Question: My diahrrea and vomit was light brownish, like watered down beef broth, with what looked like white-ish lumps in it, the black specks are coming from, or are around the anus, and there is a greenish/gray substance in what I cough up from time to time. I really believe that the hair follicles, or pores are the source of this - an infection in them somehow. I've had tons of sking coming off me, when I was dirty, it was like fuzz, and seemed to have built up in my hair pores. I hope you can help. Again, sorry for the format I've formed this question to you in. Here's what it said:
Wow, XXXXXXX I can't believe this. I have this too!! And, I am horrified. I could cry.
I have almost exactly what you've described. And my story is so much like yours. I also have taken the pain meds you've taken for a long period of time, for chronic pain, with severe breakthrough pain.. (I now take Suboxon, it's really saved my life. But that's another story.) But, I have this all over my body. Everywhere. I also have had this GREY MATTER coming from my hair follicles. I guess that's where it's coming from. If I pull my skin tight now, my "hair pores" go into rows of creases, and the "matter" comes out from the force of the pulling - I guess. That's what makes me think this is fungus. (Everyone seems to think that's just what I WANT IT TO BE!! Incredible.) I now believe this "matter" to be lots of sloughed-off skin. I also have lots of little crystalized things that come out spontaneously from my skin when I rub it. And sometimes it's BLACK SPECKS. They come from UNDER the skin - and they ITCH!
I have also been smoking since I was about 14. I lost my home and everything in it. My husband passed away. I've had this for years I think, only it was very mild. Only a few lesions I thought were some kind of weird acne, and there were no black specks. Originally I thought this was from using too much antibiotic ointment. Now I don't know. And, I also now, have black scabs. Black as tar. And I have the transparent scabs sometimes too. XXXXXXX colored. The tiny scabs, or crystals, look like dried fluid with a little blood in them, instead of black. The black ones are more sparse. There's so much to this thing, I know I'll leave something out. Also, now, almost all my scabs turn black, and there's almost always a black speck right in it or next to the sore.
I'll tell you how this came up in me, maybe it'll give others clues - I hope. Like I said, I've had this for yrs, just very mild - seemed like acne & flea bites actually. The skin on my arms and face seemed to get a greenish/yellowish tinge to it. I have Hep C & cirrosis, so I thought those were getting worse. (I also have diabetes that was out of control from drinking for a couple years.) But I also got lots of brown markings, looked like dirt under the skin. I thought it was age spots - I'm 55. But parts of my arms had a blackish tinge too, so I wondered. But, what I think is the thing that triggered this whole mess - who knows - is that because I was so ill with Major Depressive Disorder, Fibromialgya, diabetes meds making me sick, and doctors running me around, going into withdrawals, I was not active AT ALL. I was also very overweight from taking a medication - about 80 lbs. overweight. But, I have lost about 70 lbs. of it., thank God.
SO, I was sick with bad things, stressed, inactive, medicated and depressed. Like I started to say above, was that I would go very long periods of time without bathing. I'm embarrassed and ashamed, but it's important, I think. I was also using sores on both arms, so bad I've had to hide it from view. I started taking quick baths every morning, trying to keep the sores clean, and trying to get the dirt out of my skin. And, of coarse, slathering on the antibiotic ointment. THEN, all of a sudden I started to ITCH, I got these terrible itchy, red bumps, like flea bites, and there came more and more until my whole body had them on it. With a little black speck in the middle of every one, or sometimes there's crystalized scabs, it seems like. My face was the worst. But here are some more clues:
There is always lots of skin flaking from the lesions. I believe they come from hair follicles, or pores. My hair has been falling out too, for a couple of years, and that's gotten a lot worse. I've lost probably 3/4 of my hair so far and it''s still coming out.. Before I started washing again, I had gobs of that grey matter coming out of what I believe is the hair pores. After bathing again, I don't get that, but I do get the crystals - clear, XXXXXXX or the imfamous black speck. Some of my scabs became black as tar. I could swear that some of these crystals sparkle with different colors, but I'm not sure.. I've read about Morgellans Disease, and it seems to fit, except for the various colored fibers they have. I have most all the other symptoms, I think - can't remember them all. Headache, fatigue, spacy-ness, sore joints and muscles, low back ache, and more.
BUT NOW, I'VE DEVELOPED A NEW SYMPTOM. I think it happens when I've over-picked and either bacteria, or lotion, or something else gets into my blood stream, and I get violently ill. Horrible throwing up, really severe stomach cramps, and forceful, water-like diarrhea. I feel so horrible, I'm afraid I'm going to die. It lasts for about an hour, at night, I fall asleep, and then I'm just exhausted. THIS ONE IS REALLY SCARY.
I hope this hasn't been too scattered-ly written, and makes sense. I'm always a bit out of it now - tired. Oh, that's another thing - NEVER ENOUGH SLEEP. Staying awake all night sometimes, then getting up before a full 8 hrs. I'm still doing that. AND, NOW, I THINK I SEE IT ON MY DAUGHTER'S FACE TOO. AND, she & my husband have diarrhea and stomack cramps, and are fatigued and generally don't feel good either. Either does our puppy.
The 2 doctors I've seen tell me I've had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic ointment. I just pray they're right - but I fear, once again, they're off-track. They gave me PREDNISONE, which I've been afraid to take since getting violently sick, but I suppose I will give it a try. Oh, and they treated me like I was hysterical, with disrespect, like I was lying, one of them almost threw me out. Told me to go somewhere else. The first one didn't even look at it, and told me I was obsessed with it before I even had a chance to tell him anything. But, they both poo-pooed the fungus idea, and the yeast idea. How utterly ridiculous and stupid of me. I even apologized to the 2nd guy, and it seemed to actually make him mad. Come to think of it, they were both mad at me by the time I left.
I don't know what to do, or who to see. It hurts me so badly the way the doctors treat me, I just dread going to another one.
OH, also, one last thing; I really believe it's in my mouth, my throat, and my lungs, and my nose. They REALLY thought I was a lunatic when I told them that. I can run my fingers over my skin and get lots of flakes of skin come off. And my skin seemed to be really mushy, like I could gouge out a hunk of it with no problem at all. And it's on my scalp now.
That one person was right - NEVER tell them you've EVER had ANY addiction problems, or depression. They throw up a steel wall, and treat you like a piece of crap. I just can't believe people actually treat other people this way - FOR ANY REASON.
Thank you so much, XXXXXXX and the others for posting what you have. At least I know I'm not alone - and that makes a huge difference to me. My husband even thinks I'm a nut job. I just hope my daughter & puppy don't have this thing!! But, maybe a Vet can figure it out!
God bless you all. (I just LOVE the answer you got from the doctor here. It's a WHITE with oozing PUSS thing. Talk about not hitting the XXXXXXX Geeze.....)
I'll let you all know if I get any answers. XXXXXXX THANK YOU DOCTOR, I HOPE YOU CAN HELP ME!! AT LEAST I KNOW YOU'VE GOTTEN THE WHOLE STORY, UNLIKE THE OTHER 2.

