Hey. I can't fall asleep at night.. Help?

Question

well, wat happens is my skin feels a creeply crawly. it's jus a feeling like little bugs are crawling all over my skin. Then i can't sleep. I wear clean clothes, my bed's clean, my skins clean, so idk why i feel that. I think maybe its a mental thing. i've tried hot milk right before bed, but that doesn't alwayz work. does anyone have any ideas?? by the way, merry christmas!

Answer 1

First, let me assure you that what initially sounds like you're talking about something out of a sciene fiction movie. But you're not. You might be suffering from this well documented mysterious skin disease called Morgellons.
Read the below article:


Frightening Skin Disease Affects Thousands
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― It's a mystery disease straight out of the "X-Files." But those who suffer from it will tell you it's painfully real.

Imagine sweating beads of a black, tar-like substance; pulling colored threadlike strings from sores all over your body; or feeling like your skin is crawling with bugs. Worst of all, not only are doctors unsure of what it is, many tell patients they're making it all up.

Sufferer Annette Riaubia said, "They start out like little pimples or something and you scratch them, and they bust open and they spring forth these weird fibers like a strand of a piece of cotton. "

"I saw white fiber on my face," said one woman who only wanted to be identified as Marcella. "I saw black specks coming out of what looked like pimples, really. "



Most sufferers have lesions on their skin that ooze multi-colored fibers.

"Blue, red, yellow, pink, white coming out of the skin, not landing on it," Riaubia said.

Black pepper-like particles are also often found on the skin. And then there's the bugs.

"The most disturbing symptom is just the crawling feeling on your skin like you got bugs crawling all over you," said Riaubia.

Marcella said, "My son felt it first: 'Mommy I have bugs on my skin.' I thought he must be having a vivid dream. Then I started having the symptoms."

Marcella says that in addition to the bugs, there's severe pain. "Yes, tremendous amount of joint pain particularly the large joints. Like the hips and the knees."

These are just a few of the more than 3,500 Americans believed to be suffering from the illness.

Morgellons sufferer William Zielenbach said, "My symptoms started out as small lesions that looked like birth marks, exactly like birthmarks."

Zielenbach believes he's had the disease for the past two years. Right now he has lesion covering his arms and legs. He lives with his girlfriend, Katherine Walker, in a Hollywood apartment building. She recently came down with it and dropped about 40 pounds in a matter of months. They're now shells of their former selves.

"I was getting little lesions on my ears -- again, my case isn't as bad except for the chronic fatigue, which is how a lot of people say it starts for them," Walker said.

Another troubling symptom: hair loss.

Riaubia, who has to wear a wig, said that is her biggest symptom. She often get lesions on her scalp. "They don't actually heal. They just end up leaving strange looking scars."

On top of having to live with this devastating disease these people have had to deal with a lack of support from the medical community. Some have been diagnosed with scabies -- a contagious skin disease caused by a mite. Or they're told they're delusional and that their ailments are from self-mutilation.

Marcella said, "[I] went to the dermatologist first and he basically said that I was delusional."

"I've had everything from nerves to drug addiction to delusional parasitosis is the biggest common diagnosis," Riaubia said.

The disease does seem to cause a brain fog or lack of clarity. However, Morgellons sufferer Jane Waldoch wanted to prove to doctors that it wasn't all in her mind so she saved the fibers that were growing out of her body.

"This has absolutely brought me to my knees," she said.

Some doctors even admit to a lack of acknowledgement of the illness.

"There are a lot of us who feel like if it doesn't exist in my medical book then it doesn't' exist anywhere," said Dr. Hardesh Garg.

"Believe me if I just randomly saw one of these patients in my office, I would think they were crazy, too," Nurse Practitioner Ginger Savely said. She treats Morgellons patients from all over the country at her San Francisco Medical Center. "But after you've heard the story of over 100 patients and they're all down to the most minute detail saying the exact same thing, which becomes quite impressive."

As you can imagine, living with such an illness can cause emotional distress. Lisa Wilson's son, Trevor, developed the disease just over a year ago. At times she'd try to help him alleviate the pain.

"It looked like a piece of spaghetti. It was about 1/8 to 1/4-inch long sticking out of his chest when has was having a very bad attack and I tried to pull it as hard as I could out and I could not pull it out."

Trevor tried several medications: antibiotics, antiparasitics and pain killers. But when things became too much to bear, he took his own life.

"I knew he was going to kill himself and there was nothing I could do to stop him," Wilson said.

Other Morgellons patients have felt this same type of deep depression. The children have their own struggles.

"I used to have the whole softball team come and sleep over and no one wants to come over anymore," one teen said.

Researchers at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences have been testing scabs and fibers from patients.

Researcher Dr. Randy Wymore said, "We don't know what causes it. We don't know if it's an environmental factor, if there are bacteria involved, if there are parasites, or worms or viruses."

