I have been getting this feeling for years now since I was in my twenties.Tingly creepy crawling can be feeling like that any where on my body head to toes. Rubbing touching the spot it stops. Only to return later. I sometimes use alcohol to rub my body down after a while I feel it again.

It is called formication(great name huh?) it is described as the feeling of something crawling on the skin.GOD-bless

I've had this problem, too, but thankfully not too often. It happened yesterday. All day long it felt like there was a spider crawling around on one little spot on my leg. I'd swat at it, or rub on it, and the feeling would go away for awhile. Then it came right back. Today its gone altogether! I've noticed that it always occurs on my legs.

can someone explain this feeing in more detail please? I keep getting this tingly crawly feeling on my legs - it feels like I have my hair is standing on end. Do you ever get that feeling when something creeps you out and you can feel your hair stand up on end? It's like that feeling only it spreads up my legs. I was just wondering what it could be ---


thanks girls

Hi EP this is exactly the feeling I have been having up and down the fronts of my legs on and off for the past 18 months. I have put it down to an adrenaline rush type thing that seems to come on when I'm more anxious or uptight. It's almost like when you have an emotional shock and you get that tingly feeling all over your body or like when someone says 'someone has just walked over my grave' and all the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. Have never found out exactly what causes it but I'm sure it's something to do with anxiety and all the nerve endings on our skin surface being on high alert so the slightest surge of adrenaline makes this sensation rush up and down the fronts of my legs for a short while. Very very very annoying to say the least........

Rox

P.S. I have also had this sensation on my forearms when very very stressed and facing a stressful situation

Thanks, Rox So you would say this is an adrenaline rush rather than formication?

Hmmmm yeah probably in my case I would cos when I'm laying in bed and my mind is racing with what if thoughts in the early hours of the morning I can feel the rush come up and down my legs then it goes away then it comes back in surges periodically till I can calm myself down enough to go back to sleep, sleep, huh, whats that . Now I'm contending with daily tension type headaches that come on through the mid part of the day and usually go away by evening, had them since day 4 or my cycle and I'm now day 8, sheeesh if it's not one thing it's another

Rox

I too get the creepy crawly feelings on my calves mostly.. feet.. and it feels just odd, not quite a twitch but crawling things.. YES I know it well. I have been having these for about 4 months now. IS THIS a peri symptom??

Thanks all!
~L

Hi,
This is the first time I have been on this site, and I am so glad I found it!!! I am 50 and never really had any health issues until this past year,now I have been to more doctors than I have been in my whole life! I to am having these weird sensations in my legs and all over my body. It started like something was crawling on my right leg and then progressed to twitching that I could see. It then went to my other leg, and now I have twitches and weird sensations all over my body. After going to a Nuerologist who scared me to death saying I might have AlS or some other terrible disease she put me on Lexapro. That made me feel funny in the head so I stopped that 1 month later. I am not a big one for meds. since I never really had to take them before and am afraid the side effects are worse than the help they give. Just visited another Nuerologist and he said I was fine no terrible disease and that it could be due to a Herniated Disc in my neck which also happened in this past year. Now after reading some of the blogs I wonder if it is related to menopause. I did ask my ob/gyn. and she said kind of laughingly, that anxiety and twitching were not related to menopause. So I am hoping that maybe someone else has experienced this. I have always been a very happy person, but this constant cramping, twitching, and crawly feeling is really getting me down. Would appreciate any advise about herbals ect., or people experiencing the same things.
Thank You for listening, I am not real computer literate. This is a first for me asking advice on the internet.
Sincerely,
Debbie

Hey Debbie..
First of all, I cant believe a doctor would say you may have a serious disease from just twitching!! Alot of us here have that, I know I do and the creepy crawling feeling in my calves and feet.. been about 6 months now. I also twitch when trying to sleep.. that is the worst. I am tired all day too..

Just know you arent alone and I think that it IS related to meno or peri menopause.. WHAT do you other ladies think?

thanks.
~L

Hi L,
Thank you so much for writing back. I just can't tell you the relief I found after reading this web site. I found myself soooo stress out and scared to death, until after the 2nd neuro. told me I was okay, but could not explain why I was twitching so I was still very nervous, and started searching for answers. Seeing that other women are experiencing this has put my mind at ease!!! Do you take anything for your symptoms like Magnesium and calcium? I am, but it doesn't seem to help. Am also just learning about menopuase, never thought the symptoms could have been related,since my GYN said twitching / muscle tightness was not related. Well thanks SOOO much again. Would appreciate any advise on what has helped others experiencing these symptoms, its so scary and hard to sit still when your body has these weird sensations!!
Sincerely,
Debbie

Hello again!
I do take Calcium and Mag. at night and in the AM.. it helps some but doenst take them away.. As for the twitching, did the neuro doc do any tests on you? Just wondering.. Also if I may ask, how old are you? Oh and yep Peri meno can start earlier than most of us gals think, or so I am finding out. I have always been an anxious person and my GP doc said this is ALL anxiety and panic disorder causing my symptoms.. so who knows! I get the tingling or vibration feelings too in my feet, legs and hands.. ick.

Again I know it is sooo hard not to worry when you body isnt acting right, but if you read here and go to INTERNAL SHAKING forum too, you will see others have had this!!

