Skins and Nerves Questions - Not sure where to post - Please help!

[Wynter]

Hi All,

I am posting in the general section in order to get a larger response, and the questions I have overlap into skin and nerves. If you have any advice, I would greatly appreciate it.

Skin Problem: My skin is dry and I use all the cr?mes and stuff like that, which seem to help. My skin does itch to bad and when I touch it, it doesn?t feel dry. However, it gets very irritated withing stinging and burning, sometimes the pins/needles. When something rubs against my skin it stings. In fact, sometimes it feels like I have a sunburn. For instance, wearing paints against my legs, makes anywhere the pant touches sting. The same thing with shirts and the fabric doesn?t really matter. When I lay in bed and put the covers over my body, the places the sheets touch sting and sometimes burn. It?s seems to get worse if I am stressed. Putting more lotion on doesn?t help. One thing that is really weird, is handling things with my hands. At work, I have to sort few papers and touching the paper makes my hands turn red and feel irritated and stingy. I discussed this with the dermatologist and she said my skin is probably inflamed and if Neurontin doesn?t take care of then I should use Eucerin Calming lotion, which doesn?t help. I just started 900 mg of Neurontin per day, but I don?t know how long before it will kick in for me to tell if this is a skin issue or a nerve issue. Any advice would be great.

Nerve Problem in Mouth: I believe I am experiencing some form of unusual trigeminal neuralgia in my mouth and nose. When my mouth performs any type of movement, the nerves in my mouth are stimulated to pressure, food and liquid in the mouth. Gum chewing is especially painful. The repetitive movement of my mouth to the inside of my mouth stimulates nerves. As for my nose, it?s sensitive to smell, but if I take a deep breath, something in my nose hurts. It?s especially painful, if I smell anything strong. For instance, my mother in law purchased new perfume and I smelled it, but held the bottle far away from my nose. Pain went up into my nose.

I have seen the dentist, oral surgeon, periodontist, and ENT about these problems, and all concur that there is some sort of neuralgia going on. However, the idiot neurologist itsn?t sure. As I said before, I have started Neurontin and hopefully it will help with all the problems. If anyone has any advice, please let me know. It might be time for a visit ot Dr. Birnbaum.

[gurs]

Funny, i have the exact same thing...started after i had my total hysterectomy and went into instant menopause...all my doctors say low estrogen can cause this? All my neuro testing came back fine, except for the fact that Sjogrens can act like MS? have you had your hormones checked, including thyroid?
I have the nerve/skin pain all over my entire body, and Im freezing all the time. Im currently working with a new hormone doc to see if she can help.

[Katybarstool]

Wynter and Gurs

I have no words of wisdom for you, but just want to say my thoughts are with you both.

Kathyx

[eyeamdry]

I definitely think the pins and needles/pain is related to SS.  I have things that are similar to bee stings.  This is different than the pins and needles.  I get them mostly on the back of my hands and on my legs.  It's as if someone is poking me with a needle--or a bee just stung me.  It goes away after a few seconds and will pop up somewhere else at no given time.

I've recently started taking Lyrica 3 x day 100 mg and I think this has helped.  I also have trigeminal neuralgia over my forehead/left eye and this Lyrica is the first pain relief I've had in almost 10 years of having it.  Lucy

[Dolly Dimples]

  Hi Wynter , I feel so sad for the discomfort you are going through, my skin is exceptionally sensitive to the cold, but I can put up with it even if my family can't,   They will sit wearing tee shirts complaining of the heat ,  whilst I am in trousers and woollen tops, every little blow of air hits my eyes and dries them out, it's a pain !!

