When I began having that same sort of pain you've described (it was in my feet and legs), it turned out to be a peripheral neuropathy. There are a great many causes, and a great many kinds of neuropathies. (This happens to be an inherited sort.) Once my doctor and I narrowed it down, he arrived at a solution of a couple of drugs, and it took a while for us to figure out the dosage wasn't high enough. The pain was so bad, I was in a fetal position for 18 months before we finally nailed it. (My pain was both from short and long nerve fibers--each cause their own type of pain sensations, and since there was cramping, and then sharp-shooters going up through my toenails and up into my shins as if a long awl had been jammed up there, and then there was that creepy-crawley feeling, as if there were burning sand constantly running beneath my skin...argh!). So the Neurontin addressed the cramps and sharp-shooters, while the Ultram addressed the prickles beneath the skin. Eventually I had to retire early, though, because my job required that I have enough mind to think and write sharply (on deadline!). I joined a couple of neuropathy support groups online, and through those other folks I learned what a wide array of symptoms, causes, treatments (or not) for neuropathies. The Neuropathy Association's website in the U.S. is very helpful. And the Neuropathy Trust's website in the U.K. is also incredible. There were a couple of pain and neurology sites that were of great assistance to me, as well. I'm just so fortunate that the Internet was rolling along when this happened.