I say it’s bed bugs. When in doubt, blame bed bugs 
From that first CDC article link, the full article mentions that 50% of the participants tested positive for drugs.
Right, but asking them “Is your disease real, or psychosomatic?” doesn’t help get them to that point. In fact, that phrasing may push their friends/family/support system into buying into the who “Morgellan” thing because it puts them in a position where they think that saying “It’s not biologic” is the same as saying “Mom’s faking”, and they know she’s not faking.
Hm. I assumed it was the insects that occasionally buzz around the place (though I never attributed it to Morgellons), but come to think of it I haven’t felt it since I styarted taking B12 supplements a few months ago.
I’m a veterinarian, and I’ve had to deal with this, or something similar. I have a client who regularly brings in her poor little dog and insists the dog has “bugs” in her skin causing her “lesions.” Any lesions on this sweet little pup are those created by me, when I do skin scrapings to prove to the owner there are no “bugs.” Nothing I say, prescribe, or do will make any difference. I refuse to put the dog on antibiotics for a rash she doesn’t have. I refuse to put her on ivermectin for mites she doesn’t have. What I have done is dispensed topicals, such as shampoos that will kill bacteria and yeast, but only because the shampoo cannot cause any harm. And I encourage regular use of flea/tick/heartworm preventatives. I’ve probably done skin scrapings and skin cytology on the dog a dozen times.
The client consistently, and rather frantically, points out the “bugs” on the dog’s skin–dandruff likely caused by her incessant picking at the dog’s skin.
The last time, the client actually complained about the bill. I told her to enjoy it because it was the last time I will scrape her dog without cause.
Zoological Munchausen by proxy. :smack: Ay dios mio.
OHHhhhhh! That changes EVERYTHING. She just has bugs. She should cut back.
Tell your friend you found convincing evidence that Morgellon’s IS being created by the government. They’re disseminating it tainting the nation’s crack supply with Morgello eggs.
If she stops smoking crack and takes some B-12 to flush out the old eggs, it’ll clear right up.
Crackheads and abusers of many other drugs, most famously meth, often scratch themselves delusionally, which in short order create real skin lesions, infections, etc.
A close friend was “diagnosed” with Morgellon’s after a number of doctors failed to properly diagnose her skin condition as having to do with her malfunctioning thyroid. She was “diagnosed” by a homeopathic practitioner, not a medical doctor.
After struggling with one remedy after another for close to three years, she was finally properly diagnosed and treated. Only when her skin cleared up in a matter of a few days after beginning treatment, she sheepishly admitted that she’d been desperate to find answers when the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and as a result, she’d been duped by the Internet.
I think part of the problem is that she did indeed get a bit hysterical when routine doctors could find no proper diagnosis or treatment.
The term “psychosomatic” is often used incorrectly to mean “they are imagining things” or “it’s not real.” It means that there is a psychological cause for genuine physical symptoms, such as back pain caused by stress. Psychosomatic illness is different than a psychiatric disorder.
IANAD, I just like to read.
For what it’s worth, it’s spelled Morgellon’s (with an “o”). Although correctly spelling a word popularized by crazy people for something that doesn’t exit may be too nit-picky for most people. 
With a condition like Morgellons, you can’t be too nit-picky.
Well, it does in this case, since you’re the guy who says, “Nope, there is nothing physically there to cause this itch.”
[/QUOTE]
Actually, he’s the guy who says “Nope, there was nothing physically there to cause this itch.”
Regards,
Shodan
We docs often cut bits off of people to study under the microscope without actually killing 'em, you know. 
Yeah, so what did you find in my foreskin?
I’m not a doctor either, but I’d disagree with this in a couple of ways. Psychosomatic certainly can mean something that is only imagined by the sufferer*, and psychosomatic symptoms can certainly coincide with or be caused by a psychiatric disorder.
- Which is not to say that they’re faking it or lying in any way. If your mental illness causes you to perceive parasites, then you’re not lying when you say that you perceive parasites. It’s just that the perceptions are caused by your mind and not a parasite.
I had symptoms of Morgellons about five years ago. I looked up the symptoms, and that was the first time I ever heard of Morgellons, so it was not psychosomatic unless I had subconsciously heard of the symptoms without remembering it, which I will not rule out. A couple of years later, the symptoms went away.
I’m late to the party, but I thought the following might be of some value to future Morgellons discussions. Granted, only 4 subjects were involved, but I think the analysis of their “dermal filaments” and the authors’ detection of spirochetes in these subjects are fairly compelling. (Note that the authors consider the presence of “dermal filaments” to be the premier characteristic of Morgellons. If you ain’t got filaments, you got something else.)
Or maybe sebaceous filaments?. (From a recent thread.)