  You don't say if this is a new symptom or not,   or old you are.. Have you got SJogrens?    It could possibly be hormonal or a kind of neuritis.. Ametripteline is widely used here in the UK for skin and pain issues of this kind..
    I would guess both your skin and mouth problems are connected ..  reallyi wish I could give you some kind of professional advice,   only Doctors can do this  tho'         but am wishing you a speedy result and recovery.   good luck, Dolly
                                                           

[Heather Bell]

Hi
This may be a bit off the wall but I have developed lots of allergies since getting SJS. You can get the burning skin sensation you describe when you come into contact with allergens (wool, detergent, etc).
Also noses can become very sensitive to the point of pain due to dryness and airborne allergens such as scents / fragrances, I have become so allergic to so many scents in the last year my doc has given me a letter to explain the condition to airline staff.
I use a lotion called Epaderm, which really helps with the burning sensation.
Good luck finding something that helps you.
Heather.

[Wynter]

I have thought about allergens. Although, everything type of material of the clothing doesn't seem to matter. I use fragrance and allergen free detergent. Another thing is, I work for a company that makes nickel based metal (very polluting) and I am sure my office has weird stuff floating around. My husband and I plan on moving back to Dallas this summer and maybe some of this will resolve itself. What's interesting not long after I started working here, my Sjogren's symptoms became worse.

[Dolly Dimples]

   Winter , you might have hit the nail on the head there..
Metals are very well known to produce all sorts of complaints..   
     I pray that when you do move this turns out to be a recovery for you.. If so... you should make a claim on this company for compensation Pronto!!
                    Good luck and may you soon be on your way to better times.. Dolly.

[Babs659]

I agree with you about the effect of pollutants on the autoimmune response.  I'm currently reading a book called the Autoimmune Epidemic by D.J. Nakazawa, forward by Dr. D. Kerr who is the director of Johns Hopkins.  It's pretty disquieting but makes a lot of sense.  There was a small neighborhood in Buffalo that experienced a true epidemic of Lupus.  It was discovered that land was contaminated by PCB's and other toxins.  Many scientists now believe that pollutants can actually cause our bodies to go haywire and develop AI issues.

[Wynter]

What's interesting about where I live, it that it was recently rated one of the most polluted placed in the country w/high conentrations of nickel. I live in the Ohio River Valley in Huntington, West Virginia. If you look at a map and look at the area between Cincinatti and Pittsburgh, there are many, many metal and chemical plants along the Ohio River. I used to live in an area where there were high levels of aluminum and didn't have these problems.

[Red]

Wynter:
I find your issue very interesting. My heart goes out to you. I do know that when my Rheumatologist did my 1st visit screening there was several questions regarding chemicals, pesticides and metals that I might have been exposed to. I was not sure why they would ask about that.....it now sounds like I would be asking more questions if I were in your situation.
Best of Luck.

Red

[navydad]

I have lived most of mylife along the river valleys of the Monogehela river not far from Pittsburgh,, growing up along te river meant swimming along the docks of te steel mills and cemical plants, we used to trow mud at each oter,, calling it blue mud,, now knowing it was polluted mud,, prob full of toxins and fuel oil from the barges,, Lord knows what we picked up there,, SIGH,, Neuros told me today,, they haveno idea what is causing te neuropathy in my legs,, maxed out on Lyrica,, 100X3,, they all say,, might be SS,, related,, but  none will give me a firm DX of it,, and all say go to Philly  LOL,, ya,, like I can hjust show up at there door,,

[JannaLee]

Wynter and Navy,

The lake I live on is "impaired" due to heavy metal contamination from a nearby coal burning plant.  The fish is "unsafe" (mercury) for children and pregnant women.  This advisory was put on our lake after years of feeding it's fish to my kids and myself!

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has recently declared results from latest studies show impaired waters (from heavy metals) to be greatly increased in the past couple years.  They have not released the particulars yet, just the general press release.

[navydad]

Personnaly I would not eat any fish from any lake,, if they were polluted before,, there still polluted,, the heavy metals just sink into the mud at the bottom,, and get into the food chain from the fish eating the bottom feeders and it jsut works it way up to us

[JannaLee]

You are so right, Navy!