AHHH! There are bugs under my skin!

[Elok]

No, not really. But apparently lots of people claim they have such a problem. There was an article on a weird, uh, condition called Morgellons in the Washington Post Magazine today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgellons

Summary: unbearable itching beneath the skin so bad that sufferers claw themselves open, muscle fatigue, decreased mental faculty, and pulling long red and blue "fibers" out of yourself. Most doctors think it's a psychotic delusion.

The magazine noted research not cited in Wiki on the fibers in question: they were tested in a forensics lab and do not match any of the 900 different textile and other fibers the lab was familiar with. Also, the fibers didn't burn at 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The foundation can't pony up the dough for a DNA test.

...this is just frickin' weird. So, mass hysteria, unknown disease, a combination of both? I want your honest, and with the exception of Strangelove completely irrelevant, opinions.

[DaShi]

Most likely some sort of alien tracking device.

[SlowwHand]

It's withdrawl.

[Lancer]

Strange things do happen for a reason, but we can't know it. The physical laws of the universe pertain only to this universe not to the ones which form the page before and after, so to speak. Each universe a mere whisp of confused laws and realities. The borders of the universes a jumble of 'what ifs'. If other universes have laws which allow a connection to ours, then stuff can leak through. Perhaps another such universe consists entirely of these fibers and the people who suffer from this affliction somehow made the connection occur which allow fibers to 'cross over'.

I just pulled that out of my ass, but it's as good as you'll get.

[Dinner]

I know of a lot of blood sucking insects but I never heard of any burrowing ones.

[Adalbertus]

/home/you> gdb skin

[atomant]

could be a sign of ice addiction?

[Thue]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I know of a lot of blood sucking insects but I never heard of any burrowing ones.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_bot_fly

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scabies

There are others...

[Thue]

And not to forget, my favorite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinea_worm

[onodera]

Are they aphids?

[Lancer]

"The Dracunculiasis Eradication Program (DEP), an effort to eradicate the disease from the world, has been funded by charities such as the Carter Center and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a result of its efforts, as of 2005 Asia has been completely free of dracunculiasis"



I was very itchy there for a bit.

[Dr Strangelove]

The condition of feeling bugs crawling under the skin, which is called formication (with an "m", not an "n") usually occurs in alcohol withdrawal.

There is an insect which burrows under the skin and lays eggs, however the bug leaves a small raised red track on the skin where it burrows. The disease is called scabies. In formication there is no visible lesion on the skin until the person afflicted scratches.

[Tiamat]

And it's exactly ill informed people who make silly little judgements like that about people who really do have this and really do have things backing out of their skin and have proof! Ill informed people and doctor's who think these people are crack pots and simply dismiss them rather then taking to the time to actually examine what's happening and giving them some type of answer or cure.

It is real, it does exsist and it's quite unbearable thank you very much

[Tiamat]

This disease, or problem has been around since the 1500's naturally back then they simply thought the people were crazy until they started documenting case after case. The Center for Disease Control is now taking this "disease" quite seriously and have begun a "study" taking on test cases to try to come up with some type of cure or solution. There are several Doctor's who have secured some type of cure but they are few and far between.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
The condition of feeling bugs crawling under the skin, which is called formication (with an "m", not an "n") usually occurs in alcohol withdrawal.

There is an insect which burrows under the skin and lays eggs, however the bug leaves a small raised red track on the skin where it burrows. The disease is called scabies. In formication there is no visible lesion on the skin until the person afflicted scratches.

Dude, we all play D&D. We know it's an m.