Horner's Syndrome

You are SUCH a little scamp, you are, you are! But I like you... (where's the little kissy-kissy emoticon?) :D

PS: oh, bliss: AC and Krizon together, side by side, sleeping with the, er... dung beetles?
 
Sorry to drag this back to the boring bit....does anyone know anyone who has tried this preventative migraine medication? I'm still after information on what the stuff is like to be on - particularly as I have been on it 24 hours so far & I feel absolutely dead on my feet. I feel very, very drowsy & have done all day. I'm very much hoping that this lifts very quickly or I'm going to have to re-think whether or not I want to stay on it.

Arrrggghhh - it's enough to drive a person mad! It's great to be headache-/migraine-free but to be reduced to a zombie-like state is not something I can cope with either. If these tablets don't 1) work or 2) the stupor doesn't lift I don't know what I'm going to do. I've tried everything - kept a diary, noted triggers, and still they keep happening! One day last week I was laid low for 3 days - I just couldn't shift it. At one point, I was merely taking more & more painkillers, not caring whether I overdosed or not, just so long as I got rid of the pain. I knocked back a cocktail of zolmitriptan/double dosage ibuprofen/syndol/co-codamol/solpadol in the space of 3 days in a desperate attempt to get rid of it.

I really would appreciate any feedback from anyone who has been on/known anyone who has taken this daily treatment - it seems to be my last port of call!
 
Doesn't seem like anyone on here has your continuous problem, Dom, but most drugs give you a list of possible side-effects the length of your arm. Drowsiness seems to top them ALL (and as Mum's on about five, I can attest to that!), followed by nausea, itchy skin, restlessness, HEADACHES!, thinning of the skin, feeling cold, feeling hot, and on and on... I wouldn't be at all surprised if you feel drowsy, because what really strong drugs have to do is to pacify or numb the area/s of the problem, and if yours includes a narcotic, you end up with a generalized sedation. I expect it warns you about drinking and driving, too, because of the anticipated drowsiness?

I used to get migraines on the left side only of my head (as against headaches) and Solpadeine sorted them out, but I still felt oddly numb and very tired. With your situation, which is both acute and chronic, I'm sure the drug is much more powerful, and the side-effects can also be so.

You do need to talk to your doctor about it, because not all patients experience the same side-effects, and many don't experience any, with any prescription drug. Even if someone on here uses/used the same drug, they may have an entirely different reaction to using it.
 
I suggest that you look in here:
Neurology & Neurosurgery Forum
It's part of Med-Help International, a non-profit making American organisation (yes, they do have them) and in the Neurology Forum questions are being answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic , consistently ranked one of the best hospitals in America.
 
There are some ladies on another forum I use that suffer dreadful migraines and I've put a post on there asking if any of them takes that medication. They're usually a mine of information so hopefully one of them can tell me what it's like.
 
Brilliant, cheers Brian & Griffin - much appreciated. :)

I know what you mean Kri about most drugs having side-effects, drowsiness being one of them, but this is mega-drowsiness! It's the type of drowsiness I associate with taking strong painkillers such as solpadol (a prescription only strength co-codamol) or the migraine treatments I take (zolmitriptan). You're certainly right that most medication has the drowsiness warning on it, accompanied with driving/use of machinery/drinking alcohol warnings but I've come to the conclusion that maybe they have to include these warnings now whether they do cause drowsiness or not! For a daily medication (rather than an occasional treatment) I was really quite surprised at the effect. I have also been told to take the tablet at night and it does pretty much knock me out when I take it! Hopefully the effects of drowsiness will wear off after a few days as I'm nit so sure that I could carry on working & living as normal in this amost haze I'm in! :lol:
 
Shads, I've looked up 'migraine' in 'Let's Get Well' by the late American nutritionist Adelle Davis, who was a leading researcher into vitamin deficiencies some years ago, and whose books have stood the test of time. Now, this may not apply to you, but for others who suffer these crippling events, I'm putting up what she's written, in case it is of help:

HEADACHES Certainly a person with a headache is in no mood for sex. :blink: Yet persistent headaches have been quickly produced in volunteers deficient in either VITAMIN B6 or Pantothenic Acid; usually relief came soon after the missing vitamin was given, but in one case they persisted for 6 weeks after the experiment terminated. IRON DEFICIENCY with or without anemia causes headaches, which clear up when IRON is adequate. The headaches preceding or accompanying menstruation are usually relieved by CALCIUM and VITAMIN D. Both Vitamins B1 and B12 have also helped headaches, including migraines.

LOW BLOOD SUGAR is another frequent cause. For example, 35 migraine sufferers, each studied by electroencephalograms for 5 hours during severe headaches, all had low blood sugar; and the lower the blood sugar dropped, the more severe the headaches became. Their headaches were present on awakening, when the blood sugar is particularly low, and invariably occurred after little had been eaten the night before. A HIGH PROTEN DIET devoid of sweets, and A SNACK before retiring brought permanent relief. Such a finding indicates that taking POTASSIUM CHLORIDE tablets may be far more helpful than aspirin.

Headaches associated with both low blood sugar and low blood pressure are particularly common after PROLONGED STRESS. In this case, the adrenals are so exhausted that salt (sodium) is lost from the body. Taking 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and soda in a little water to replace the urinary loss can often bring quick relief, but frequent meals and an anti-stress program (which she details in the book) should be followed carefully to prevent further difficulty. Headaches of a PSYCHOSOMATIC ORIGIN appear to be of this variety.

