Tingling in face due to stess?

[Anxiety?]

I've had tingling/crawling sensation in my face on and off for the last 6 months.  Sensation has been all over my face (forehead and both sides).  When I press on it, the sensations get worse.   It also gets worse when I'm in stressful situations, but I feel it at other times as well.  I've been to a nuerologist and had an MRI.  The doctor didn't think it was anything nuerlogical (like MS) and my MRI was clear.  I also have hypothyriodism and heard it could be attributed to that.

I found a person in this forum who had a similar experience.  The doctor's response was that it may indiciate a mental health problem.  Can you be more specific?  Why does this happen with stress?  Will it go away on its own?

[Jenny Wren]

The muscles in my neck are sore but I don't know that unless I rub them when I take a bath with wash cloth.  That's what I was saying about www.round-earth.com. When my neck hurts I can feel the tension in the base of my skull that is when I have the tingles in my face, even though it seems like my neck isn't hurting I can still feel a soreness on the side of my neck under my ear, that's probably why the Xanax works because they have small amounts of muscle relaxants in them.  Hang in there, Barely There!

[nada76]

BarelyThere, I have had the exact symptoms as you.

I eventually learned that this sensation is caused by the muscles around the skull contracting as a reaction to stress, anger or anxiety. In my case this led to tension headaches as the muscle contractions got stronger.

This is one of those conditions that gets worse as your anxiety increases, and as a result the symptoms get worse. It's a vicious cycle that will go on as long as the sensation causes anxiety.

Try to pay attention to your emotional state and what type of thoughts or events precede these symptoms and you will probably learn that this is more likely an emotional state manifestation than any serious medical problem.

[BarelyThere]

Anyone else out there who is having this problem?

I know the previous posters have said this is anxiety related. Is that because the anxiety/stress actually causes problems with the nerves?

[BarelyThere]

I am in my mid twenties. I asked my doctor's phone nurse about hormone testing and she practically laughed at me because of my age. However, I am still going to pursue that possibility just in case.

Yes, I have thought of tons of possible causes. It seems that one day I was going along living my life, and then this happened and now my life is about finding a cure. It's especially frustrating because nobody can tell me what it is.

I haven't been told anything about Lyme Disease, although I think I read the description at some point and it didn't fit exactly. I am open to exploring any possibility though. I do have a small bottle of Ativan that I take only when I really need it (because I don't have refills and it's the first bottle I've ever been prescribed) and it helps very little. Of course, the dose of Ativan is very low...a normal dose is like two of my little pills.

I know they eventually close all the threads on this site, so if they do please feel free to contact me at the email address I gave in a previous post. I feel very isolated and alone and wonder all the time if this will ever end. Nobody understands.

Last night it spread a bit to my temples which is a new thing for me, and it also felt kind of like dripping water on my face, but kind of burning at the same time. Chiropractor that I'm going to thinks it's the trigeminal nerve and says alot of TN cases originate from stress.

:(

[Jenny Wren]

Just wondering how your doing. Keep me posted on any of your progress, I know how you feel, believe me.  It keeps you wondering and worrying.  If your like me, I'm sure there has been thousands of thoughts that have gone through your mind.  Sometimes you wonder, Is this the calm before the storm?

[BarelyThere]

I don't have it anywhere but my face. Nothing happened to me before it started, although I deal with quite a bit of stress on a daily basis and I do have problems with anxiety. Trigeminal Neuralgia is a shock like pain that comes and goes, but PRE TN can feel like tingling, aching, or paresthesia and begins days to years before the first pain attack. MRI will only show TN if it is due to a tumor pressing on that nerve. Stress can bring on TN. I wonder if there are other disorders or irritation of the different facial nerves that could be responsible for this? I am VERY depressed over this. The doctors can't treat me and they look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them about it. I pray every night that it will go away. It starts up every single morning and is there until I go to sleep...and sometimes I can even feel it in the night. I have also developed sleep problems as a result of this. I wake at least 4-5 times per night and have a hard time getting to sleep. Don't know what to do, but words cannot describe how awful this is. I feel so bad for you that you have had it for so long.