Morgellons Poll

[mmarsha]

Originally Posted by fdxfield

Hiding?
When I'm not working or taking care of my family responsibilities, I have this and several other involvements that I split my free time between. Unfortunately, that doesn't allot me with near enough time to devote my attention to any one specific topic.
I am very thankful that I now have the ability to engage in multiple interests, and work. When I first became affected by this ailment, I was 100% afflicted. I couldn't think multiple thoughts. I couldn't get dressed on a daily basis without an anxiety attack. I couldn't remember what I was talking about - midsentence. I felt like I had the brain power of a Kindergartner. Life remained dysfunctional, this way, for over a year.
During the past 5 years, I have slowly recovered "me" and sometimes still fear the return of those pat disabling experiences.
As far as "where or how", this all began, I do not believe anyone one can know for sure. Not until we know exactly what it is. There are multiple theories that help us gains clues and piece our puzzles to and I can only speculate until that Revelation arrives. I had a very active life back then and there are various memories and avenues that lead to this road.
As information becomes available, each highlighted area of concern becomes apparent. For example:
Yes, I did have a leaking A/C system in my attic that created a mold in my home.
Yes, I was involved in extensive yard excavation that may have involved contaminated soil.
Yes, I did travel to another area and stayed in a hotel.
Yes, I did know someone else who had this problem before I did.
Yes, I drank unfiltered tap water at that time.
Yes, I did notice a strange webbing substances floating in the environment.
Yes, I did have a problem with bats in my attic.
I swam in a lake that I now know has Hazmat dumping. We were avid campers at multiple campgrounds between 2 states- I was bitten by a tick at one of these locations. I was over worked and became so stressed out that I had a nervous break down that could have caused a weakened immune system that created an open window for an infection to attack. And yes, my body was in toxic overload.

Now, which one of those should I pick. Maybe all, who knows.

Sorry you feel that way.

I also had problem with bat's in attic and bird mites in beginning!
mm

[ohcherry]

Originally Posted by Frankybme

Please answer as many questions as you can. We are hopping to find some common patterns among the answers.

If there are any other questions you want included, just send them to me. Also you might want to quote this post and then just fill in the answers.

1. State you reside in
2. Inner City? Suburb? Country?
3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond?
4. Do you have city or well water?
5. Do you live in a heavily treed area?
6. Age at onset
7. Number of years affected
8. Any other family members affected?
9. Your occupation at onset?
10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other?
11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other?
12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors?
13. List your activities and hobbies.
14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool?
15. Please provide your medical history (i.e.: do you or have you had any other diseases? Cancer, Lyme, Thyroid, AIDS, other?).
16. Do you smoke?
17. Any medications you have taken or are taking?
18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day?
19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time?
20. What part of your body did the lesions start?
21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where?
22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)?
23. Please list your current symptoms (brain fog? vision disturbances? fatigue? nausea? weight loss/gain etc?)
24. What did other doctors diagnose you with (i.e.: folleculitis? Scabies? DOP - delusional parasitosis)?

1.Oahu,Hawaii
2. Small city on an island.
3.Ocean is a block away.
4.Well water.
5. Yes
6.25 yrs. old
7 at least 10 yrs
8.My Son has turned 18 and has complained about symptoms lately.
9. I didnt start working untill well into this illness.
10.I have had so many pets.Chickens,dogs,cats,guineapigs,mice,turtles
12.Used to do alot of outdoor activities.
13. I like hiking,out door activities,music,chillin with family.
14.YES
15.Diabietes,high blood pressure,obeisity,irregular heartbeat,toxoplasmosis
16. yes
17. Right now I take Mirapex for restless leg syndrome(refuse to take anything else)
18.Nope
19.No maybe 2 or 3 leisons,then 2 will heal and the one left will get irritated and wont heal,leaving a scar.
20.face-chest
21 CHIN
22.The restless leg is on right..stiff neck also most aches pains generate from the right side.
23. Yes all of the listed w/irritability,short attention span-it makes me seem rude.
24.So far I have not been back to the doctors because I had such a shamed feeling and I got weird looks from the nurse as I tried to describe why I was seeing the doctor..I sneaked out the office while I was supposed to be waiting for the doctor.

