The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced today that it is launching a study to learn about an unexplained condition that causes people to feel as if they have foreign substances growing from their bodies.
People with the condition, referred to as Morgellons disease, say they have fibers and other inorganic material growing out of their skin.
“We earnestly want to learn more about this unexplained illness, which affects the lives of those who suffer from it,” said Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator leading the study for the CDC, in a press release. “Those who suffer have questions, and we want to help them.”
“We have a team of epidemiologists, laboratorians and pathologists to carry out the study,” Pearson said.
The study will be conducted in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research. For more information, CLICK HERE to visit the CDC’s Unexplained Dermopathy Web site.
In 2006, a number of Morgellons sufferers told ABC News in interviews that when they consulted doctors, they received diagnoses they called wrong or dismissive. Brandi Koch, the wife of former Major League Baseball player Billy Koch, said that she felt as if she were living in a horror movie, claiming she had colored fibers coming out of her skin.
Koch, of Clearwater Beach, Fla., said that her life was good until one day in the shower when she noticed something strange — tiny fibers running through her skin.
“The fibers look like hair, and they’re different colors,” Koch said.
Koch said she knows that what she experienced “sounds crazy,” but it’s true. “If I had a family member call me up and say, ‘I have this stuff,’ I’d say, ‘I’m sending a straitjacket over. You need some help,'” she said.
Anne Dill described a similar condition. Looking at Dill’s life in Florida, she seemed to be living the American dream — her three daughters excelled in sports and were straight-A students.
But life in the Dill household was far from idyllic. Anne’s 40-year-old husband, Tom, died in January 2006, and she believes his death was due to a contagious illness that has infected her entire family.
Dill described her family’s skin: “There’s this fibrous material. It’s in layers.” Dill said the skin on their hands was particularly bad, very swollen and itchy, and said it felt as if bugs were crawling underneath the skin.
Consulting Doctors
Dr. Greg Smith of Gainesville, Ga., has been a pediatrician for the past 30 years. He claimed that a fiber was coming out of his big toe, and he had video footage to prove it.
“It felt like somebody stuck a pin in my toe and wiggled it, and it just continued to hurt,” Smith told ABC News in 2006.
He said he never thought he had bugs. “I’ve certainly had those crawling sensations, and the fibers which come out of the skin are really bizarre, and really odd.”
Smith was handed over to a hospital psychiatrist when he went to the emergency room complaining of a fiber in his eye. He admits that he, too, would be skeptical if a patient came to him with the same story.
“I would wonder if they’d taken their medicine that day. It makes no sense. It’s totally bizarre. It’s something that — just telling the story is so outlandish on the face of it — that no one would believe it,” Smith said. Dill’s doctor told her to stop scratching, even though many of her sores were in places she could not reach.
Koch went to the Mayo Clinic, where doctors didn’t believe that the fibers she’d brought them had grown from her body.
“I saw the infectious disease doctor, and I showed him some samples that I had and he snickered,” she said. “I can’t go through another doctor blowing me off or looking at me like I’m crazy. I know I’m not.”
Dr. Vincent DeLeo, chief of dermatology at New York’s St. Lukes-Roosevelt Medical Center, weighed in on what he’d say to someone who came to him with this condition. “I don’t think this is any different than many patients I’ve seen who have excoriations and believe that there is something in their skin causing this,” he told ABC News in 2006.
DeLeo said the open lesions were most likely a result of scratching the skin.
Relying on Your Own Research
But biologist Mary Leitao refused to accept the medical skepticism surrounding Morgellons.
Leitao’s son, Drew, was just 2 years old when Leitao noticed an odd sore on his lip that would not heal.
“He very simply said ‘bugs,’ and he pointed to his lips,” said Leitao.
Leitao never expected to find herself at the center of a medical storm. But when her son complained about the strange sore, the biologist, who once ran the electron microscope at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, did what any scientist would do. She took a closer look.
“What I saw were bundles of fibers, *** of fibers,” Leitao says. “There was red and blue.” Even stranger, they glowed under ultraviolet light.