Dear RKK,

The problem is of XXXXXXX, not XXXXXXX I apologize for the confusion.

You have the "known cases" correct, and pretty correct on my "main complaints". But I can see I need to clarify.

I will try to explain again. Since I wrote what I already did, I believe I understand this better and I can explain much better today. I'll try to be as brief as I can.

PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE THING. I apologize for the length, but I desperately need your help.

First, I've had this for at least 2 yrs., only it appeared like itchy bumps, like acne pimples, and nothing but clear fluid came out of them. They stayed for a long time, but eventually healed.

As it is now:
I wasn't bathing but maybe once a month for a couple of yrs., embarrassingly. When I began to bathe daily, a month ago, I started to get lots of itchy bumps, that became sores. But now they're all over my body. My skin had tons of flakes of skin, that I can painlessly pull out with my fingers, or tweezers. There's also a fuzz-like substance that comes out of my skin too. There is always a splinter-like thing at the root of the sores, which is very often a tiny black speck. There's a white fuzz on my face and arms, that's where it's all the worst. There's a greenish/yellowish tint to the skin. As well as some blackish, blotchy areas on my face and arms.

When I pulled on the skin on the upper part of my stomach, there were massive amounts of fuzz-like stuff that came out of what looks to me like the hair "pores", or follicles, or whatever you call them. This was before I started washing daily. It still comes out of my neck and face.

Right now, I am convinced that what's on and in my body, and is causing the itchy bumps, the flaking skin, and the fuzz, is some kind of mold. At least it acts, and looks like mold. There are what look like hairs that stick straight out of my neck when I pull on the skin, it looks just like the hairs that grow on mold. I can gently run my finger nail over it and painlessly scrape the hairs, or the fuzz off. It looks like cotton fibers. But it is NOT anything I've put on my face, like using cotton balls, or tissue. I'm very sure of that.