In the meantime sufferers are praying someone can unlock this medical mystery and release them from this living hell.

"It's just one big Twilight Zone episode that hopefully we'll get an end to here soon," one sufferer said.

Nurse practitioner Savely says she's found some success by giving her patients a combination of anti-fungals, antibiotics and antiparasitics.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved

Or you could be suffering from Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS).

What is RLS and its ysmptoms?
Restless legs syndrome causes uncomfortable and sometimes painful sensations in the legs described as tingling, "pins and needles," prickling, pulling, or crawling. The sensations cause an irresistible urge to move your legs. Movement may temporarily relieve the discomfort. This usually happens at night while you are trying to rest.

Once you fall asleep, your legs may begin to jerk or move involuntarily. These movements, called periodic limb movements, can wake you from sleep, adding to problems with fatigue. Periodic limb movements may also occur during the day, although you may not recognize them as a problem. While periodic limb movement is considered a separate condition, it often occurs with restless legs syndrome

What causes restless legs syndrome?
The cause of restless legs syndrome is unknown. It may be genetic because it runs in families. Conditions such as iron deficiency or iron-deficiency anemia, kidney failure, pregnancy, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and Parkinson's disease may be associated with it. However, most people who seek treatment do not have one of these other conditions. Restless legs syndrome may result from abnormal balances of iron in your blood and of the brain chemical dopamine. However, more research is needed to prove a connection.


How is it treated?
Regular moderate exercise and stretching along with avoiding smoking and caffeine may be enough to relieve mild symptoms. When symptoms are more severe or make it hard to sleep, medicines often help

Home Treatment
There are ways to improve your symptoms of restless legs syndrome at home.

Try:

Exercise. Regular, moderate exercise may reduce symptoms. Avoiding long periods between activity or sudden bursts of intense activity may also be helpful. Talk to your doctor before starting a regular exercise program.
Heat or cold. Your symptoms may be relieved by bathing in very hot or very cold water. Applying a heating pad or ice bag to your legs may also help symptoms.
Changing your sleep schedule. Fatigue can make your symptoms worse. Since symptoms typically improve around 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., try going to bed later than usual or allowing extra time for sleeping in to help you get the rest you need.
Stretching and massage. You may be able to control your symptoms by gently stretching and massaging your legs before bed or as discomfort begins.
Avoid:

Caffeine and alcohol. These may make your symptoms worse.
Certain drugs. It may help to avoid antidepressants, antihistamines, cold and sinus medicine, antipsychotic medicine, and certain antinausea drugs (metoclopramide or prochlorperazine). Taking products that contain these ingredients may make your symptoms worse. Your doctor needs to know what medicines you are taking in order to rule them out as a cause of your symptoms.
Being confined for long periods. Try to plan for situations where you will need to remain seated for long stretches. For example, if you are traveling by car, plan to make occasional stops so you can get out and walk around.
Excessive exercise. Although moderate exercise may help relieve symptoms, unusually intense workouts may make them worse. Try to identify at what level exercise helps and at what point it triggers restless legs syndrome.
See your doctor if your symptoms do not improve or if they become worse or significantly interferes with sleep and daily functioning.

The drug of choice of this RLS is Requip.
I'm sorry for the length of my answer. I can't condense the article to prove the validity of your claims that you are NOT delusional.

Answer 2

A couple questions to ask yourself. Are you depressed? Are you eating right? What do you do during the days, are you active during the day, meaning are you exerciseing at all. It all depends on some of these things. I think it might be a mental thing as well. If your depressed it is always hard to sleep at night, if you aren't eating right somtimes that effects your body and the way you sleep as well. If you don't exercise much that always effects how your body reacts at night. The reason I know is because I have had those problems myself. Maybe not the creeply crawly feeling but I think eveyone has had that feeling once in awhile. What I would do is try talking to your doctor or be more active during the day. Or maybe getting somthing to help you sleep from your doctor. Try eating more healthy food or not eating a couple hours before you go to bed. Or even try changing your pattern in sleeping, go to bed earlier or maybe later, somtimes that help.
Merry Chrismas too.
Kay.

Answer 3

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/restless_legs_syndrome/article_em.htm

You are not mental. You have Restless Leg Syndrome. Here's the link to help you understand what it is and maybe some things you can do to cope with it.
Hubby and I both have it.
Nothing has ever been effective in the way of relief for those damned nervewracking sensation in the legs (sometimes painful too) until we found this product.....MaxxiRub. Applying some of this on our legs and lower back works everytime, we use it every single night before bed and we go right off to sleep now. Absolutely love it, it's worth every dime.
http://www.uniquelyemu.com/maxxirub.htm

Answer 4

What are these black bugs and white bugs in my hair