Allodynia: Anyone else sensitive to touch?

Posted by maria7521 @maria7521, Jul 22, 2018

Has anyone heard of the term allodynia?

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@pitepalten

The only ones that hug me is my kids. I haven’t told them about my issues. I try to avoid their hugs which seem to backfire. They just want to hug me more. Cymbalta has really helped me.

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Hi Pitepalten - Would you share what type of allodynia you have and how much Cymbalta you use that helps? Thank you!

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@arcticmark

If you go on Amazon, they sell piping structures to lift the sheets off your feet and they create a nice sheet free area for your feet.

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I have only had so much pain from the touch of the sheets that I could not sleep for a few weeks now. I bought one of the devices you described and got the first good night's sleep I had had in a while. It makes a strange looking lump under the covers at the foot of the bed, but it is worth it.

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@mindfulness

Hi Pitepalten - Would you share what type of allodynia you have and how much Cymbalta you use that helps? Thank you!

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I take 30mg at night.

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Has anyone ever noticed a link between high salt intake & allodynia? I found a study about it, but, I only gave it a cursory glance as it involved animals & I cannot, therefore, read it in depth. However it seems as though they did establish a link. I can't post the link here, (as I just found out). I looked it up because I have suffered from very painful allodynia for years, but suddenly in the last few months it has gotten considerably less painful. But yesterday it was suddenly back with a vengeance! The only thing that I noticed that had changed is that the day before I had eaten a meal with *very high* salt content & for the last few months I have gotten more serious about cutting down on salt. Obviously, this is largely speculation, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Thanks!

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@mindfulness

Hi. I'm glad you have something that works for you. Did you bathe in the Epsom salt to obtain relief? What kind of allodynia do you have and what type of desensitization did you try? Is this related to the neutral temperature therapy pool 6mentioned in the article? Thank you.

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Let me be frank, I am not an expert on allodynia though after searching madly on the internet to find why I couldn't wear a shirt or a breeze across my back paralyzed me in pain, I diagnosed myself. I told the pain management people about & it seemed as though some of them had never heard of it! I swear some of them just think we're wussies. In the last month and a half to two months I cut *way* down on my salt intake, which used to be quite high & at the same time my allodynia began to get *much* better. I didn't notice a correlation until yesterday when I ate something extremely salty and today the allodynia is as bad as it ever was. The salt was the only correlation I could think of and so that's what I searched and I stumbled upon an article in the Journal of Neuroinflammation about the effect of salt, here is their finding in a nutshell:
"Mice on an high salt diet have reduced mechanical thresholds. They feel more pain than those on a normal diet"
I can send you the link if you would like

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@jamsiep

Has anyone ever noticed a link between high salt intake & allodynia? I found a study about it, but, I only gave it a cursory glance as it involved animals & I cannot, therefore, read it in depth. However it seems as though they did establish a link. I can't post the link here, (as I just found out). I looked it up because I have suffered from very painful allodynia for years, but suddenly in the last few months it has gotten considerably less painful. But yesterday it was suddenly back with a vengeance! The only thing that I noticed that had changed is that the day before I had eaten a meal with *very high* salt content & for the last few months I have gotten more serious about cutting down on salt. Obviously, this is largely speculation, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. Thanks!

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Hello @jamsiep, Welcome to Connect. I noticed that you wished to post a link to a research article with your message. You will be able to add URLs to your posts in a few days. There is a brief period where new members can't post links. We do this to deter spammers and keep the community safe. Clearly the link you wanted to post is not spam, so allow me to post it here.
-- High-salt diet decreases mechanical thresholds in mice that is mediated by a CCR2-dependent mechanism: https://jneuroinflammation.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12974-020-01858-6.

I thought you may also be interested in this March 2022 article:
"In a first-of-its-kind study published last fall, Stern and his team used a novel technique to uncover how salt intake affects blood flow deep in the brain. Ninety percent of Americans over the age of two consume too much sodium, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your body responds to a high-salt diet with a number of compensatory changes, many of which are poorly understood. These include changes in the brain, which, as Stern has found, may be linked to high blood pressure and even neurocognitive issues."
-- This is Your Brain on Salt - Georgia State University News: https://news.gsu.edu/research-magazine/this-is-your-brain-on-salt-javier-stern.

Have you had a chance to discuss your reduction of symptoms from reduced intake of salt with your doctor? Just wondering if they had some thoughts...

