Burning skin that feels sore but dosent look sore

[Okmom 9]

Has anyone ever been told these painful skin sensations are fibromyalgia ? I looked on the diagnostic site and these symptoms are described there...

[james1979 1]

I just wanted to add that these were also my main symptoms, the burning and crawling skin. Not nice at all. I had mine for over a year, they then got better for a few months but have now returned. This time round I'm trying really hard just to ride it out, because the more you stress about it, the worse it will get. Gilly has been such a help to me I can't thank her enough. She is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to anxiety.

Okmom you will get over this, it might not be soon, but you will eventually.

[james1979 1]

Okmom, as far as the possible fibromyalgia diagnosis, I thought exactly the same as you as I had sore achy muscles aswell as the skin problems, but I don't think you have fibro.

[anxious me 0]

Okmum and Toronto girl...oh my goodness, when I found this topic I could not believe how much its like me. I have had burning skin since June1. I am now bed bound for the majority of the time. I have had a lot of tests but doctors don't know whats wrong. However this all started after I started to withdraw of Saphris. My feeling is that the Saphris has damaged my automic nervous functiong and causing a condition called dysautomia. Someone mentioned starting an anti-depressant around the time that their burning started? I have been told its anxiety as well, but I also struggle to believe that such intense symptons could be caused by anxiety. I also get burning in my head and numbness around or in my ear canals. When the burning first started in June I was getting pins and needdles, but then they progressed to burning. I am 40 and up until Sept last year functioned well. I have a masters degree and unfortunately will probably have to give up my job soon as I struggle to work. I fear that this is not getting better and that this will go in for years!!!

[james1979 1]

Hi Anxious me. I'm sorry that you are struggling with these intense symptoms, but I can say from experience that they can definetly come from anxiety. I had the burning skin symptom along with crawling skin which is horrible. Initially i had these symptoms for over a year and then they gradually started to fade. They have now come back although I am anxious about starting a new job which has probably caused the relapse. I'm sure you won't have these symptoms for years, it just takes time for the nervous system to calm down.

[Mark G 1187]

Got the crawling sensation over my left cheekbone area today.  The thing i've found with anxiety is that, if you accept one set of symptoms and as they fade, another set of symptoms take their place, if not old symptoms, new ones.  Anxiety is a fighter, and does not want to leave your mind.

[Mark G 1187]

I have a patch of tingling skin just below my cheek bone as mentioned above. The thing keeps coming on going over the same area, its so frustrating. Can the mind sensitize such a small area of skin like this?

[Gilly 1086]

It sure can Mark, I've had that many tingles over the years, but I remember once the tip of my nose tingled for a couple of weeks, drove me bonkers!

[Okmom 9]

Gilly,

When yours started to go away did it just suddenly stop or did it pain stakingly slowly go away?

It will be a year next month for me

It feels like it's gotten a little better and then it's staying constant right at this point. It really feels like it's never going to stop pestering me!!

Mine is mostly on my legs for some reason but can have times when it's on my upper body temporarily.

I feel like something maybe wrong with my autonomic nervous system or something since it tends to be worse with rest.

Usually stops if I move around or get active in a sport.

Is the worst while sitting still or driving.

When I have an arguement with my husband it seems to go away too making me think it isn't stress related ... I don't know.

Things seem to be a little smoother in life right now so why isn't it going away?

[Mark G 1187]

Thanks Gilly, it's a real pain, so frustrating, which i know is not going to help ease it.  As soon as this tingling starts, i become aware and then all my other symptoms kick in (feeling of perceived mild numbness in sole of right foot mostly).  It seems to locate itself around the cheek and bottom of eye socket up to the temple and alternates around that area.  Touching that area sets it off as well.  Must continue to try and accept these symptoms but it's so hard to.

