Formication

[Ginniebean]

I was taking dexedrine and then ritalin for my ADHD, I developed very bad formication and unfortunately the Dr’s I saw could not tell me what the problem was. After a while I was told I am psychotic and needed anti-psychotic meds.

The formication was less on ritalin and I finally figured out what the problem was when I ran out of my ritalin prescription and took some of my left over dexedrine. Within two days I had extreme crawling sensations.

I quit taking meds, I was so traumatized by dealing with this for almost a year with no solution, I did refuse the anti-psychotics as they turn me into a zombie.

It’s been about a year now since I’ve not been on any medication, I’m still kinda frightened to try anything. I have searched for information (real research) on formication to see if there is some way of dealing with it should I go back on meds and so far nothing.

Can I ever go back on medication again?

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[Anonymous]

Formication (the feeling of bugs crawling under your skin) is a common side effect of cocaine use. I remember when i was a Resident, this guy came in picking at his skin leaving these open wounds over his body but would not admit that he was using cocaine. The ER doc was sure he was using it because the presentation was so critical. Now remember I was in Pittsburgh. The ER doc called me in the wee hours of the morning to look at this guy. So I said to him, ” You know, if you have some cocaine and put it in your shoes, this feeling will go away.” To which he said, “Really, I have some.” whereupon he pulled out a bag of cocaine and began sprinkling it in his shoes. Diagnosis confirmed! Cuff ’em and bag ’em danno (Hawaii 5-O reference). The guy was such a bonehead.

OK, stimulant medications can rarely cause this effect too. I’ve only seen one case. If the stimulants have a positive effect but this side effect wipes out all the positives, then treatment of the formication might be useful.

PS For those of you who thought I was referring to FORNICATION, if you put cocaine in your shoes, happy things will happen to you too.

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[Ginniebean]

I don’t use cocaine, I’ll rarely take an aspirin. Well, the not taking medication eliminates the formication but leaves me with untreated ADHD. Formication is a living hell, and way worse than ADHD imo. The stimulants did have a positive effect, especially on my driving, on my frustration levels, anxiety, things were better.. until I started to feel like I had hundreds of spiders marching all over me. It was like a never ending episode of fear factor. How is formication treated if I was to go back on meds? I can’t go back on meds unless the formication is treated because I’ll lose my mind.

I’m really not a drug addict, I was first diagnosed in the late sixties as ‘hyper’ and back then we were supposed to grow out of it. I didn’t think I needed any “damned drugs’ until my family begged me to at least try. Left to my own devices I would have said there’s not a darn thing wrong with having adhd and we most certainly don’t need to be medicated. Then I got medication.. can’t argue with improvement.. I would really like that improvement back without the creepy buggy feeling.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Ginniebean – I like your avatar – it’s funny. It reminds me of a poster I saw many years ago when Maggie Thatcher was our PM and Ronald Regan was the US president. In the poster there was a picture of a mushroom cloud in the background and in the foreground Regan was carrying Thatcher away from the scene – like a scene from ‘Gone with the Wind’ – the caption was something like ‘She promised to follow him to the end of the earth and he promised to organise it’. I suspect perhaps only those who lived in the UK as adults during the Thatcher years and who have a warped sense of humour will find it amusing. Ah – the good old 70s and 80s when we used to worry about nuclear war. Funny how over the decades we still worry about being attacked by someone. I digress….

I am not a medic and can only offer an opinion based on my perception of what you described; but it seems from your post that dexedrine did not suit you. I have heard that this drug can cause more physical complications than ritalin (methylphenidate) but everyone is different.

Perhaps you could try ritalin again but at a low dose and see if the formication returns? If you try the fast release stuff you can stop it immediately if it doesn’t suit. Did you slowly increase the dose until you got the symptoms – it might be a case of finding the right balance?

I gather from Dr J’s post there must be a treatment for formication, so you could mention it to your doctor and see what s/he suggests.

Alternatively maybe you could try Straterra instead of the stimulants – the chemistry is different so the side effects might not be the same.

Sounds horrible – I get a kind of ‘skin tightening’ feel around my eyes with ritalin but formication would drive me nuts.

Good luck getting it sorted out.

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[Ginniebean]

Yeah, I did try ritalin at 5mgs and after three days I was feeling itchy and icky, not to the extent that I was but after what I went thru even that was too much.

I’ll make an appointment with a specialist and see if anything can be done, I keep telling myself that I went most of my life without meds so it’s just no big deal if I continue on as I had, I almost wish I had never gone for treatment because then I wouldn’t know any different.

Thanks!

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[Scattybird]

I know what you mean. Life was just life until I knew why. It sounds like you’re hypersensitive which is a shame.

But meds only help one to put strategies in place – guess you need to focus on those but it will be harder.

Hopefully your doctor can sort it out for you. Let us know how you get on.

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[Tiddler]

Ah, I couldn’t find this thread when I used the site search engine but I’ve just found it on google.

I’ve been on concerta for less than a fortnight and for the last couple of days I’ve been getting sensations on my face that I have to brush something away, like a fly or an ant or a stray hair tickling me.

I’ve only been on 18mg until yesterday when i upped it to 27mg. Seems really unlucky if this is what is happening assuming it’s as rare as Dr J has suggested.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Tiddler – I got the same sensation with Ritalin. I haven’t had it for a while and I tied it down to Ritalin plus being overtired. I am trying to got to bed early now (well – that”s proper time to the linears!) and it’s not so noticeable. It’s like a kind of muscle tightening but feels as you describe. A bit like my skin feels tight around my eye, but I think my body is adjusting to it now..