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I am sensitive to touch up and down the inside of my legs and also my toes. This began after having total knee replacements.
I have been diabetic (type 2) for over 30 years.
The doctor has me on cilastazol for the last two months, but it isn't helping.
Could it be allodynia? If so, what would help?

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I am just learning about Allodynia. My pain is mostly from my shoulders to my waist on my back. It is very uncomfortable to wear a shirt or dry my back with a towel. Sometimes my arms will have a similar sensation. It is how the skin feels if I have a high fever only I don't have a fever. I do have fibromyalgia, but never this pain. It is the surface of the skin that hurts to touch or pressure (like sitting in a chair). I am also experiencing mild fatigue.

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@gcteacher

I am just learning about Allodynia. My pain is mostly from my shoulders to my waist on my back. It is very uncomfortable to wear a shirt or dry my back with a towel. Sometimes my arms will have a similar sensation. It is how the skin feels if I have a high fever only I don't have a fever. I do have fibromyalgia, but never this pain. It is the surface of the skin that hurts to touch or pressure (like sitting in a chair). I am also experiencing mild fatigue.

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Sounds like you have the exact type of allodynia I have. Same symptoms, and location on the body. I got mine very suddenly in late March of this year. I've been diabetic for 40+ years, and on insulin for most of that time. I don't have trouble sitting in a chair, as long as there's no movement across my back. My husband and I recently took a road trip, and riding in the car, with the seat's movement as we drove across the pavement, and especially hitting potholes, was, I would say "agonizing" but it was a month long trip so I just had to buck up and tolerate it as best I could.
The weird thing was that no doctor I saw, dermatologist, endocrinologist, PCP, knew anything about it. Had never heard of it or knew what it was called. It wasn't until I saw a neurologist that I got any clues (or hope) about what it was. He said that it was probably related to my diabetes AND my alcohol use. That the nerves would regenerate in about 8 months if I kept my diabetes under control (I always have done) and quit drinking. I didn't think I was drinking that much, but. . .so I quit one month ago, and we'll see.
Shortly after the allodynia started, I also started having twitching and jerking in my hands and legs, and trouble with my balance. The neurologist said that would get better, too. And it has! After one month w/o alcohol. So I have hope that the allodynia will also get better.
So, forgive me if all of this is way off track of what you are experiencing. I don't know if you drink at all, or have the ol' diabetes. I don't have fibromyalgia, so our paths may diverge a lot. I do hope you are seeing the proper doctor, and get good treatment. I forgot to mention that I take Gabapentin (Neurontin) for the pain, and it helps a lot, though doesn't completely eliminate it.
Good luck to you, and best wishes.

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@justandie

Sounds like you have the exact type of allodynia I have. Same symptoms, and location on the body. I got mine very suddenly in late March of this year. I've been diabetic for 40+ years, and on insulin for most of that time. I don't have trouble sitting in a chair, as long as there's no movement across my back. My husband and I recently took a road trip, and riding in the car, with the seat's movement as we drove across the pavement, and especially hitting potholes, was, I would say "agonizing" but it was a month long trip so I just had to buck up and tolerate it as best I could.
The weird thing was that no doctor I saw, dermatologist, endocrinologist, PCP, knew anything about it. Had never heard of it or knew what it was called. It wasn't until I saw a neurologist that I got any clues (or hope) about what it was. He said that it was probably related to my diabetes AND my alcohol use. That the nerves would regenerate in about 8 months if I kept my diabetes under control (I always have done) and quit drinking. I didn't think I was drinking that much, but. . .so I quit one month ago, and we'll see.
Shortly after the allodynia started, I also started having twitching and jerking in my hands and legs, and trouble with my balance. The neurologist said that would get better, too. And it has! After one month w/o alcohol. So I have hope that the allodynia will also get better.
So, forgive me if all of this is way off track of what you are experiencing. I don't know if you drink at all, or have the ol' diabetes. I don't have fibromyalgia, so our paths may diverge a lot. I do hope you are seeing the proper doctor, and get good treatment. I forgot to mention that I take Gabapentin (Neurontin) for the pain, and it helps a lot, though doesn't completely eliminate it.
Good luck to you, and best wishes.

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Thank you for your reply. I too have type 2 diabetes . I do not use insulin. I have kept it pretty controlled through diet. I read recently that there is a type of shingles that presents with out a rash, but causes skin sensitivity and pain. I think if the pain persists I will see a neurologist. Again thank you for your reply. I appreciated hearing about your journey with Allodynia, as this is all very new to me. Also I am allergic to gabapentain.

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