[Msulli33]

1. State you reside in Texas
2. Inner City? Suburb? Country? Suburb
3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond? Lived on a lake for 1 year but already had M but have lake house that frequent also
4. Do you have city or well water? City
5. Do you live in a heavily treed area?lots for Texas
6. Age at onset24 I think
7. Number Live in of years affectedabout 7-10, really bad past 2 years
8. Any other family members affected?Possibly son
9. Your occupation at onset?Executive assistant
10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other?bulldog
11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other?All
12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors?love to garden
13. List your activities and hobbies.gardening, shopping
14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool?pool
15. Please provide your medical history (i.e.: do you or have you had any other diseases? Cancer, Lyme, Thyroid, AIDS, other?). will provide Thursday after complete blood work comes back - currently no
16. Do you smoke?Yes
17. Any medications you have taken or are taking?have taken, birthcontrol, amoxicylyn (sp) vfend, niacin oral tabs, clindamyacin, doxycycline, picc IV will have to get name of IV meds it was an antibacterial
18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day?1-2 large starbucks a day
19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time?yes
20. What part of your body did the lesions start? right neck cycst lesion started on right cheeck
21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where? right cheek
22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)?Yes again right cheek, but has spread all over - head to toe and front to back
23. Please list your current symptoms (brain fog? vision disturbances? fatigue? nausea? weight loss/gain etc?)Lesions Face – feels like biting or stinging Large lump on back of head/neck –Lesions Arm Left arm has a large lump kind of like back of my neck now.
Lesions Chest Lesions Buttocks Lesions foot Lesions Hand
Veins in arms larger and more pronounced – mom asked why my arms look like this?
Thin hard translucent red rod like streak on face moves from nose to cheek to lip corner
Black sand like specs on skin (Confusion and hard to concentrate – difficulty organizing my thoughts
Pressure in my jaw in the morning feels like if I move my mouth I might break the right side of my jaw. Eye twitching = Eye Floaters
Foot wiggles even in my sleep – husband can’t sleep in same bed it bothers him so much and I don’t even know its happening.
Agitated at times for no reason with a short temper and no libido. Can be in a great mood and suddenly become so agitated that I almost hyperventilate without any trigger of stress. With stress all symptoms worsen ten-fold.
Extreme fatigue (last 3 months May and July ‘09) last 2 weeks has been most sever normally up by 6am and having hard time moving by 9:30am.
Extremely Sensitive to bright lights (was driving and could not keep one of my eyes open it kept closing and oozing)
Blurry vision at times never in both eyes at the same time but have experienced in each eye.
Eyes become bloodshot for no reason (indoors at work with no irritant) I look like I’m on drugs this is getting increasingly worse.
Something floated across my eye looked like very small worm (only happened once)
Skin color fluctuates from very dark to very red to normal or blotch normal sometimes pasty feel to skin (primarily upper extremities and face)
Hairs on my arms seem to have increased and stand-up (like if you created static electricity and ran it across your arm)
Feet, from toes to about halfway up my foot turning black – when this happens it is typically accompanied by a bad cramp and then numbness
Fungus coating tongue
Healthy Teeth breaking when not eating just speaking Feels like something is moving under my right back tooth.
Deep lines in my tongue that won’t heal? Lips crack and very dry some days then other days are fine can see something moving in and out of the corner right side of mouth and lips
Swollen hands and feet every morning my face is swollen much of the time also. Some type of film over my toe nails very hard substance and underneath toenails – very very difficult to cut toe nails
Migraine type headaches. Massive
Ear pain until something broke through the skin then immediately went away.
Cravings for sweets has significantly increased (I am trying to stay away from sugar it seems to aggravate symptoms as does stress)
Muscle cramps in feet and legs sometimes for hours where hot water, walking etc.. does not release the cramp (does not feel like traditional Charlie horse) The pain is much stronger and typically happens right after I lay down to go to bed.
Joint pain in my right knee
My blood pressure has continued to increase
7/7/09 – symptoms getting worse – feel heavy pressure and movement in abdomen (from above pelvis upward) (doubled over) Vomiting past 3 days (stringy things worm-looking with white thick mucus or bile coating) – lesions increasing all over body – feels like I am dying – hard to hear out of my left ear and my voice keeps coming and going over last 4 days. My heart has suddenly begun racing and will stop as quickly as it started.
7/10/09 – My voice will come and go mid-sentence – very nerve racking – have to strain to speak. Large lump in the roof of mouth and still on right check. Good news is right cheek lesion is getting better with the DSP. Guess I should get some of my own – reminder to ask where to get…
when I chew white tear shaped larva like things is attaching to the food and coming off in little white hard balls.
7/16/09 – can’t fit into any of my pants my stomach looks like I am pregnant (just menstruated can’t be – much less no sex so…) – stomach making crazy noises
7/16/09 – throwing up – doubled over in pain – feel something large in abdomen – really hurts!!! Red raised line (1” wide and 3-4” long in abdomen with a large red raised dot (looks like spider bite) near belly button – either the front or back of the raised red line.
7/17/09 – Thank god the stomach has gone down quite a bit but have awful burps and gas. Husband made comment that he has noticed how seldom I urinate and was wondering what I was doing different. I use to urinate very frequently and multiple times a night, now I go only a couple of times a day. Maybe due to mouth hurting - There is a new nickel size lump on the left side of my belly button – does not hurt.
7/19/09 – My stool had the largest slug (blackish grey with green like dots 1”-2” length don’t think was the entire organism) this scares me!!!!
7/20/09 more slug in stool (took samples 3 not sure how to collect) one smaller snail looking thing when put in container with water was alive – stayed alive over 5 hrs – moved and bubbles (don’t know what to do – can’t be good) – smell is like ammonia
7/27/09 my toes are swelling again was up all last night with foot twitching (I guess what they refer to as restless leg syndrome 4am took cold medicine 4 tbs to put me to sleep)
7/28 the lesion on my face is coming back in full force. New lesions down right side of arm. Organism in teeth layers of my lips and mucous membrane in mouth sloughing off (looks like what is in my nose almost like a snake shedding skin hard to describe) Lots of crawling in nose today. Lips are chapped again I look dehydrated but I’m not.