[Gilly 1086]

Slowly mom, very slowly. Had it all the time for about 2 years them about 2 years of it fading. It has yet to 100% go away, but it comes and goes now, fleeting. My anxiety over it is not there anymore, I just roll my eyes at the pesky nuisance. I know my body just needs time to recover. I will say this, when your attention is not on it, like you say when arguing with hubby, that IS when you don't notice it, when the mind is occupied with other strong feelings and thoughts, it ain't got time to pay attention to the tingles and burning and buzzing, only when the mind is less active and we have time to think about it, notice it, that is when it can be at it's worst. It's a funny thing though because that is not a golden rule, it doesn't mean you can't get symptoms when you are occupied and focused on something else, just that it's less likely

 

 

Mark it is hard, but that doesn't mean you can't do it! I was just thinking the other day, I had a tingling/numbness sensation at the crease of my elbow for a few months, and of course it felt worse when I bent my arm up. I'd bend my arm up to feel it, it became an odd habit, I'd even do it as soon as I woke to see if it was still there! Why do we do these things to ourselves? You simply can't help it, the mind is running in circles trying to find peace and reassurance. I had a burning on my forearm once too, and I remember thinking, ugh not a new spot to burn, I'd completely forgot I spattered hot oil on my arm cooking the night before, was actually a real burn! 

[Mark G 1187]

Hi Gilly,

 

You know, you're so right.  I was sitting the other day when my leg and foot went tingly and i thought,'oh god', then realised the door was open and it was a draft cooling my foot down.  My tired brain and anxiety changed the sensation to something awful when it was just a chilly foot.  I must admit, my mind gazes at it and it's really difficult to accept and move on.  I find myself introspectively checking it whenever i stand on it and question why it is not in the other foot, then other times when i've actually managed to think of something else, i feel nothing.  I just don't know why we do it.

[Okmom 9]

I'm sitting here now watching TV with my kids and feeling the stinging in various places all over my body.

I feel like I'm going to have a nervous break down

I can't keep going through this...

Gilly, I didn't realize you were still experiencing the symptoms. I thought they had completely gone away

So so they never really go?

[Mark G 1187]

I think symptoms can hang around but your attitude towards them changes. Eventually you will be able to sting away without caring less because you KNOW that it is just anxiety.

[Okmom 9]

I guess that's something but do we have to face a life where we will have to sting away?

Does it ever just stop?

[jonathan123 2368]

Let me tell you an interesting story that happened when I was in the middle of GAD. It's funny really, but was not so at the time. I woke up one morning and put on my glasses. Oh my god, one eye was totally blurred.   That's it, I thought, that's my lot!! I told my wife and, as usual, she passed it off  as the anxiety, but for a while I was in a right state. Well, and you may not believe this, but the 'blurring' was caused by the fact that a lens had dropped out of the frame so one eye would be blurred wouldn't it? Honest, I got in a state over nothing. A classic example of not stopping to reason. We are a funny old lot and no mistake.  .     Jon.

[Mark G 1187]

Isn't it strange how the anxious mind jumps to conclusions without stopping to think rationally.  A lot of the fear which is created, with me anyway, is the fact that these symptoms (currently tingling skin and tight throat) seems to have a mind of their own and don't seem to correlate with the state of anxiety in the mind.  I can feel really anxious and have relatively no symptoms, and feel calm and have the symptoms i have currently.  I just cannot fathom how that can be?   

[jonathan123 2368]

Hi Mark. This is the combination of two things. Memory and the latent effects of the fear you had. Memory can throw up symptoms as if from nowhere, and this can happen even when we feel calm. (Or relatively calm; it's all relative). When we have a bad bout of anxiety we are like a big bell that has been struck; the initial loud sound dies away but the vibrations can go on for some time. You could say the bell has become 'sensitised' by the initial shock of being struck.  It does die down and becomes silent and that is where it differs from us. Do we allow the vibes to die down? Oh no! we get more uptight and the vibes go on and on. Now this is where 'lonesailor's' 'Off Switch' comes in. If we can see it for what it is and, when the vibes go on, switch them off we are home and dry. Not easy but possible. Letting the feelings die of their own accord without adding second fear is what acceptance is about.    Good luck.   Jon. 