I think what we experienced isn’t formication. Formication is really really obvious and not slight – at least as far as I can gather. I have read that people scratch their skin to bits because it’s so horrible. It’s basically a hallucination brought about by the drugs.

Obviously if it becomes more than something you mildly notice then you need to see about it.

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[Tiddler]

Thanks, Scattybird.

I’ve just been reading about how it can be brought on by stress and even by menopause (I’m perimenopausal.)

Stress is an understatement this last couple of day so it could well be that.

I hope so as I love these pills. I love feeling like life is manageable.

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[Scattybird]

PS – just a thought Tiddler. All my side effects improved when I changed fro generic to Ritalin. Make sure you are on the real deal.

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[Tiddler]

Thanks – yes, it’s definitely concerta.

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[Ginniebean]

Well, I have an update.  It took me several months to screw up the courage to go see someone and still, I couldn’t bring myself to go see a psychiatrist. I felt it was a foregone conclusion that I would be diagnosed with psychosis and treated with anti-psychotic.  What limited experience I have with them, turns me into a non-functioning zombie. Not good for a single woman who must support herself. I need to be able to work.

I decided I needed help because living as I was made me long for life to be over, not that I would contemplate suicide, I have children that would psychologically scar, but just not wanting to live the next 30-40 yrs feeling these sensations.

I went to see a private therapist, I felt ok, if I’m not able to trust my mind anymore I need someone who can help me navigate and potentially advocate for me.  It was the best thing I could have ever done.  It turns out those sensations were anxiety.  When I would get anxious, I wouldn’t notice I was anxious, I’d just feel all buggy.

 

It also came to light that I have come-morbid PTSD, probably began in childhood.  I was diagnosed in the late sixties with adhd, or as they called it then, hyperactivity. I’ve always known, I was just never given treatment or any accommodations. What strikes me now, is so many of the things I experience with my PTSD I had put down to being character flaws. I know people feel this way when they get a late diagnosis of ADHD, but I just couldn’t relate.  Now, I feel like I don’t have to apologize for being me anymore, well it’s still there but there’s also self acceptance.

 

The bugs feelings started two years after being successfully on medication, but they also started because I caught a case of headlines from working with children.  When I went to my doctor telling him I have headlice, my sister, an RN said she looked and I didn’t have any, the doctor never checked.  My father had suffered delusions and my sister outright told the doc she thought I was hallucinating. I was told to go home, there’s nothing there and it’s all in my head.  I surely did try to tell myself this but no way could I keep this up.  I went back to several docs and thanks to electronic records none of them checked my hair!

 

Finally, 3.5 months later, I walked into my docs office with one of these critters on a hair of mine and he said “that’s a louse!”. He checked my hair and said yep! You have lice!

 

By the time this happened I was experiencing all sorts of bugginess, I was barely sleeping and pretty sure I had sleep deprivation, but not being believed, having nowhere to turn set off a full on PTSD episode.  The bugs were one part of it, my paranoia about trusting doctors another and just so many more symptoms.  I had had full blown PTSD before, and it went undiagnosed in spite of my going for help on several occasions.

 

I’m working on getting my stress down, it’s such a slow process. I no longer feel bugs, I do experience panic and anxiety. I never thought I’d feel relief to have an anxiety attack but it’s infinitely better than those sensations.

 

I’m still in therapy, and still afraid to go see a psychiatrist, I’d want one who specialized in ADHD because if I go to one who doesn’t know what he’s doing that’s going on my electronic record for non-compliance. I’m still afraid to take meds because they do exacerbate anxiety.

 

Anyway, just thought I’d update and maybe someone has good advice on my next steps to getting well.

 

Thanks for listening.

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[Scattybird]

Hi Ginniebean,

Thanks for checking in and updating us.

Well done for having the courage to see someone for help.  It sounds like you made the right move and although it is slow progress you are at least moving forward. It must be a relief to know what is wrong, even if dealing with it is not so easy.

I don’t have any advice unfortunately, but I am interested in how you are doing so do keep chatting to us and who knows, it might even help you.

I think PTSD is about acceptance and acknowledging the problem but without attaching emotion. It’s hard to do but important. It is probably key to your  anxiety?

Have you tried mindfulness? Lidia Zylowska’s ‘The mindfulness prescription for adult ADHD’ looks pretty good. I bought it a while ago but got stuck. However, my BP has recently gone through the roof so I have had to stop my Ritalin for a while so have picked up the book again. The techniques are very calming.

Good luck with it all.

 

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[Ginniebean]

Scattybird,

 

Thanks for responding.  I enjoy reading poetry and meditating, and it does help with stress to a degree.  What’s been more helpful is finally having insight and a lot of kindness and forgiveness of self.

 

Eventually, I’ll find the courage to go to see a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD.  I just want to get to a place where I feel a bit more confident and have my legs under me.  I don’t worry about not being believed that I have adhd, I’m pretty much classic combined type with all the debris that brings to a life. I’m not afraid of stimulants like I used to be either but I am afraid of other psych meds.  I know my mistrust is a symptom of my PTSD and to some degree my experience but I know me well enough, I find courage somehow even if I am slow to get going.

 

 

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[Scattybird]

If you can pluck up the courage to see an ADHD expert it might speed up  your development towards being kind to yourself? It might be that one missing piece that will help you even more?  But trust your instincts and continue to be kind to yourself.

Slow to get going is fine – better than rushing and ending up going in the wrong direction.

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[Author]

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