Armed with research, Leitao took her son to a doctor at one of the country’s leading hospitals. He dismissed her tale of fibers and wrote to her pediatrician, saying that her son needed Vaseline for his lips and that his mother needed a thorough psychiatric evaluation.
Undaunted, Leitao began poring through medical literature looking for clues. What she discovered was a 17th-century reference to a strange disease with “harsh hairs” called “Morgellons.”
She named the strange fibers Morgellons disease and put the information on a Web site, Morgellons.org. At the time of her interview in 2006, more than 4,500 people had contacted Leitao, claiming they had Morgellons-type symptoms. The name stuck, and the disease was featured on the television show “ER.”
But do these fibers grow from inside the body, as Morgellons patients believe, or do they come from the external environment — a kind of lint — as the medical skeptics say?
Searching for an Answer
Forensic scientist Ron Pogue at the Tulsa Police Crime Lab in Oklahoma checked a Morgellons sample against known fibers in the FBI’s national database. “No, no match at all. So this is some strange stuff,” Pogue said in 2006. He thought the skeptics were wrong. “This isn’t lint. This is not a commercial fiber. It’s not.”
The lab’s director, Mark Boese, said the fibers are “consistent with something that the body may be producing.” He added that, “These fibers cannot be manmade and do not come from a plant. This could be a byproduct of a biological organism.”
Dill said she looks at pictures of her family and finds them unrecognizable. “My kids have to see not only their dad but their mom disintegrating, and that’s gotta be really scary.”
While they wait for evidence that they hope will convince the medical community to take them seriously, some Morgellon’s sufferers wear pink bracelets that say, simply, “Fortitude.”
Pictures of Morgellons Disea
Pictures can be viewed at the following location: Morgellon’s Disease Pictures
Hope you enjoyed the story and pictures of Morgellons Disease
A few things I am curious to know if anyone else has experienced or dealt with:
Little black “flecks” all over my apartment. Most are black but some are red and some are white. They vary in size and texture. Some feel like seeds, sand or grain-like. I did an online search for this bizarre occurence and various stories about “black pepper mites” came up. There are even some companies selling products to get rid of these so-called black pepper mites.
They were really freaking me out. At first I thought it might be bed bug droppings even though I hadn’t seen any bed bugs but just to be on the safe side I did a bed bug fogger in my bedroom. It did nothing to get rid of these little flecks. These people who were talking about the mites online said if you sprayed alcohol or Windex on any fabric or surface where they might be lurking, they would become visible even if you couldn’t see them. Sure enough, I did this and lots of these little black dots (some were red) showed up. It happens when I use Fabreez too. At this point I didn’t know what to think so I sent samples of these things to an Entomologist at Harvard who is also on the board of Public Health. I figured if they were insect or mite droppings, he would be able to tell me what kind; or put my mind at ease if they were not.
He told me they were not insect droppings but “debris” — common everyday household dirt and detritus some of which could have been carried into my apartment from the outside via shoes or shipping cartons or shopping bags.
But I am not really satisfied with this answer. How does dirt and “debris” get into and onto clothing that’s hanging in the back of a walk-in closet that’s closed 99% of the time, or in drawers that are shut 99% of the time, or cabinets that are also closed most of the time? I mean this stuff is EVERYWHERE! It’s actually IN the fabric of my clothes and bedding! Some of it is visible but when I steam iron or apply heat to the fabric, more of them rise to the surface that were previously invisible.
What kind of “debris” does this? This is not just “debris”? I mean seriously, like what the heck?!! I’ve washed my bedding in hot water and then dried it for 45 minutes in a dryer on the hottest setting and still those creepy little things are in the fabric and I can’t seem to get rid of them.
At one point I thought it might be fleas because I itch like crazy when I’m in bed, and also when I’m sitting at my desk in my home office. I believe whatever these things are, I am having an allergic reaction to them. In fact, I seem to have some of the same symptoms for Morgellons or Collembolla: intense itching of the scalp and body, rashes, hives (and I’ve never had hives in my life before this!), tiny little red dots showing up on my skin in random places, the feeling that there are things crawling on me and UNDER my skin including the feeling that I am being stung by something under my skin and something is definitely biting me because I also keep finding little pimple-size “bite” marks, and yet most of the time I don’t feel it because I never notice them until they are already there.
