Hyperesthesia

[EzbG]

It’s been a while, but I am currently dealing with Hyperesthesia. I first dealt with this in the mid-‘90s - felt like I had a severe sunburn on the front/outside of my right thigh. I knew it wasn’t sunburn, because that part of my body never sees the sun. It comes and goes, usually 2-3 times a year. Sometimes just long & strong enough to be annoying. Other times - just plain bad. That’s today.
Anyone else deal with this? What do you do for relief?

 

[cookiebaker]

I dont get that particular effect, but I do get paresthesia symptoms... sharp, burning, pins & needles that rolls across my body.. usually lower half and usually at night, while lying in bed. It is related to my peripheral neuropathy (sensory) and caused by lumbar spine issues.. Took a while to figure that one out.. Have you ever had a nerve conduction study done?

Can also be caused by vitamin deficiency - specifically the B vitamins.. so maybe a good B complex supplement might help?

for me, not much I can do to stop mine, since there is a physical problem in the lumbar spine that is causing it..

 

[Rhyl]

I get sensitive skin mostly on my arms, but I've also had it on my scalp and legs. I've not found anything that helps (and all my labs are fine), so I just wait it out. It's such a weird symptom; it took me a long time to find a doctor that understood and didn't look at me like I had 3 heads.

 

[JayCS]

sensitive skin mostly on my arms, but I've also had it on my scalp and legs

Hi Rhyl - I'm curious - what exactly do you mean by sensitive?
A reaction to touch etc. with pain would be "allodynia" whilst "hyperalgesia" would be sensing pain more strongly,
both pretty common/basic in fibro. Similarly some of us have a low pain threshold and/or pain tolerance.
A different kind of sensitivity would be mine to water, soap, synthetics etc. along with dryness, which will be more due to MCAS than fibro.

Writing this, @EzbG, I'm realizing that "hyperesthesia" is a misleading word for your sunburn feeling....

Hyperesthesia. I first dealt with this in the mid-‘90s - felt like I had a severe sunburn on the front/outside of my right thigh

It means sensing something that is there, but being oversensitive to it. But if I understand correctly you have nothing there on your right thigh, nothing touching it, nothing causing pain.
So I now realize that @cookiebaker has already pointed you in the direction of paresthesia, meaning a sensation which hasn't got to do so it's nerves playing up - maybe measurably, likely not....

 

[Rhyl]

I'm curious - what exactly do you mean by sensitive?

Hm....it burns/hurts when I touch or rub it. Maybe dynamic allodynia?

 

[cookiebaker]

It means sensing something that is there, but being oversensitive to it.

not necessarily... it is a nerve issue.. so it can "feel" like something is there when it really isn't.. pins & needles, like i get, or a burning sensation like @EzbG describes... all related to peripheral neuropathy.

Hyperesthesia occurs as a symptom of neuropathic pain......

partial quote from a google search from the NIH site...

so, technically, the rolling/waves of burning pins & needles i get can be classified as hyperesthesia as well, just a slightly different sensation.

 

[JayCS]

Cookiebaker, let me ask back, to see if we are understanding each other correctly:
I was distinguishing hyperesthesia from paresthesia - easy to mishear and misread.

As I (still) understand it from the meaning of hyper vs. par and from a quick look-up: Both are nerves playing up,
but in hyperesthesia there is an actual external stimulus, the reaction to which is exaggerated (touching feet), in
paresthesia a stimulus is sensed which isn't there (there are no pins, needles or sunburn).

So applying that to what you've written, I fully agree with "a nerve issue", "related to peripheral neuropathy" and "a symptom of neuropathic pain", but that applies to both hyperesthesia and paresthesia.
But if you say "burning pins & needles...can be classified as hyperesthesia as well" - are you saying it isn't paresthesia? Or that paresthesia is a subgroup of hyperesthesia? Can't find that anywhere.
A comparison on a simple level is on wikidiff: "Paresthesia vs Hyperesthesia - What's the difference?"

(Incidentally, neuropathic pain means nerve injury is involved (even if that isn't necessarily easily measurable), whilst our basic fibro pain is claimed to be nociplastic, i.e. no real, nor nerve injury, just pain itself. Something I doubt, I think it's just they haven't found out yet what exactly in our bodies is causing the pain.)

 

[cookiebaker]

IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) gives a slightly different definition.... and suggests paresthesia as being a pleasant sensation (umm.. no, not pleasant to me), yet this is the name I was given for what I described to my physical med doc..... so i guess it all depends on where you look/who you talk to.

honestly, i think we are getting just a bit too fixated on the specific definition here... the main point is, pain/sensation that is not normal - call it whatever you want.. the sensation of a sunburn (which can be quite painful), when there is no sunburn would suggest (to me) a nerve related problem, but I could very well be wrong.