24. What did other doctors diagnose you with (i.e.: folleculitis? Scabies? DOP - delusional parasitosis)? dermotitis, fungus infection, thrush, Chronic Fatigue, DOP, rash

[Alicia b]

Originally Posted by Frankybme

Please answer as many questions as you can. We are hopping to find some common patterns among the answers.

If there are any other questions you want included, just send them to me. Also you might want to quote this post and then just fill in the answers.

1. State you reside in - Florida
2. Inner City? Suburb? Country? -City
3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond? -by the ocean
4. Do you have city or well water?- City
5. Do you live in a heavily treed area? - no
6. Age at onset - 76
7. Number of years affected - at least 3
8. Any other family members affected? - no
9. Your occupation at onset? - retired
10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other? - no
11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other? -yes
12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors? yes, I garden alot
13. List your activities and hobbies.- gym, reading, lectures crafts
14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool?- no
15. Please provide your medical history (i.e.: do you or have you had any other diseases? Cancer, Lyme, Thyroid, AIDS, other?)- have heart failure,auto-immune disease,thyroid. Was very sickley child with asthma and many allergies. Believe I contracted Lyme disease about 25 years ago.
16. Do you smoke?- no
17. Any medications you have taken or are taking? -Atenolol,lisinopril,furosemide
18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day?- no
19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time?-no
20. What part of your body did the lesions start? -face
21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where? -face
22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)? - yes-left
23. Please list your current symptoms (brain fog? vision disturbances? fatigue? nausea? weight loss/gain etc?) -brain fog,blurry vision, sleeplessness,gastric problems
24. What did other doctors diagnose you with (i.e.: folleculitis? Scabies? DOP - delusional parasitosis)?

- no diagnosis

[jonsi]

Thank you to these new members who have answered the questions here. I'm really sorry you are suffering and I hope you will find help on this site.

In the white light,
~jonsi

[Newbiewilliam]

1. State you reside in southern florida
2. Inner City? Suburb? Country? City
3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond? by an ocean, driving distance
4. Do you have city or well water? i do not know
5. Do you live in a heavily treed area? no
6. Age at onset 29
7. Number of years affected 4 months
8. Any other family members affected? i do not know
9. Your occupation at onset? Social worker
10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other? no
11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other? live in florida
12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors? no
13. List your activities and hobbies. watching tv, shopping, collecting/readong coic books
14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool? maybe 20 years ago
15. Please provide your medical history (i.e.: do you or have you had any other diseases? Cancer, Lyme, Thyroid, AIDS, other?). I had ulcerative colitis for 11 years, anema, Mersa staph infection this uear, surgery this year
16. Do you smoke?mo
17. Any medications you have taken or are taking? this year i have taken permitherin(scabies) lice treatment, acyclovair, cipro, vancomycin, benadryl, melcizine, demerol, percacet, heprun, and more i can not think of
18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day? no, but i used to driink alot of soda and tea
19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time? self inflicted, yes; but not now
20. What part of your body did the lesions start? waist
21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where?
22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)?
23. Please list your current symptoms (brain fog? vision disturbances? fatigue? nausea? weight loss/gain etc?) formication (did have fatigue, joint pain, intense itching, self inflicted itching, pain in bladder>
24. What did other doctors diagnose you with (i.e.: folleculitis? Scabies? DOP - delusional parasitosis)?Scabies, pesticide poisioning, stap infection <actual di have one> pouchitis <have a j-pouch instead of a normal colon>

