Hep C Discussion Forum

LanaiSurferGirl · Senior Member

RE: Crawling sensation

Cinnamon Girl · Guru

I know what you`re talking about Tim, and it`s very unpleasant. The feeling of bugs crawling and biting all over my body actually started for me a couple of years or so before I did tx. I visited my GP on 2 occasions convinced that I had some sort of fleas or mites, only to be told that it must be an allergic reaction to something I was using (I`m quite sure it wasn`t). It drove me crazy while on tx, and I actually took pain killers or a sleeping pill now and then, just to get a good night`s sleep free from itching.

But I`m happy to say that it did eventually disappear post tx, I can`t remember exactly at what point, and it`s never come back. I hope that will be the case with you too, Tim!

hrsetrdr · Guru

I still experience the 'bug crawling' sensations on various parts of my body, but primarily around the neck & head area. At one point I entertained the thought that I might have head lice, but close examination proved negative. It has been suggested in some quarters that absent any observable physical cause, that these sensations are hallucinatory in nature. Although being six months post tx, I still have hopes that these crawlies will eventually subside.

Biggyb · Guru

Butcheeyboy wrote:

Drives me freaking crazy, always shaking out the sheets, back-scratcher laying in the bed with me.

My back-scratcher is always within reach too when in bed. Weird feeling.

Butcheeyboy · Veteran Member

believernmiracles wrote:
I'm so glad there are other people who have exprienced this "creepy crawly" feeling. I was almost convinced that I was losing my mind and was only a step away from being locked in a padded room scratching the flesh from my bones to get at "the bugs"...it feels like ants crawling on my arms and legs, and even on my face sometimes. it can get very annoying. I've been off treatment for about 3 days, not long enough to get the meds out of my system, and this feeling has already started to subside somewhat.

I have had the feeling something is crawling on me EVERY night for months!

Drives me freaking crazy, always shaking out the sheets, back-scratcher laying

in the bed with me. Just feels like somthing biting and crawling.

This was my last week, of 48 and today is the first day with no Riba and I did the

triple treatment. I am hoping the 'itchies' will stop soon as my body starts deotxing

from the meds.

believernmiracles · Newbie

I'm so glad there are other people who have exprienced this "creepy crawly" feeling. I was almost convinced that I was losing my mind and was only a step away from being locked in a padded room scratching the flesh from my bones to get at "the bugs"...it feels like ants crawling on my arms and legs, and even on my face sometimes. it can get very annoying. I've been off treatment for about 3 days, not long enough to get the meds out of my system, and this feeling has already started to subside somewhat.

hrsetrdr · Guru

kiwi wrote:
i was gettin real bad restless legs on treatment, and just insomnia. i noticed about 2 weeks out that i was not having the RLS. omg like you said, you never appreciate how great sleep is. till ya cant do it. i would lie there and be restless and awake for hours.
now i appreciate lying down, tired as, and just being able to relax. i love that stage just when you dropping off...
i said to some friends, i will never ever ever again take for granted having a good nights sleep.
ive also had a real itchy scalp, but on a good note, my '''ring of fire''' has cleared up. lol tmfi haha
hang in there mate.
Yea, if I'm relaxed and comfortable I don't really mind too much if I remain awake; it helps to be retired though. If I had to get up and run off to work I'd definately feel deprived if I hadn't gotten a good night's sleep.

Bills wrote:

Adding my 2-cents
I used trazadone on off for a few years mostly during Tx for me 50mg was too much I slept pretty good but didn't want to get up in the morning so I break it to 25 when I do use it seemed to make me groggy and irritable next day I Also found that any sleep aid including benadril had longer after affects than i wanted
I recently was told I can use Klonapin as a sleep aid and it helps It's not as bad as the others maybe its me but I still get groggy in the morning I avoid sleep aid till I really need to sleep Like on a weekend when it don't matter so much But Klonapin is good for skin crawls When I Detoxed off Alcohol It really took care of the skin crawls I detoxed a couple of times and knew the crawls would be the worst What I don't know is if used reg how addictive
Symbalta is mentioned below It might be good for skin craws too it works on over active nerve endings and over sensitive skin and as usual discuss it with the doc before anything

I take the whole 50mg Trazadone, but I've had to resort to taking .25mg or more per day of Xanax or else I don't stay asleep.

