwan as well, but it's just hard for us to backtrack now that it's been nearly 2 years and moreover, I do not have access to the drugs that I took when I was overseas. Also, the root of the matter (e.g., what caused my food poisoning) was never fully diagnosed.

I've contacted my internal doctor and from what I've seen, it doesn't look like they found anything in my stool from the last test I had done. They said as long as my doctor does not call me back, that means there were no significant findings...and she had not called me back. But aside from the tests that I have had done, which combine to become the conventional test, I'm guessing I would need to have the functional medicine comprehensive stool test?

And just going back a few steps...in Taiwan when I had that bout of food poisoning, all I had was bad diarrhea. I don't have that anymore and I certainly did not have all this twitching, prickling, static sensations or unexplainable cold sweats back then. These symptoms surfaced and gradually worsened about 6 months later. Any idea what could be causing this, then? Because like I mentioned earlier, it seems only thyroid/hormone/endocrine issues could cause this.

Thanks

free skin care · Mon Jun 23, 2014 9:48 pm

I wanted to update (if anyone even still looks at this thread) that I went to a UCLA hematologist who drew a ton of blood from me to check for many things. He found 2 things - my Vitamin D was below normal and my level of creatine kinase was extremely high - 231 when the average is 24-204.

I followed up with a visit to a USC endocrinologist, as referred by an internal doctor that I had gone to. The endocrinologist, however, could not help me too much, as I have already exhausted nearly every test possible, all to no significant findings. He advised I continue taking Vitamin D for at least a month and he ordered another test for my creatine kinase levels, as a high reading of that can sometimes indicate a neuromuscular disorder.

I am still waiting to hear on the results from that retest, but....right now....again, it's just frustrating not getting any answers. A high level of creatine kinase usually results from a very traumatic injury to the body or a very abnormally long strenuous exercise, but I've had neither happen to me, so I am baffled.

I still experience twitching, random cold flashes, and unexplainable indentions/scars on my skin, but for the most part, the severity of all this lies in twitching/prickling of my hair. The hair on my head twitches like crazy, as does my eyebrow hair. It's weird....I've read so many odd and frightening things online about mysterious bugs, bugs or parasites that cannot be detected via testing, Morgellon's, all sorts of crazy conjecture.

The USC guy I saw has had lots of experience with parasites and all, and he said should a parasite be to blame for my symptoms, one key indicator in my bloodwork would have revealed it, but I tested to be normal. He also dismissed Lyme Disease when I brought it up as something I've heard about online.

And in regards to my low Vitamin D (I had a 20 on a scale that starts at 30), he said generally a deficiency will bring fatigue, but...he didn't think it should be to the extent that I am experiencing.

Does ANYONE have any help they can provide to me? This is absolutely ridiculous.

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