This all started a few months ago when I noticed the black things — it started in my bed. I thought it was just lint or food crumbs because sometimes I like to watch TV in bed and eat at the same time. So I’d just take a big roll of tape and pick them off and think nothing of it. At the time I wasn’t getting the itching or bites. That didn’t start up til a few months later. Once the itching started is when I thought it might be bed bugs and I researched and thought the stuff I assumed was lint might be their droppings. But these things didn’t smear so I knew it wasn’t droppings but something else.
I have a few theories on how they could’ve gotten in. I bought 2 winter coats at a thrift store back in the Fall and stupid me didn’t even think to have them cleaned and I wore them. There could’ve been something on them.
But I read that story about the woman who had to leave her house cuz her basement got flooded or something and she had a mold problem and apparently that can draw or lead to those “springtails.” I had taken a trip to Pennsylvania on Labor Day weekend 2008 and when I came back there was this god-awful stench in my bedroom. It smelled like death. For a few days I couldn’t figure out what it was. I was smelling it in my bathroom too. My bedroom and bathroom are right next to each other and then I figured out what it was: there were wet leaves stuck in the roof gutter right outside my window and there appeared to also be some dirt and who knows what else mixed in with it. So it was smelling all moldy and gross. The smell went away after about a week but I usually have a small fan that I put in a window right near there so I am wondering if it sucked in some mold spores into my bedroom and got into the air and settled into my bed and onto my things and then maybe spread through the rest of the apartment. It’s the only other explanation I can think of…
I don’t know what to do to get rid of these things esp. since I don’t really know what they are!!! Meanwhile I am suffering from a lot of the same symptoms as Morgellons. and Until tonight I didn’t have the fibrous hair thing but then I noticed this tiny little mole on my left upper arm and there is a little thick black hair growing out of it…yikes!!!
I’m planning a thorough cleaning of the apartment in the hopes that it might help eliminate these things. I got a new vacuum cleaner designed especially for mite control (dust mites) with a HEPA filter, and a steam mop. I also bought some special mite and allergen-specific sprays — Kleen Green and another Dust Mite spray for cleaning. I really hope it works otherwise I dont’ know what I’m going to do…
Someone menthioned making collidal silver using AC adaptor. CS should be made with DC adapter or battery only. Using AC power will ionize the water witch will affect blood red cells and bone marrow causing cancer. He also mentioned using lake water, that’s why it gets cloudy. mineral in the water react chemicaly with silver (DC current helps) resulting in silver compounds (some of them harmful). Only use distilled water or rain water. Mixing with plastic spone or knife through the reaction will keep it clear. Holding the temp at 180 – 200 F will accelrate the colliding. You can use a glass jar in a hot water bath (a pot on the stove). When it’s done the color will be like beer. If you let the reaction continue it will turn dark red (so concentrated). Good luck to everybody.
HEY, I’VE HAD TIS DISEASE FOR ABOUT 4 YEARS, TRIED EVERYTHING, HAVE NO MORE ANOYING SYMPTOMS, BUT DON’T KNOW IF IT’S REALLY GONE…
I DRINK TONIC WATER WITH QUININE 1 LITER BOTTLE EVERY DAY AND THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. NO SORES ITCHING OR BITEING ANY MORE, HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY, STILL NEED TO ASK MY DOC IF TOO MUCH QUININE WILL CAUSE ANY SERIOUS EFFECTS, IF YOU TRY THIS POST YOUR RESPONSE, I ALSO USE LEMONGRASS SOAP, ORGANIC LEMON SHAMPOO AND BRUSH TEETH IN BAKING SODA,
Hi pixma della… what is MMS? I don’t recognize the abbreviation.
I have been a Morgellon’s sufferer for over ten years. Recently, I discovered, quite by accident, something that is literally making it disappear from my body. I have experimented with various super baths, filling the tub with hot water and putting in things like lemons, baking soda, dish detergent, laundry detergent, alcohol, etc.