[tinamidge]

1. State you reside in
Wa
2. Inner City? Suburb? Country?
City
3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond?
No
4. Do you have city or well water?
City
5. Do you live in a heavily treed area?
Yes
6. Age at onset
40
7. Number of years affected
6
8. Any other family members affected?
no
9. Your occupation at onset?
handled, bought and sold LOTS of vintage clothing + caregiver
10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other?
Dog, Chickens, only cats at onset,
11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other?
Traveled most of western US, lived in Hawaii right before onset
12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors?
Garden
13. List your activities and hobbies.
Gardening
14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool?
No
15. Please provide your medical history (i.e.: do you or have you had any other diseases? Cancer, Lyme, Thyroid, AIDS, other?).
osteoporosis(sp?), herpes
16. Do you smoke?
yes
17. Any medications you have taken or are taking?
no.. well...mary jane
18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day?
no... drank that much pepsi at onset
19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time?
no
20. What part of your body did the lesions start?
No lesions. Saw and felt crawling at onset... no crawling now. (Thank you GOD!)
21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where?
this time...prevalent top of head and chin. Last time.. nose
22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)?
right
23. Please list your current symptoms (brain fog? vision disturbances? fatigue? nausea? weight loss/gain etc?)
hair loss...biting, itching,weight loss, brain fog, vision loss, sudden tooth decay, "pimples" that are not pimples. Freaking gnats all over my house!?! (was symptom free for 4-5 years..)
24. What did other doctors diagnose you with (i.e.: folleculitis? Scabies? DOP - delusional parasitosis)?
Frankly, I have no insurance and I know what they would say ... so no Drs.

[tinamidge]

Hi Kritters!
Never saw the question that you asked of me... I'm sorry... how rude of me!
I was taking care of my mother who had pancreatic cancer at the onset of this. I was with her 24/7 for about 2 years before she passed.

Just today I was recalling how she had this really strange habit (when she was well) of taking the tweezers to what she said was "a mole with a hair "on her chin. She would spend a half an hour or more trying to pull a hair out of it everyday after work... hmmmm....

[tinamidge]

oh! And.. more symptoms that someone else might recognize...migraines for the past 20 years and have had EXTREME dehydration since this began about 6-8 years ago. (Cannot remember exact time, maybe should include memory loss in that list!)

[brat789]

Yay, I was going to try to come up with questions to ask everyone and I see you already have it!


1. State you reside in - New Jersey

2. Inner City? Suburb? Country? - Country

3. Do you live on a lake, by the ocean or pond? - no

4. Do you have city or well water?- well

5. Do you live in a heavily treed area? - yes

6. Age at onset - not sure, but I believe 32

7. Number of years affected - at least 2

8. Any other family members affected? -
I believe my mother and my sister in law. As far as in my household myself and my 5 year old son. I also believe my husband (thinks I'm crazy) and dogs have it

9. Your occupation at onset? - computer desk job

10. Do you own pets? Cat? Dog? Other? - two dogs, cat and a fish

11. Have/had you traveled to California, Florida or Texas? Europe? Other? been to CA, my husband travels to Texas and CA a lot.

12. Do you/have you garden, hike, camp or spend allot of time outdoors? yes, I garden and I walk every day in my neighborhood (heavily wooded)

13. List your activities and hobbies.-
walking, gardening and now researching Morgs.

14. Have you used a public whirlpool or pool?- not in many many years

15. Please provide your medical history...salmonella age 2, hypothyroid age 32, C-section age 29, celulitis age 30, toe nail fungus for years, acne since 19 years old

16. Do you smoke?- on and off

17. Any medications you have taken or are taking? - synthroid

18. Do you drink more than 8 cups of coffee a day?- no

19. As far as lesions, have you had more than 10 at a given time?- yes in the form of severe acne

20. What part of your body did the lesions start? -face

21. Is there any area that they are most prevalent? If so, where? -face

22. Is one side of your body/face more affected than the other (i.e.: left vs. right)? - yes-right side. My feet are also very affected but no lesions

23. Please list your current symptoms - brain fog,blurry vision, fatigue, short term memory loss, ADD like symptoms, itching, crawling, biting and diagnosis of acne (actually lesions), times when I feel emotionally numb/depressed...usually when fatigue is severe.


24. What did other doctors diagnose you with - acne and told me to go on accutane again. I healed the lesions myself with teat tree oil, acv and coconut oil. The fibers however are still there.




I also want to add I live in a home that has mold. I work in a building that also has a mold problem. The mold is around our windows which we are having replaced. There are tons of trees and our area is dark and damp because of that.