[Mark G 1187]

Excellent explanation Jon, many thanks.  That makes very good sense.  I think i forget sometimes that stress hormone takes a while to die down so, in turn, symptoms take time as well.  If i keep accepting willingly, then it will die down.  Will have another read of the 'off switch' post, thank you. 

[Gilly 1086]

Hi Gilly,

 

You know, you're so right.  I was sitting the other day when my leg and foot went tingly and i thought,'oh god', then realised the door was open and it was a draft cooling my foot down.  My tired brain and anxiety changed the sensation to something awful when it was just a chilly foot.  I must admit, my mind gazes at it and it's really difficult to accept and move on.  I find myself introspectively checking it whenever i stand on it and question why it is not in the other foot, then other times when i've actually managed to think of something else, i feel nothing.  I just don't know why we do it.

 

Mark, that has happened to me soooo many times!! I thought the same, only to realise a window was open and it was a cool breeze, not a weird sensation. 

 

Okmom, I still get symptoms because I still have anxiety disorders, and yes it may be for life. I accepted that, which is why I have improved, along with all the hard work and therapy, I have gotten much better. I still have bad days and I'm still over sensitive, but I understand it is going to take time, and yes I do still have too much stress in my life which does not help. After remembering and posting about a tingling nose yesterday, my nose tingled last night! LOL you can't make this stuff up! SOME of my symptoms have gone (I'll say it quietly in case the beast is listening) the constant symptoms have gone, but of course I do get symptoms still, the only difference is I KNOW why now, I recognise why, they will happen when I haven't got enough sleep, or when I have had a big stressor to deal with. I do consider myself to be somewhat recovered, I have made some big leaps, but I am still a work in progress. Some days I feel as good as I can be, some days not so much.

 

We can find ourselves making a big mistake when we are trying to heal and recover, and that is that nobody feels amazing every single day. People who don't have anxiety suffer from aches and pains, headaches, soreness, muscle stiffness and cramps. Everyone has sensations, everyone will feel a tingle here and there. (I have mentioned my symptoms to non-anxious friends/family before, for them to say they have had the sensation on an arm/leg) We forget because for us it all intensifies to an extent you think when it goes away it will all just stop and you will never feel anything weird again.

 

What happens is it doesn't all stop, the nervous system just settles back down, they don't feel intense but you still feel because feeling is perfectly normal! Your perspective changes and that is a huge step. That is where I am at. I still have a higher than usual amount of tingles and weird stuff, but my reaction to them is more normal now, I don't freak out or question them, therefore they are losing their power and lessening in intensity and frequency.

[anxious me 0]

I have them today as well...they only started when I withdrew if Saphris...now I am currently taking Valium so I don't know if they are causing the symptoms. Or contributing to them. But I need to take the Valium at the moment to control my anxiety. I have difficulty taking SSRI's. All my attempts fail as I get so anxious and s*****al after three days on them that I need to go off. I do know some people who have had some luck with scenar therapy. It is done by some physio's. They do different treatments with the device but one is to use it to "reset the central nervous system" it helps with back pain, headache. My aunt had tingling in hef foof after an injury and this fixed if. What about trying daily massage with oil to the area?

[Lisa1989 0]

Hi, I'm new on here but just wanted to ask the question. I've recently started havin lightheadedness and tingling sensations, sometimes in my hands and arms, less frequently in my feet...With this has come anxiety, which I didn't think I had! But now I'm wondering if this is all anxiety related and I just disnt realise I was anxious. I had a one off panic attack about 2 years ago, nothing before and nothing since, until this. When I had the panic attack, I didn't feel in the slightest bit anxious, it just totally caught me off guard. I've had these symptoms now for 2 months. Dr has sent me for mri but only to put my mind at ease....could this all be down to anxiety that I didn't even feel?

[Jenniferhop 17]

It sounds like anxiety. I've had these systems before with anxiety

[Lisa1989 0]

I really hope I really hope so Jenniferhop....it sounds silly to say I hope so, but I've been panicking it's something physical and really serious

[Mark G 1187]

I've a had a bad day with tingling on the cheeks today and had bad lightheadedness yesterday. Such a pain when it appears from nowhere and can really test my resolve.