Paresthesiasare a common symptom offibromyalgiaand myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome(ME/CFS).
Paresthesia is defined as abnormal sensations such as tingling, crawling,itching, numbness, and prickling.
Most of the time, paresthesias aren’t painful.
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Virtually no research has been done on paresthesias in ME/CFS.
However, enough people with the condition report paresthesias that they’re generally accepted as a symptom.
These include:
The specific relationship between these traits and paresthesias isn’t clear.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Nerve damage or pressure may be responsible for paresthesias in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, as well.
It may also be sparked by a combination of other factors.
Researchers have uncovered several possibilities.
That term is used to describe a hyper-sensitive central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
Central sensitization causes nerve sensitivity and an amplified pain response in the brain.
Inflammation
The role of inflammation in these conditions has been one of long debate.
Autoimmunity
Autoimmunity has been another contentious area of fibromyalgia and ME/CFS research.
It then makes antibodies (specialized cells) to seek out and destroy that part.
In fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, damage from autoimmunity could explain paresthesias (as well as many other symptoms).
Research has tied both fibromyalgia and ME/CFS to dysfunction of these sensory nerves, which is calledsmall fiber neuropathy.
The pressure they put on nerve roots can cause paresthesias and other types of nerve pain, including sciatica.
In the fibromyalgia/ME/CFS group, they were three times more common than in the control group.
They also stated that the cysts could contribute to small fiber neuropathy.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Treatment
When paresthesias aren’t painful or disruptive, they don’t need to be treated.
But when they are painful, your healthcare provider may recommend several treatments.
Depending on the cause of your paresthesia, other medications may help, as well.
These are:
Neurologists andrheumatologistsare the healthcare providers with the best understanding of paresthesias and how to treat them.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Summary
Paresthesias are odd nerve sensations.
In other people, they’re generally not painful.
Treatment may involve neurpathy medications, anti-inflammatories, immunosuppressants, and drainage or removal of cysts.
Gota CE.Fibromyalgia: Recognition and management in the primary care office.Rheum Dis Clin North Am.
2018;367(1):155-167. doi:10.1124/jpet.118.250845
Littlejohn G, Guymer E.Neurogenic inflammation in fibromyalgia.Semin Immunopathol.
2019;20(20):5164.
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Small fiber sensory neuropathy.
2021;22(4):883-890. doi:10.1093/pm/pnaa410
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Tarlov cysts.
2021;36(1):107-113.
