Glad it has been helpful. I am really tired at the moment, due to a new medication I am trying, otherwise I might have come up with one or two other ideas. I was wondering whether the effect of stimulation of the nerves in the skin might sending signals that perturb the brain. You get weird responses to tactile stimulation sometimes in fibromyalgia and ME/CFS, such as allodynia, where you feel pain to a gentle touch that would not normally cause pain. But too tired to think it through at present. If I have any further ideas at a later date, I'll post.
That's okay! You've given me a great start already for this problem.
I always felt like this strange symptom occurred primarily in my head, but my nervous system as well. I did some quick research from the information you gave me and found this from
NCBI. I wonder if these microglia are involved in some way:
Naltrexone, however, exerts its effects on humans via at least two distinct receptor mechanisms. In addition to the antagonist effect on mu-opioid and other opioid receptors, naltrexone simultaneously has an antagonist effect on non-opioid receptors (Toll-like receptor 4 or TLR4) that are found on macrophages such as microglia. It is via the non-opioid antagonist path that LDN is thought to exert its anti-inflammatory effects. Microglia are central nervous system immune cells that are activated by a wide range of triggers. Once activated, microglia produce inflammatory and excitatory factors that can cause sickness behaviors such as pain sensitivity, fatigue, cognitive disruption, sleep disorders, mood disorders, and general malaise. When chronically activated, the resulting proinflammatory cascade may become neurotoxic, causing several deleterious effects.