At this time I don't have an "exit strategy" as far as ceasing meds for sleep & sanity, but I hope that in time I'll be able to return to normal.

Bills · Guru

Adding my 2-cents

I used trazadone on off for a few years mostly during Tx for me 50mg was too much I slept pretty good but didn't want to get up in the morning so I break it to 25 when I do use it seemed to make me groggy and irritable next day I Also found that any sleep aid including benadril had longer after affects than i wanted

I recently was told I can use Klonapin as a sleep aid and it helps It's not as bad as the others maybe its me but I still get groggy in the morning I avoid sleep aid till I really need to sleep Like on a weekend when it don't matter so much But Klonapin is good for skin crawls When I Detoxed off Alcohol It really took care of the skin crawls I detoxed a couple of times and knew the crawls would be the worst What I don't know is if used reg how addictive

Symbalta is mentioned below It might be good for skin craws too it works on over active nerve endings and over sensitive skin and as usual discuss it with the doc before anything

kiwi · Senior Member

i was gettin real bad restless legs on treatment, and just insomnia. i noticed about 2 weeks out that i was not having the RLS. omg like you said, you never appreciate how great sleep is. till ya cant do it. i would lie there and be restless and awake for hours.

now i appreciate lying down, tired as, and just being able to relax. i love that stage just when you dropping off...

i said to some friends, i will never ever ever again take for granted having a good nights sleep.

ive also had a real itchy scalp, but on a good note, my '''ring of fire''' has cleared up. lol tmfi haha

hang in there mate.

hrsetrdr · Guru

I recently saw my GP about the crawling sensation, I decided to include mention of having sleep problems as well as some lingering anxiety. We had a good talk, he gave me a sleep med called
Trazodone 50 mg which helps me stay asleep...well at least better than I had been. I still wake up a couple of times to go to the bathroom but am getting right back to sleep, enough to feel like I had gotten enough(sleep).

The "crawling" doesn't bother me as much, maybe between the .25MG/day dose of Xanax and the Trazodone my nerve endings are starting to calm down a bit.

Wow you just never appreciate a good night's sleep until you've missed a few[too many]. wink

hrsetrdr · Guru

Crap, forgot about a dental appointment scheduled months ago for Nov 2nd, had to re-schedule appointment with GP for 11/8.

Margo · Senior Member

This may be due to the nerve damage as well caused by interferon. Symbalta does wonders but talk to your dictor first.

JoAnneh · Guru

Yes like Alan I know my NP and nurse well!
Let them know its bothering u. I have had a lot of temporary relieve w
Triamcinolone Acetonidr Cream, 0.5 %.
Other formun ppl told me about it.
JoAnne

hrsetrdr · Guru

JoAnneh wrote:
Did you have rash or itching before tx?
Do u think not taking Xanax is causing it?
I remember it took 6 months to detox my body last time I did tx 11 years ago.
Hope it's better soon! JoAnne

I did not have any rash or itching before tx, but Interferon was not kind to me, so it gets the blame for all my troubles.

I think that the Xanax does help calm down and relieve the crawly willies, but I don't think that the crawlies are any kind of 'withdrawal' symptom but I could be wrong.