 

[JayCS]

Summary of what follows after the quote:
In any case for nerves we can try
1) B-vitamins like cookiebaker suggested, and here I'd suggest getting all your B-vitamins checked specifically for all of: B1, B2, B3, B5 (see below), B6, B9 and B12 and then taking what you're low or deficient in, if necessary hyperdosing, in my case B2 and B12.
2) Then good magnesiums - malate (fibro pain), glycinate, threonate (sleep, mind) aren't laxative in normal dose.
3) TENS unit or other forms of distracting sensations like stroking.
4) Relaxation exercises for de-stressing, incl. anxiety about it, possibly ("good") counselling/therapy if so inclined. The stress can be cause (via circulation), or "just" the effect and then that again cause.
5) youtube "exercises/treatment" for peripheral neuropathy, circulation, "feline hyperesthesia" (see below) ...
6) The vet Dr Becker suggests chiropractic (etc.) for cats, in case it's muscular, praps possible here too.

7) But for "paresthesia exercises" and "paresthesia treatment" etc. youtube also throws up exercises for pinched nerve, meralgia paresthetica, arm nerve pain... which we can then again put in according to what seems most likely.

#1-7 would be interesting for @EzbG's paresthesia, but #7 not for @Rhyl's allodynia form of hyperesthesia.

By the way: to get better/more results on youtube you can click on "filter" above left and then on "videos".

we are getting just a bit too fixated on the specific definition here... the main point is, pain/sensation that is not normal...
a nerve related problem

To see if a neurologist can help, deciding it's probably nerve related is enough, I agree. But as they usually can't or if we don't want meds anyway, exact symptom description and likely diagnoses can point us to fine differences. Being precise has made me able to control most of my symptoms without any meds: My (quality of) life saver!
We may be able to identify different triggers and find different forms of prevention and treatment.
Main difference maybe that for paresthesia we can perhaps find localized nerve treatment = exercises.

In the following if anyone's interested I've described in more detail how I'd look for treatments for this aside from the great suggestion of B-vitamins cookiebaker's already mentioned, as well as good magnesiums, a TENS unit or similar to try to "distract" the nerves (I often have success with just stroking on or next to the body part concerned).
After my recent phosphate deficiency shock, the next shock is vitamin B2 deficiency despite having been supplementing 300x the RDA for a month and 150x before that. Lots to research on that now. I'll probably have to get it injected. (This has sent me down the "new" rabbit hole that B5 might be good for me incl. my lipids & energy, but also for skin tenderness and (RA/)stiffness....!)

For treatment using youtube if I put "hyper(a)esthesia exercises" in I get things like exercises for "peripheral neuropathy exercises", "blood circulation", "how nerves get oversensitive" and "feline hyperesthesia"...
very helpful the short "How To Help Cats With Feline Hyperesthesia | Two Crazy Cat Ladies" - social stressors, nutritional studies), exercise, chemicals, different diet may help (support group type), or long "Why Feline Hyperesthesia is like Raiders of the Lost Ark!" (doc/study: it's often something else).
As opposed to cats we can try to analyze it more closely, before trying the many routes... But seeing how cats react may "feel" familiar.... and treatments types for them may be similar for ourselves.

But if I put in "paresthesia exercises" I not only get peripheral neuropathy, but also numbness and tingling, pinched nerve, meralgia paresthetica, arm nerve pain.
Also I just saw that adjusting the youtube "filters" above left to "video" I don't get these "also watched" suggestions any more, at last.
BTW looking for "sunburn sensation/feeling" on youtube I only get "sensitive and burning Skin from Anxiety - explained!" This doesn't start with nerves, it points first to a stress response, which redirects blood inside from the skin, making the nerves react. That can in turn make us worry about it, cos there isn't any real danger. Or a direct stimulation of nerves by stress. Both in a vicious circle. After panic attacks they'd stop faster than if due to persistent stress. Relaxation and praps therapy/counselling might help, if it's that. This stress explanation is similar to a central sensitization explanation

Thanks for the brilliant pointer: I actually find the IASP's most recent distinctions interesting and useful (although I find the coining of "nociplastic pain" premature).
Dysesthesia for unpleasant abnormal sensations, paresthesia for abnormal sensations, spontaneous or evoked, partly including unpleasant ones (in that sense your diagnosis ?paresthesia would still hold true).
Whilst hyperesthesia is a different world, an exaggerated reaction: they say it's important to distinguish between
a) touch and thermal sensation,
b) if certain triggers or all triggers,
c) where it's located,
d) with pain or without,
e) if with pain: hyperalgesia (pain from something painful, but stronger) or allodynia (pain from sometimes even gentle touch, meaning it "jumps over" from touch to pain).
Also it doesn't as I'd thought refer to the special senses (vision etc.).