Well, one day about four months ago, I was filling the bath, and I was pretty dirty from housecleaning, so I put some Sun powdered laundry detergent with colorsafe bleach into
the water, just a tad, because it really cleans the skin. Anyway, I left the bathroom for a minute or two and heard a crash that sounded like one of my cats getting into something.
When I returned nothing seemed amiss, so I slid into the water for a soak. Everything seemed normal until the bubbles parted, and I got the sight of a Morgellon’s sufferer’s lifetime dream: those black and grey specks migrating out of my skin as fast as they could in droves from every square inch of my body!
And even as I saw that, I also noticed several large oblong things “dissolving” in the bottom of the tub. I picked one up, and it was an alfalfa tablet. Then I noticed the bottle
on the counter next to the tub was overturned, and about 25 of them had fallen into the water! They were the cause of the migration of all things Morgellon out of my skin in a fantastic migration for about an hour! Brown flecks, black specks, fibers, white patches of fibers drifted off the surface of my
skin like No Problema, see ya later, something I had never been able to accomplish with any other topical agent. The mighty alfalfa has since conquered Morgellon’s in my body. The scabs are gone, the fibers are history, the patches of fibers are all taped to a piece of wax paper and about to be sent off to a research lab that has requested them.
I am sending you my testimonial in hopes that other sufferers will at least know some relief from the scourge of the skin. Dandelion, the Flame Point Siamese cat, must be credited with this miraculous discovery. He is only three years old, but he’s a hero to his long-suffering Mommy!
I’ve done a little research on the mighty alfalfa, and apparently it creates an alkaline environment in the body in which things like cancer and other diseases cannot survive.
So, taking it internally can only be a good thing, also; but it’s the baths that made all the difference in the world for me. I also tried putting St. Johns Wort in the bath along with it, with even better results. And for some reason, using the Sun powdered laundry detergent with colorsafe bleach also
helps facilitate the migration of the specks.
God, I really hope this helps even one person as it has helped me. It has cleared up my symptoms so completely that I kept forgetting to post this information on the Morgellon’s websites! Thank you to God for this wonderful, freak discovery! Please spread this information far
and wide.
———
Note: The primary ingredient in this discovery was the laundry detergent with color-safe bleach. The bleach is an oxidizer similar to MMS. The boost from the alfalfa is not easily understood but clearly was helpful. Nano-bodies carried in the blood stream would be perfect targets for chlorine dioxide gas to destroy, so a four-drop dose of MMS taken internally would be a perfect compliment for this bathing process. Note also that MMS can be used in swimming pools and also safely in a bath tub. MMS is a water purifier first and foremost. For a tub one might mix a 40 drop dose of MMS for bathing (not drinking).
This is by far the best blog I’ve come across dealing with Morgellons. People are serious here. Not cruel. Helpful, caring. I’ve had symptoms of Morgellons since May 2006. Began with “white things” coming out of the skin, inflaming areas on my arms and legs. Moved to face, nostrils, ears, eyes, scalp, spine, feet. Just when I got quit freaking out about the weird white things and sores appearing here and there, blue “puff balls” started emerging, then red ones! (this usually after a shower when I’m applying lotion… and no, my towel was not blue or red!) Got “used to that” and then came the black specks to join in the feast of my body. (They sting/itch just prior to emerging… they come from unbroken skin usually.) Then came the sand-like particles, zig-zag black hairs, fine, nearly transluscent “moving” hairs (seem to be electrified!) Oh, and this… just prior to a storm, severe brainfog, extreme lethargy, itching, etc. The moment the rain bursts… it’s like a veil is lifted from my brain, my energy rebounds, and the itching is replaced with an exodus of strange things.
Tried so many things, many of the things already mentioned. One thing I’ll add… LISTERINE!!! Comb it thru your hair, spray it on your furniture, in the air, etc. (It obviously won’t poison you… you gargle with it anyway!) Key ingredient: Thymol Looked it up. It is an insecticide. Apparently a safe (and effective one.)
