8 years of suffering, no diagnosis

[Bala71261]

I am 56 old man with over eight years of constant prickling, burning, tingling and insect crawling feeling all over body. I feel as though that this is getting worse. I saw 4 Neurologists, had 5 MRIs (June 10 to May 13), 2 EMG/NCSs, 1 EEG, 1 SSEP and 1 LP. All came back negative except for O Bands found in CSF not in the blood. I have been posting my symptoms on various Forums, but almost all the responses are pointing to anxiety or stress. Please trust me, I know my body very well and my pain is very, very severe. I don't think that anxiety or stress could be the only reason for these worsening neurological pain. Any advise please?

[Imonyourskinitsme]

Hi, regarding Invisible-Bugs-crawling-on-skin read through -

https://www.medhelp.org/posts/Dermatology/Invisible-Bugs-crawling-on-skin-Strange-sensation/show/1093529 (try toward the end).

Suggest try a new simple diet for 2-3 weeks. Something like -
Carrots, tomatoes, white rice, turnip, bok choy, radish, lactose-free milk, coffee. Plus anything else no one has a problem with. Don't cheat. If it works your symptoms should be gone in about 10 days. If not it wont hurt you.
I get skin Bugs-crawling feeling up to 8 days after wheat/oats/barley/rye (celiac), corn, and very bad after apples.

So a diet change is worth a try. Good luck.

[supermum_ms]

Hi and welcome,

I'm sorry your still searching for answers after so long, it's very unlikely to be related to a neurological condition like MS because what you are experiencing is all over your body and all over, random locations, all peripheral limbs etc are usually red flags pointing away from neurological conditions like MS, basically if you don't have any other MS suggestive/consistent diagnostic evidence then it's more likely to be pointing towards the alternatives.

"O Bands found in CSF not in the blood" if your talking about 2+ (or 4+ depending on the lab test) the presence of oligoclonal bands always indicates an immune response which must be further investigated, your central nervous system is actively involved which is diagnostic evidence of a physiological not psychological causation and has nothing to do with mental health conditions as far as i'm aware!

I do not know all the medical conditions that Obands are associated with but this list will give you an idea; MS, SSPE, Neuro-syphilis, Neuro-AIDS, Neuro-Lyme disease, Neuro-SLE, Neuro-Behcets, Neuro-sarcoid, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Cysticercosis, Trypansomiasis, Ataxia-telangectasia, Adrenoleukodystrophy, Harada's meningitis-uveitis, Acute encephalitis, Acute meningitis, Tumour
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/000456329002700503

'IF' the only answer your getting from dr's is anxiety and you are additionally dealing with anxiety (?), i would suggest if you haven't already done so, to seriously consider looking into and trying cognitive behavioural training, therapy and or medications because if your living with anxiety and or depression too it will make just about any chronic medical condition a lot harder to cope with. It's always going to be in your best interest to be proactive with your mental health, regardless of what other health issues you are dealing with...

I hope that helps......JJ