The unrelenting stress of suppressed, unconscious anger is a frequent cause of headaches. Totally without realizing it, the sufferer turns upon himself in a primitive, unconscious desire to bash in someone's head, thus hurting his own head instead. If anger can be expressed harmlessly, such headaches frequently disappear. A friend who had suffered from migraines for years was told by her physician to take up tennis as a means of blowing off steam; she not only got rid of her headaches, but also became a champion.

---------------------------

Dom, don't forget that alcohol utterly robs the body of whatever vitamins are taken in with normal meals. If you're working busy, long hours, then 'relaxing' with a fair slurp in the evenings, you may be deficient in the B vitamins, so I'd recommend getting yourself a really good multivitamin/mineral combined supplement, to be taken with meals if possible, ensuring you get around six small mini-meals (which later in the book she says were far better in the management of many ailments than the usual two a day most folks take), and adding a further separate B vitamin tablet which gives you 100% of your daily B1, B6 and B12 needs. While none of this may completely stop the migraines, it should help to reduce the frequency and to lower the severity. Worth trying a small, natural, lifestyle change?
 
Cheers Jon, I appreciate you going to such effort! A vitamin supplement probably wouldn't be a bad idea anyway, to be honest! I do eat a lot of salads & stuff although I'm not really sure how many vitamins you would get out of that.

I'm already a member of the Migraine Trust, who offer a lot of help & advice publications and stuff. Today I also joined the Migraine Action Association on seeing a reference to them in a book I have - their website has a messageboard & someone on there must surely have some idea of the duration of side-effects of the medication I'm on. For anyone who's interested, the Migraine Trust's website is MIgraine Trust and the Migraine Action Assocation's website is MAA. You do have to pay to be able to access most of the MAA's areas though.

Brian - I tried the website that you put up abd couldn't find anything relating to the drug I'm on or much relevant to Horner's. I tried to ask a question but they had "had too many questions for today" and had no room left for more! :lol: It looked a good site though & I will look in again tomorrow, cheers.
 
Dom, with your busy lifestyle, which includes physical activity in hot weather, don't forget to keep yourself well hydrated - with WATER, I mean! :lol: A good mineral water which is low in salt will be ideal - some mineral waters are very high in sodium, which isn't good for some people, and can contribute to a tendency to migraine. If you've joined an association which should know all about it, then you SHOULD be able to get lots of info, but it seems like a bit of a headache to find things out! :brows:

Do take the multivitamin combined with minerals - look for one which gives you at least 100% of your RDAs (Recommended Daily Allowance). Salads, etc., are very nice but to be honest, to be sure you have an optimum mineral and vitamin intake, you've got to know what quality of soil they're grown on, whether they've been pesticided, waxed, God knows what, to know if they're really full of goodness or just force-grown and full of chemicals! So do get yourself a really good multi, to be sure, to be sure...

By the way, does the Migraine Assoc. consider air-conditioning with the use of ionisers useful, or not? You can buy small, bedside-sized ones cheaply at Boots, though you may need a transformer (?), and they clear the air of lots of nasties and put back helpful ions. Just a thought.
 
I really don't know about the iionisers Jon - the Migraine Trust's literature doesn't mention them and the MAA site won't let me log in to the member's part of the site either! :(

As for the water - I do drink a lot; at least 3-4 litres of water a day. I've done nearly 2l already today!
 
DOM I have a nephew who is a Consultant Neuroligist based at Morriston and Carmarthen hospitals + his private work...

He actually lives on the outskirts of Swansea towards the Gower, his wife is also an MD/GP with a practice in Gowerton... I only see him once a year but if I do see him in the next few weeks I'll certainly ask him about your diagonosed problem and see what he reccomends for it??? but as I said its rare to see him as he travels all over the world as well, speaking at seminars etc but one never knows he may turn up on my door step which he as been known to do before if in the locality................ :rolleyes:
 
Cheers Merlin, that's very kind. :)

My cousin's married to a neurologist but I don't really keep in touch & I don't want to bother them - I'm sure there's nothing to worry about.
 
Except that the quality of your life is pretty much held hostage by these events, Dom! Well done on the water - that's excellent. It's surprising how many people are dehydrated without realizing it, getting lots of headaches, feeling dizzy or weak, and thinking that they're 'run down' when all they need is to flush their systems! (After which, they tend to flush their cisterns quite a bit, too!) :D
 
Originally posted by krizon@Oct 6 2005, 08:35 PM
Except that the quality of your life is pretty much held hostage by these events, Dom! Well done on the water - that's excellent. It's surprising how many people are dehydrated without realizing it, getting lots of headaches, feeling dizzy or weak, and thinking that they're 'run down' when all they need is to flush their systems! (After which, they tend to flush their cisterns quite a bit, too!) :D
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JON I have one word and one word alone to utter to you...... CRAP!!!!......... :o :P :lol:




plums are very good for that.... I bought two kilo's of them today at LIDLE FRUIT&VEG @ HALF PRICE.... :o :lol:
 
How is your LDL cholesterol Jon ? I wouldn't write statins off on what you read on the net - my uncle is on them after an angioplasty and feels miles better .
 
Not all statins should be tarred with the same brush - one was withdrawn a few years back but others are fine.

There is though a US firm that sells vitamin C supplements that tries to tell prospective customers that all statins are harmful.
 
krizon-are you still taking the tea?

I am now well into my second year without Herpes Simplex.
 
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