Talk soon..
~L

HI L,
I am very new at navigating this site and can never figure out how to get back to where I posted the question. I hope I will get better at this computer stuff soon!! I just turned 50 in oct. and I did not have any tests done by the Neuro. He looked at me and did the regular test like muscle reflexes and walking a straight line. No EMGs he said I did not have any muscle loss ect. so thought it might be related to my herniated disc or anxiety from stress of not feeling well and not knowing if I had a terrible disease. My GP says I am a very excitable person, never able to sit still and having been not able to do my normal routine for 6 months or so and then after my neck surgery having another several months not being able to move about as usual could be the reason for the anxiety. He put me on Clonazapam, and I did not like the way I felt, so was not a good patient and did not take it as prescribed. Maybe if I stayed on it for the right amount of time I would have improved, but I am so afraid of the side effects so I am just trying to handle this with meditation, which I am learning about, and herbal remedies, like calm and gaba. I am self diagnosing and not doing such a good Job!!! I am not sure what to do, but the twitching is just so upseting. It is so hard to calm down when your body is always twitching and feeling funny. It is also difficult to believe that anxiety or meno. could cause this, and when I sit still it is worse so relaxing like they say is so hard to do since that is when I can feel every twitch and crawly sensation. I think I am going to try L theanine, since I have read lots of good things about that and anxiety. So if the GP is correct about the anxiety, then maybe this will help. I do not feelas stressed anymore, but I know I was when I wasn't sure if I had a bad disease. Never really thought of my sellf as having anxiety , so makes it hard to believe this many symptoms could be caused by that. Well anyway I am just so thankful for this web site since I have been able to see others with the same symptoms and know that I am not crazy . How long have you had your symptoms? Mine started in Aug of 07 and just in one leg and then progressed gradually to now having funny twitches and sensations all over from head to toe, but not all the time mostly in legs. Well thanks for listening ,maybe some one else has conquered this twitching thing and can offer some advise. Pretty much I think you just have to try to ride it out. I wonder how long??? Some people write about having it for years, or it going away and coming back.
Oh, I did go to the internal shaking site, very helpful, I have experienced that too, but not sure if it was a reaction to the Prednesone I took for a bad case of poison ivy. Not a great year for me!!
Well thanks again.Hope you have a good day.

Sincerely,
Debbie

HI Deb..

So are you feeling better today?

I just get so tired of the tingling vibrating feelings esp. in my legs.. it is so odd. I get the jerks or body twitches when waking up in the AM, they are scary too... but this is hormones I think and per what all the other ladies write, we are not alone!!

Let me know how you are...
~L

Hello,
I found this Forum this morning while searching on-line for clues to suddenly itchy and prickly skin. I am 54 and have been on an estriadol patch for 2 years now, which has taken care of the menopausal symptoms I have recognized up till now. My question is this.. for those of you who have posted or who have these prickly, itchy skin situations are you on supplemental hormones of one sort or another? I am wondering if the skin symptoms are really indicating a need for re-evaluating the dosage I am on, which has been the same for the last two years. I am using the .025 dose of Climara, the smallest dose they make, but have been thinking of trying the next dose up because of some returning of hot flash and sleep disturbance symptoms. I lost a good bit of weight in the last year and since there are less fat cells putting out their own estrogen I am thinking that perhaps I should up the dose and see what happens.
So, my real question is whether any of you have found a link between hormone supplementation and improvement of the itchy, prickly or burning skin symptoms.
Thanks very much.

I started having this feeling a few days after my period started back after my son was born. (Lucky me I had 2 years without one!) I was wearing a sweater and I kept thinking the tag must be rubbing the back of my neck or something, but I still noticed it when I changed clothes and then it was down my spine,too. It literally felt like something was crawling on me or like wool rubbing my skin, but sort of from the inside. Weird. It doesn't happen all that often anymore, but always during a major hormone shift like ovulation or during my period. I also get the same kind of feeling inside my stomach sometimes, but I think this is hormone and anxiety-related. I use a heating pad on my neck and back and at least it kind of relaxes the muscles and helps a little. Haven't found anything else that really helps!

I am so excited I found this sight. I had no idea what was wrong with me and it has been driving me crazy ! I have had a major itching about four days prior to my period, it only last one night and goes away. This month it has not gone away. I went to my regular Dr. and they said you are fine down there. I thought I had some sort of bugs. I am a married women who would not know how to explain to my husband that I had bugs or so ...... Anyways, the funny part is that my seven year old has had tons of Lice in her school, so there again, I thought I had lice down there. I have vacumed my bead, cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. OMG, after reading several posting it sounds like it is hormonal thing. I do have a OB appointment next week. Can't wait to see what they say. Keep the posting alive as us girls need this to reply on. Thank you all for letting me know I am not alone out here with this.

Dina

Hey,

You seem to be suffering from restless leg syndrome, its a sleep disorder and can be easily treated with a simple muscle relaxant!!
You need to go to your doctor and ask to be referred to a sleep clinic, here they will probably give you a sleep monitor, which you will wear at night. This will probably confirm restless legs syndrome. This effects your sleep cycle as it wakes you up slightly every time you twitch, having crawling under your legs is also a clear sign of this sleep disorder. This is the probable reason for you being tired all of the time, as you need to go through a sleep cycle to gain the right amount of sleep and if this is being disturbed by your restless legs, you will not be well rested! hope this helps you! Kerry