 

[EzbG]

Thank you everyone for your answers, and suggestions. Jay - I’ve had 2 different doctors look at the issue when it first happened. Because of the location of the “burn” and the duration - 3-4 weeks, it felt like I needed help. I got both terms - para & hyper. The 2nd doctor felt it was hyper, but understood the why of the para diagnosis from the first doctor. Neither had any suggestions, other than using a lotion, such as aloe vera, with a lidocaine additive. The relief was minimal.
I use sublingual B12 & Biotin, and also a stress B complex supplement, in addition to a multi-vitamin. Also 400mg magnesium daily.
Since it isn’t in the same place every time, top of right forearm today, under upper left arm last time, left inner thigh before that, I don’t see an exercise being beneficial. I did get relief using arnica cream with peppermint essential oil added. So far, that is the only thing that has worked. BTW - plain cream/lotions don’t work for me, so I do not think it is dryness.
I am “glad” to hear others have this oddball issue. Not glad that you suffer, but glad that I am not alone.
Thank you - everyone for pitching in!

 

[JayCS]

Jay - I’ve had 2 different doctors look at the issue when it first happened. Because of the location of the “burn” and the duration - 3-4 weeks, it felt like I needed help. I got both terms - para & hyper. The 2nd doctor felt it was hyper, but understood the why of the para diagnosis from the first doctor. Neither had any suggestions, other than using a lotion, such as aloe vera, with a lidocaine additive. The relief was minimal.
I use sublingual B12 & Biotin, and also a stress B complex supplement, in addition to a multi-vitamin. Also 400mg magnesium daily.
Since it isn’t in the same place every time, top of right forearm today, under upper left arm last time, left inner thigh before that, I don’t see an exercise being beneficial. I did get relief using arnica cream with peppermint essential oil added. So far, that is the only thing that has worked. BTW - plain cream/lotions don’t work for me, so I do not think it is dryness.

Yeah, the alternating favours hyper, but without stimuli favours par(a)... doesn't fit in the boxes, sort of both.
Which perhaps makes it even more offball in you than in others, but also that you can reap ideas from both camps.

If the supps you mention aren't helping, they may not be good forms. Complexes and multis are under-dosed (necessarily) and unspecific to deficiencies, the normal form of B12 is ineffective, many magnesiums are too. 400mg is overdosed if it's the weight of the elemental magnesium (300mg max.), but severely underdosed if it's the weight of the compound (3000mg), which I suspect.
I'm not saying they'll then help, but if you'd like me to dissect or recommend improvements feel free to share the types / amounts. And getting the levels of the "B-vitamins" checked still may be important to crucial (magnesium can't be measured).

Good to hear that arnica plus peppermint is helping. I don't tolerate peppermint, but arnica does help me with local internal pains. I'm not sure why it is helping though, e.g. if one would help without the other. Because if it's one of them, I'd think more along that route, like maybe it's just the peppermint cooling, so trying other ways of cooling.

Exercises wouldn't seem to be beneficial, I agree, but you can only be sure if you try them. It could for instance be that the peripheral nerve that is playing up most in a certain moment or the whole central nervous system behind that can still benefit from some kind of beneficial movement. If we're desperate enough and have tried all more sensible seeming things, then anything that doesn't cost any time or money isn't a bad idea. That's how I do it, and it has often helped me. For instance acupressure helps me astoundingly well with some really weird things like being short-breathed or itching.

Similarly it doesn't seem like dryness, if only arnica cream helps, no others, I agree, but again you can only be sure if you try alternatives. The other creams may have been inferior, or the creaming process itself makes the sensation worse (whether dryness or nerves). Most creaming actually does make my itchiness and dryness worse. Better for me is to minimize contact with things like water and synthetics. Just the other day I discovered a name for my "water allergy": "aquagenic pruritus". The itchiness and burning does alternate, but much faster than yours and is more widespread. I also get skin burning from histamine due to my MCAS, but also more widespread, which I can improve by increasing serotonin via GABA and keeping to a low histamine diet. Again I don't think these are likely in your case, just something to keep in mind if you aren't finding any help and are "desperate enough to try anything".

I assume that diabetic neuropathy has been excluded? That seems to be the most dangerous form.