Skin crawling

[Josiesmum]

I wondered if anyone here has experienced this or knows what causes it?

Many thanks in advance.

[bluesmum]

I'm not saying it's the same as yours but when I feel as though my skin is crawling it usually turns out to be an allergic reaction to something, I've had quite nasty episodes of it and some mild episodes. I'd go see your GP and explain it to him as it might be something on those lines or it could be something else good luck

[dolphin5]

I had itchy skin most of the time while my T3 was too low. Now that I take some T3 as well as T4, the itching has reduced to normal levels. I can't explain the mechanism behind this, but I'm just happy that it has improved!

[Hidden]

Yes, I had it as well as itchy scalp and skin and big scaly patches until meds go to their best level. Very uncomfortable! I also had sore toes and ankles. It will take a while, but you should begin to feel releif as you approach the correct level of medication. I'm sorry you are having this experience, its pretty horrid.

[foxglove in reply to Hidden]

Interested in sore toes and ankles, scaly patches (me too) Was it T3 that made the improvement?

[Hidden in reply to foxglove]

no. I'm only taking levo.

[foxglove]

Thanks, maybe I need increase in Levo.

[Hidden in reply to foxglove]

could b. Im over 60 so increases are rather slow...lol. But I did notice improvement after the most recent increase and I seem to have leveled off with the dosage. Stress is another thing I need to pay attention to regarding this symptom and vertigo.

[Larochka]

It might be due to underlining digestive issues, since Hashimoto is an autoimmune disorder, i.e. often accompanied by leaky gut, IBS, SIBO, which reqieres to adress the proper nutrition for a such condition. You might want to look up an "Autoimun Protocol" diet. Good sources: Izabella Wentz all about Hashimoto, Amy Myers all about Autoimine disorder / Hashimoto and so on...

Hope that will help)

[MariLiz]

Yes, I get this, usually on my scalp. Not really found a solution to it.

[dina7]

I had shingles, twice, which left me with horrible crawly skin. I wouldn't even have known I had it the second time if my husband hadn't spotted the rash on my back.

[Katka]

Hi

I definitely experienced it. I don't know why it happens. Its like an itch, sometimes bugs crawling ove me.

But i take NDT, Magnesium etc and doesn't happen much now. Cannot tell what exactly made it go away. Sorry.

[Josiesmum]

Thanks everyone for your comments, much appreciated.

[Hather]

i had this for a couple of,stressful years while caring for my late husband , sweet things definitely made it worse..had lotion to cool the scalp...but luckily so far since I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid and on low dosage Levothyroxine this has stopped.. so maybe it's the dryness made worse by our condition..not nice at all I know, doctors don't really seemed concerned..I hope you will sort it out as it is very stressful when it's not easy to get an answe😊 HAther

[SimonA87]

I have itchy folliculitis that affects my scalp, ears, beard region and inner thighs. I also started getting a crawling sensation in one of my ears.

I have been prescribed Lymecycline to treat a suspected staph aureus infection.

[CSmithLadd]

The lack of adequate T3 in the body will cause all sorts of things, including restless legs, extremely sensitive skin, eczema and other skin rashes, and no less than fifty other symptoms. Yes, including "crawly skin."

"Crawly skin" can sometimes be a symptom in diagnosing Fibromyalgia, which I believe should be more accurately seen as yet another indication of a lack of T3 in the cells of the body. Doctors instead treat "crawly skin" with drugs like Amitriptyline (Elavil).

That's a huge mistake and very bad for you. Elavil itself has a side effect of "crawling." Makes me wonder if that side effect emerges when a patient actually has undiagnosed hypothyroidism and the "crawling" is from that. I do believe that happens more often than we think. The side effects of Elavil are very similar to symptoms of hypothyroidism. Interesting!

drugs.com/sfx/amitriptyline-side-effects.html

Hope this helps!

[TSH110]

I understood it is the release of cytokinins into the blood stream which cause unpleasant sensations in the skin. I had feelings like I had fleas crawling all over me sometimes it would move around. It came on about 7pm for ages I thought I was a food allergy but it continued despite excluding foods then I blamed the poor dogs, then dust mites! It was overt hypothyroidism and they improved with treatment but I still get the odd itching session

[TSH110]

This article is very detailed in its explanation the first section is interesting and it has a specific section entitled Endocrine Puritits (ie creepy feelings in skin, itching etc).

Despite this symptom of hypothyroidism being known about since the 19C it's mechanisms have not yet been elucidated!

Seems to me that most of the medical profession have lost the 19C knowledge too.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[TSH110]

And this

4.4 Thyroid disorders

Pruritus has been reported in up to 11% of patients with hyperthyreosis and in particular of those with thyrotoxicosis due to long-lasting, untreated Graves' disease [478] and [479]. The pathophysiological mechanisms leading to itch sensation in hyperthyreosis are unclear. It was suggested that excessive amounts of thyroid hormones may activate kinins due to increased tissue metabolism or that the threshold of itch sensation could be lowered due to warmth and vasodilatation [313]. Pruritus may also be triggered by chronic urticaria which are caused by the underlying thyroid immunity. Notably, up to 12% of patients with chronic urticaria suffered from autoimmune thyroid disorder [480]. It is likely that pruritus is caused by xerosis cutis as most patients respond to emollients [316]. Pruritus in dry skin may be caused by a complex cross-talk between dysregulated keratinocytes, pruritogenic cytokines such as thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) or TNF-α and epidermal sensory nerve endings [481] and [482].

Taken from this article (heavy going!):

sciencedirect.com/science/a...

Clearly there is a lot going on leading to these horrible sensations!

[Nanalinboy]

I've had this on my head, didn't think anything of it til you mentioned it

[Josiesmum]

Just watched Trust Me I'm a doctor and he said skin crawling and restless leg can be caused by low iron, which I know my daughter has.

[KV19]

Ohhhhh yes. It's a weird sensation. I get it on my head, and recently on my left leg. I can actually see what I think is goosebumps for just a split second, and then it goes away.

Went and had my thyroid checked, and it was a 12. I also got the antibody test done for Hashimotos and that came back high.

Weird since it's been so stable for awhile now.

So I'm upping my thyroid medicine and I'll see what happens.