There are the white fuzzy hair-like hairs all over my face and arms, but, now, along with the white fuzz, I now have black "hairs" growing out of my arms, too. These don't look fuzzy, they look like regular hairs almost, but they are double-stranded, and pull out easily and painlessly, and have white bulbs on the root. They came up this morning, and have now, in the space of one day, grown tall, and many (maybe a hundred on one arm), and stick straight out.

Other symptoms:
Not all, but a lot of my scabs turn black as tar. And with the very itchy sores, there's always a core, and in there, there is almost always a tiny black speck thing. It's just like a tiny sliver. I'm guessing it's a hair root, I don't know. There was fuzzy hair, and just a bunch of fuzz, in my arm pits, in my groin area at the top of the inside of my leg. Just the fuzzy "hairs" on my face and arms. The fuzzy "hairs" in my groin, arm pits, arms, and head have a sheath of skin, or fuzz, growing up the shaft of the hair, and the hair is falling out REALLY badly. When the hair falls out, the skin, or fuzz, is still on base of the hair and it looks like the root is attached. Since I've been washing more, the hair on my head has less of the root attached, but it's still there. I've lost probably 3/4 of the hair on my head, and virtually all of the normal hair on my legs and arms.

I also have vomited, have nausea everyday, and at least loose stools, if not diarrhea. I believe it's in my nose, my ears, my throat, my mouth, and in my intestinal tract. I know because when I have a bowel movement, there are always little flecks of skin in the tissue when I wipe, and the black specks are there too. (The flecks of skin look like coffee grounds, or little specks of loose tobacco, if they're not fresh white flakes, or black flecks. And sometimes there are what looks like the sheaths from the shaft of a hair there.) When I blow my nose, there's always flakes of skin in it. And my nose is constantly a little runny. I have a gassy, gurgly, easily upset stomach. (I think I vomited because I had put some creams on the open sores on my arms. There are many sores - but, it was violent - both vomiting and liquid, forceful diarrhea at the same time. I was moaning and couldn't move or talk. Really bad.)

Doctor, I have a real problem because I've seen my regular doctor, and I've seen a dermatologist, and neither of them listened to any of this, and they treated me as if I was an hysterical woman, with a picking problem. They both diagnosed me with an allergic reaction to next. It seems to be progressing quickly.

PLEASE DON'T SAY THIS IS TOO LONG, OR THAT I NEED TO SEE MY DOCTOR. I DON'T KNOW WHO TO GO TO, AND I REALLY NEED SOME HELP.

If you've ever trusted a patient to be able to understand what's going on with their own body, to be able to use sound judgment and intelligence when it comes to figuring out what's going on, please let it be now. I'm really imploring you to trust me. I'm stuck with no doctor to help me, and I just don't know what I'll do if you can't give me some kind of clue. I just can't afford to keep going to different doctors, and I don't know how much time I have until something really bad happens - if it's going to. I really think this thing is some kind of mold in my body. Please tell me what you think, from what I've told you here. Please, please don't tell me to see my regular doctor. I have, and another one, neither of them listened about the fuzz, and they treated me badly. If you can help, it will be such a huge blessing, because I'll just be lost if you don't. I really don't know where to go from here.

Trusting your wisdom,

Thank you,

XXXXXXX

Dear Dr. RKK,

I'm sorry, I want to make sure you know these 2 things also, they might be relevant. One, I'm pretty sure my daughter has this too, but just the beginning stages. Just the sores, and not many.
And, two, both of us had a very short cold just before the itchy sores broke out, and the slightly runny nose that seemed like from the cold, has stayed.
Also, my daughter and husband both have gurgley, gassy, easily upset stomachs, with slight bouts of diarrhea - just like me.
I don't see any reason why my treating physician would not address my concerns either - but he didn't. That's why I asked you. And I very much appreciate your answering.

I really understand that you cannot possibly diagnose this over this platform with all the variables of my health involved. However, IF this is a mold in my body - (If that's even possible, I don't even know that. Is it?), and IF someone needed some kind of immediate help to TRY to ease the "crisis situation" at hand, what COULD someone do to help alleviate MOLD in the body? I'm really scared. I won't hold you to this, and I promise I won't sue!! Isn't there SOMETHING I can do RIGHT NOW that MIGHT help?

Thank you again,
XXXXXXX