Delusions of parasitosis vs. hypochondriasis/illness anxiety disorder
- https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/pests/dp.html
Reported symptoms: low grade flu symptoms, swelling, headaches, anxiety, fatigue, brain fog, painful sores/lesions, “pop rocks under the skin,” colored fibers/filaments embedded under the skin’s surface, sensory sensitivity on/under the skin, itching
Dr. Felman - derm w/6mos psychiatry - non-believer; talk about how to be a better patient, attends conference and sees research, still believes it to be psychosis
- Orap - medication for delusions - https://www.drugs.com/mtm/orap.html
Cindy Casey Holman, RN & husband Charles - patient and advocates
Harry Quinn Schone, PhD, medical historian, author of Contested Illnesses in Context
- Disease responsibility/agency over illness, met with suspicion, distrust, derision
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/denying-the-grave/201906/how-should-we-treat-contested-illnesses
Timothy Berger, MS dermatologist and John Koo, MD psychiatrist and dermatologist
- Internet-associated disorder, “group organized itself,” compared to Agent Orange and Bosnian War nuclear bullets https://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/agentorange/

https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/world/radiation-from-balkan-bombing-alarms-europe.html

“Matchbox” evidence, folie a deux, folie a famille https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2919794/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2824986/
Edward Hu, former federal attorney, patient and brother Brian Hu, MD - family conflict over symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment
- Nerve pain, word finding difficulty, tremors, gross motor issues, gastrointestinal issues, electrical interference, wash with a scraping stone, improved with antibiotic treatment
Ginger Savely, DNP, Lyme specialist, recommends antibiotic treatment
- Burning hairs off face with a lighter
- Patient using DDT for treatment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT
Mary Leitao - coined term Morgellons in 2002 after son had symptoms and she was accused of Munchausen by Proxy; research from Sir Thomas Browne (1690)
Connection to Lyme - spirochetes
Raphael B. Stricker, MD internist and Melissa McEltroy Fesler, NP and Marianne Middleveen, MDES - long term doxycycline for Lyme is safe?
- Theory: Fibers are made of collagen and keratin, overproduced in mass quantities
- Similar to Bovine Digital Dermatitis
CDC Task Force, $600,000, Kaiser Permanente, and 4 years; research flawed due to definition of research? Large local population with morgellons
Mental health impact - isolation, distress, abandonment, disbelief, desperation, 800x more likely to commit suicide?
- Somatoform disorder, psychosomatic disorder vs. somatopsychic disorder
- Spirochetal infection can cause psychiatric symptoms
- Bipolar, anxiety, depression comorbid
  - Syphilis was considered psychosomatic until research
  - Guy with 60 billion worms in his groin
  - Confirmation bias or exclusionary bias; fact vs. emotion/belief in psychology
  - The way of treating certain pain syndromes in psychology (AMPS/fibromyalgia)

Music Credits:

Intro fun- Music by Vlad Krotov from Pixabay

Bartending foley suite- Sound Effect by Akiva Vita from Pixabay

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https://medicalmediamixer.podbean.com/

Social Media Links:

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