I've made then cancelled a couple appointments with my GP, not sure whether to charecterize this as a "skin" problem or a "nerve" problem. I don't want my doctor to regard me as a hypochondriac so I try to limit my visits, although in the past two months I've used Kaiser's urgent-care a couple times. Since HCV diagnosis I think I've seen the dr. more than all the previous 32 years that I've been a Kaiser patient.

hrsetrdr · Guru

news wrote:
I heard that, Tim. My GP, liver doctor, ultrasoaund lady and blood lab guy all call me by name when they see me. I bought the nurse practitioner a potted plant for her office. She sent me a post card from Barbados. My family has grown to include my health care providers. This is some serious, life event mind boggling heavy duty **** we are doing here. But it builds good habits. I make and keep doctors appointments. I take my vitamins, baby aspirin, blood pressure pill, and chodroitin/glucosamine every day, using the same pill calendar I used during treatment. I guess it's about time I started caring about important health stuff.
Alan

-- Edited by news on Sunday 21st of October 2012 02:00:53 AM

Yea Allen, that's for sure...better late than never, that seems to be human nature...

Witness the following vignette :

Myself(1970)

"ah heck, I'm young only 30-something, I can smoke-drink & be merry another few decades before I have to pay the piper."

Fast forward to present:

Myself now

"Oh $h!t- I gotta preserve every iota of functionality that this broken old body's got...because that ain't very much anymore."

JoAnneh wrote:

Yes like Alan I know my NP and nurse well!
Let them know its bothering u. I have had a lot of temporary relieve w
Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream, 0.5 %.
Other formun ppl told me about it.
JoAnne

Earlier this evening I ordered some more of that Triamcinolone Acetonide cream, some of the nasty, angry red-itchy lesions have popped back up recently. I have yet to come accross a solution for the crawly bug sensation problem, but it appears that a whole lot of people suffer with it. Generally called formication although some people become really overtaken by the condition, and as such cross over into Delusional parasitosis.

Margo wrote:
This may be due to the nerve damage as well caused by interferon. Symbalta does wonders but talk to your dictor first.

Yes, I really need to bring this up with my doc, he's got alot of GP experience under his belt; he knows what works and what don't. [sic]

However, I have a bunch of gabapentin that he gave me a prescription for back in January for the PN in my feet; I opted not to continue with it because not only did it not work, it made me foggy headed which I could ill afford at the time. The gabapentin could possibly help the creepy crawly hibigeebies but a real big drawback is that it could cause weight-gain.

-- Edited by hrsetrdr on Sunday 21st of October 2012 05:55:31 AM

-- Edited by hrsetrdr on Monday 11th of February 2013 04:55:49 AM

news · Guru

I heard that, Tim. My GP, liver doctor, ultrasoaund lady and blood lab guy all call me by name when they see me. I bought the nurse practitioner a potted plant for her office. She sent me a post card from Barbados. My family has grown to include my health care providers. This is some serious, life event mind boggling heavy duty **** we are doing here. But it builds good habits. I make and keep doctors appointments. I take my vitamins, baby aspirin, blood pressure pill, and chodroitin/glucosamine every day, using the same pill calendar I used during treatment. I guess it's about time I started caring about important health stuff.

Alan

-- Edited by news on Sunday 21st of October 2012 02:00:53 AM

gonnabhepcfree · Member

I had the same feeling for about a month after I finished Incivek, it litterally felt like flea bites all over me, it hasn't happened for a while now so I'm hoping its gone, benadryl would help but I always tried to avoid it because of the side effects. Hopefully yours will subside also!

JoAnneh · Guru

Did you have rash or itching before tx?
Do u think not taking Xanax is causing it?
I remember it took 6 months to detox my body last time I did tx 11 years ago.
Hope it's better soon! JoAnne

hrsetrdr · Guru

When I was on treatment I had the typical skin itching, lesions and such that everyone has, but even at 2+ months post tx I still have some sensation of bugs crawling on my skin, particularly at night. If I take some Xanax that I have on-hand, I can get a decent night's sleep, but I don't really feel that I need to depend on the Xanax anymore, and would like to wean off it.

Benadryl helps if I haven't used it in a while, but on subsequent nights it has little or no effect. Is this some residual effect of the tx drugs on the nerves or skin , or have I developed some kind of Ribavirin-induced mental quirk?

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