One more thought: On teeth eroding, on Listerine… I have wondered for a long time if this has something to do with plaque… if normal mouth plaque has gone awry, invading other areas of the body and creating an environment inviting to a whole host of fungal, viral and insects species. Does anyone else feel like flying insects gravitates toward them in lieu of “un-afflicted” people in the same vacinity?
Found out about Morgellans while researching my daughter’s mysterious illness, said to be fibromyalgia. She is 40 something, professional, highly intelligent – developed severe neuropathy in hands and feet, brain fog, extreme sleeping disorder, while living in Texas and working in a very high stress job. She researched and self diagnosed as metal poisoning, thinking old dental fillings were the cause.
MD’s solution – anti depressants, sleeping pills and pain pills, until a rhemuatologist began more definitive testing and prescriptions of natural and compound pharmacy medicines which have produced improvement.
Could this be morgellans without fibers and lesions? She moved home, to Northern California as she is unable to work. Living with me and her Dad.
My symptoms – since reading about oil pulling while researching to help her, I started this practice. My face broke out bad, around my mouth first, spreading across cheeks to ears then moving up into my scalp. There are black seed-like things that come out eventually, but I thought it was black heads, maybe from detoxing caused by oil pulling. A few Black hairs, stiff which I thought were caused by hormone changes are appearing on my jaw line along with the skin eruptions. They continue to reappear after pulling them out with tweesers.
I read that baking soda works – so I tried it on my face as a cleanser and it seems to help. I use it as a tooth paste and I drink apple cider vinegar in large glass of water daily.
I do not have brain fog but experience neuropathy like pain in feet once in awhile. I feel crawling things in my nose and sometimes there are white things which I used to think were nasal run-off. Now I see they look the same every time, kind of like a tape worm and when I used baking soda as face cleanser, there was some nasal discharge that I pulled on (Sorry this is gross) and it seemed to stretch and a white head kind of thing was on the end. There were small and larger ones.
Again, I used to assume this was normal nasal discharge due to oil pulling but could it possibly be bugs being disturbed by the oil pulling and baking soda routine? They look the same every time.
Now itching on scalp and inside nose.
i have had the same lesions for 5.5 years. my search for answers has met with the same non help as yours. many doctors,appx. 25. all say staph,follicilotis,or delusionary. i have given up on conventional m.d.’s but am considering a trip to see ginger savely if i can’t find a doctor in texas.i would welcome a response.
Would like to know how many of you, if any, have ever been infected with lyme disease? Mine skin lesions, started while being treated by IV Rocephin for lyme disease. I no longer am infected with lyme disease but have been fighting this skin disorder/disease/infection for more than 6 yrs, which have left horrible deep scars on my face, arms, legs, scalp etc. My arms look so bad that I fear that people when first looking at them think that I am a drug user. I have some soars that just will not heal…seeds, threads, come out of the soars, and from the pores of my skin. Soars will not heal unless the seeds, threads are removed…if left alone, they spread outwardly with thick raised skin…some reoccur in the same places..others develop from mosquito bites or scratches or scrapes…others just appear out of no where. Some old scars blister up for no reason..Have been labeled as a nervous condition, staph, MRSA, and unknown…The only treatment/meds that have worked has been IV vancomycin, and now w/o insurance, HCHD (Harris Co Hospital District) dermatologists & infectious disease docs can’t see how I would benefit from taking such potent antibiotics, even though I have explained that I suffer from Chronic Fatigue & Immune Dysfunction Disorder, & most antibiotics take longer to work for me or just don’t work at all. So tired of all of the b.s. & wish someone out there would take an interest in this disease in Texas! I believe that it may have something to do with the water, being that we bathe in treated sewer water…who knows really what all bacteria is present, and I also think about the pesticides that our food is treated with could have something to do with it as well. God Bless everyone who battles these unknown, uncurable, skin lesions/disease.
NOTE: I do not have any crawling feeling or any insect buzzing. Lesions develop and once open, they sting & itch, and are vey painful. You can see the white seeds and threads, black/ red.
i have read that diamataceous earth ingested and topical treatment may reduce symptoms
be sure it is food grade and not industrial