alyLeoNCali
Well-known member
Just another wacky possibility to throw out to the board... Could the tremors and twitches be due to phenol exposure? I used a phenol-containing OTC product to treat bug bites right when my BFS symptoms started.
My tremors and twitches started 2 years ago, about a week after I got approx. 2 dozen chigger (redbug) bites and 5 attached ticks. I'm happy to say that my symptoms have lessened somewhat since the initial onset.
So for these 2 years I've wondered whether (1) the onset was unrelated to the bug bites (just coincidence they happened at the same time), or (2) the insult of the bug bites triggered the appearance of symptoms that I would have gotten later in life anyhow, or (3) the bug bites caused the symptoms. NOW I wonder whether (4) the onset was caused by the bug bite treatment.
For several days after the bug bites, I used an OTC product called "Chigarid," which is supposed to relieve the itching of chigger bug bites. Just recently it occurred to me that maybe there was something in this stuff, which I frequently applied to the affected skin. An active ingredient is phenol. Guess what the main effects of phenol exposure include? Tremor and twitches.
Google phenol and along with tremor and twitches, you'll find that phenol exposure is also linked to swallowing difficulty and "parkinsonian findings."
A weird thing I noticed in earlier posts many months ago is that my mouth muscles twitch and especially if I crinkle my nose, the mouth/nose area twitches like a bunny's. Well, phenol exposure is found to cause something called "rabbit syndrome," which affects face muscles.
The phenol-caused twitches can apparently be relieved (not cured) by anticholinergic drugs, which if I understand right are drugs that can give you a dry mouth, and those include Klonopin, the SSRI antidepressants, even Benadryl antihistamine. Many people on this board have found relief from Klonopin (clonazepam?) or SSRIs.
Phenol exposure can result from contaminated water, certain commercial products (like the Chigarid), construction materials, car emissions, etc.
I don't think there's any way to know, but phenol exposure does seem like a possible link to BFS symptoms, even if not a probable one.
--alyLeoNCali
My tremors and twitches started 2 years ago, about a week after I got approx. 2 dozen chigger (redbug) bites and 5 attached ticks. I'm happy to say that my symptoms have lessened somewhat since the initial onset.
So for these 2 years I've wondered whether (1) the onset was unrelated to the bug bites (just coincidence they happened at the same time), or (2) the insult of the bug bites triggered the appearance of symptoms that I would have gotten later in life anyhow, or (3) the bug bites caused the symptoms. NOW I wonder whether (4) the onset was caused by the bug bite treatment.
For several days after the bug bites, I used an OTC product called "Chigarid," which is supposed to relieve the itching of chigger bug bites. Just recently it occurred to me that maybe there was something in this stuff, which I frequently applied to the affected skin. An active ingredient is phenol. Guess what the main effects of phenol exposure include? Tremor and twitches.
Google phenol and along with tremor and twitches, you'll find that phenol exposure is also linked to swallowing difficulty and "parkinsonian findings."
A weird thing I noticed in earlier posts many months ago is that my mouth muscles twitch and especially if I crinkle my nose, the mouth/nose area twitches like a bunny's. Well, phenol exposure is found to cause something called "rabbit syndrome," which affects face muscles.
The phenol-caused twitches can apparently be relieved (not cured) by anticholinergic drugs, which if I understand right are drugs that can give you a dry mouth, and those include Klonopin, the SSRI antidepressants, even Benadryl antihistamine. Many people on this board have found relief from Klonopin (clonazepam?) or SSRIs.
Phenol exposure can result from contaminated water, certain commercial products (like the Chigarid), construction materials, car emissions, etc.
I don't think there's any way to know, but phenol exposure does seem like a possible link to BFS symptoms, even if not a probable one.
--alyLeoNCali