Feels Like A Burn

[curlyfries]

Does anyone ever get the feeling on their skin like they have a bad burn? I have gotten them for years and always thought they were a symptom of fibromyalgia. It's usually on a small spot on my arm and goes away after a day...a mild annoyance. This time it started on the inside of my upper arm.The next day it changed to my upper thigh, and now this is day 2 for my thigh. It is so painful it hurts to touch it at all, and today the area is larger and I occassionally get a sharp stabbing pain. There is nothing there to see. What gives? I don't think it's a gluten thing, as I don't have any of my usual symptoms and I have been very diligent about what I eat.

[RiceGuy]

Do you take any supplements? Specifically, do you take magnesium, B12, or zinc? A deficiency in B12 is my best guess, but the others might also be worth taking. Make sure it is a sublingual methylcobalamin, NOT cyanocobalamin. Take a minimum of 3mg per day. There is no known level of overdose, and studies suggest that the body can't assimilate more than about 5-6mg in one day.

The only other condition I can think of is Morgellan's Syndrome, which is still a medical mystery. However, it doesn't sound enough like that for me to think it is what you're experiencing. This condition is more like a needle type pain (like one or more pins stuck in the skin) and/or scrawling sensations, usually accompanied by tiny hair-like threads protruding from the skin.

[curlyfries]

No, I'm not on any supplements yet, just a high-dose multivitamin. I've been planning to add suplements, but there is no money at this time.

Thanks for your help!

[jerseyangel]

Lisa,

I used to get something similar before I was diagnosed--but it was always on my face. I would feel like my skin was on fire from the inside out--you couldn't tell by looking at me, and my face felt hot to the touch.

Not sure if that's any help, but I thought I'd mention it

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I had that on my face before going off gluten (it came back a couple of times for a day, but I could never figure out why). I also had something similar on my shoulder immediately following a bout of shingles. That one was nerve damage from the shingles, called "post-herpetic neuralgia." It gradually decreased in frequency, until it disappeared after a couple of years.

[curlyfries]

I've never had shingles and I've never had this feeling on my face. It was painful just to touch it---just like a bad sunburn. And I've never had the stabbing pains before. In the past it was always in an area about the size of a silver dollar. This one was about 3 inches wide and went from inner thigh to outer thigh. It finally faded away this evening.

[Rachel--24]

I used to have this problem quite frequuently but not so much after I did a major overhaul on my diet 3 years ago.

The stabbing pain is pretty much a thing of the past and the "sunburn" feeling is a "once in awhile" thing now. I'm not sure exactly what causes it...but I *think* one of the triggers for me is MSG...or "free glutamates". No doubt there are other things causing it as well but its definately food/toxin related in my case.

[mftnchn]

This is similar to what I get or used to get from lyme. Hope that is not what you have.

Sherry

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Is a cellulitis infection a possibility?