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My hemifacial spams are gone without surgery!

Posted , 33 users are following.

daniel76862
daniel76862

I'm a 51 year old guy.  (Irish/Italian/French/English) descent.

I've had hemi facial spasms since age 40.

At first it was a slight twitch on my eye.  Then, the whole eye was closing with my left side of my mouth and cheek muscles moving.

(If you are here on these forums... you know the deal...)

Since I was 40, I've been getting botox shots to control the spasms.

The twitching was almost non-existant.  I could tell it was still happening because I could hear in my left ear a sort of sheesh, sheesh, sheesh noise.  (sounded like a quick static-like ocean sound)

Then... maybe November or so I noticed the noise wasn't happening.

I'd learned to block it out, so I had to pay attention.

It's now February and my last botox was in October I think. 

I was supposed to get another shot in January but I told the doc to postpone it.

My smile is back.  My eyebrow doesn't twitch.  My eye , face and mouth arent twitching.   What gives?  I thought only surgury could cure this.

So you are probably wondering... what did I do recently that may have helped it?  Now, I'm not saying this did it, but in the last two years I've done some things differently.

For the past year and a half Ive' been:

1) I started excercising.  My cholesterol was going up, so I started the treadmill every other day for 1/2 hour.

2) I hear Krill oil lowers cholesterol so I've been taking 1000mg every morning.  Never miss a dose.  It thins blood.

3) My blood pressure was going up a little so I started taking L-Citrulline which open blood vessels.  (about 2.4grams in the morning and again at night)  L-Citrulline gets converted into nitrous oxide in the body. Body builders use it to expand blood vessels before working out or running a marathon.  So maybe that was the thing.... not sure.....

I read nitrous oxide levels decease as we get older.  Maybe that's why hemi-facial spams affects more people over 40?  When women enter menopause, the nitrous oxide level drop.

So, again, I'm not a doctor.... I can only tell you what I've done differently.  Maybe there's no correlation? Dunno.

I'm soooooo glad to see me in the mirror again.

If posting this actually helps someone, that would be great.

IMPORTANT!  I did research those suppliments before I took them and they will interact with some heart medications or erectile drugs...

MAKE SURE YOU LOOK INTO ANY DRUG INTERACTIONS BEFORE TRYING ANYTHING PLEASE.

Good luck!

Dan.

6 likes, 69 replies

69 Replies

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  • robert78247
    robert78247 daniel76862

    Posted

    Hi Daniel,my name is Bob.I have had 2 MVD's in a span of 3 1/2 months(July , 2002 and Nov. 2002.The neuro specialists that worked with me tried everything in their power to have me avoid the MVD operation because they were of the opinion that the MVD was not "Mickey Mouse" surgery, Guess What ! They were right.I can fully attest to that.Early on, in my quest to resolve the problem of the twitch, a visiting doctor from  Hahnemann Hospital recommended Botox injections stating that in a very ,very small number of cases where Botox is used, the involuntary facial muscle movements for whatever reason, do not return,Luckily for you ,the protocols that you have employed appear to have worked ,If I were you ,I would continue to  repeat whatever worked from the day before and keep my fingers crossed! Wishing you continued success with what is currently working.
    • daniel76862
      daniel76862 robert78247

      Posted

      Thank you.

      I thought about MVD. My kids are still under 18 so I didn't want to do any risky surgery.

      I'm really not sure why it went away. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing.

  • Roseann
    Roseann daniel76862

    Posted

    These are some interesting ideas Daniel and I hope they keep on working for you.  I am not saying this to dampen your hopes, but I had 8 months spasm-free during my HFS journey but unfortunately the spasms came back again.  Like you, I am not a doctor, and don't really understand the science of my own remission or the relief you are getting rom your regime, but, I sincerely hope you have found an answer that could also help others.  It might be worth posting again on the thread which was entitled Alternative Remedies for Hemifacial Spasm in order that others can give it a go and know about it?  All very best wishes to you and your family; may you continue smiling for many years!
  • robert78247
    robert78247 daniel76862

    Posted

    Hi Daniel, it,s Bob again.I know that free advice is oft, times  worth the price you pay for it,but here goes anyway.If the spasms were to reappear and you decided to move to the next level and actually have the MVD surgery performed,check the credentials of every surgeon that has been recommended to you and go with the best. Contact those people who have undergone the procedure and ask them one simple question- "Would you undergo the same surgery with the same surgeon again?" The bottom line question to ask is-" Do I want it done or do I want it done right? I'm sure that with your children's welfare in mind you will choose to have it done right.I had the same concerns that you did with respect to family- my wife,my children and my parents,It,s a tough call to have to make.My wife works for a doctor and his concern was the second round of anesthesia for the second MVD.He indicated that anesthesia can have some bad side effects ,maybe not immediately, but somewhere down the line.That's why you want to get it right the first time.Let,s hope you won't have to face this situation.
  • joanne19156
    joanne19156 daniel76862

    Posted

    Hiya I havn't been offers anything for my twitching that basically caused me to stay in hospital last year basically I had stroke symptoms but nothing showed on the test has I have hemifacial droop I'm getting more and more frustrated with my docs not taking it seriously thinking it's fake getting no support at all
  • yuriko
    yuriko daniel76862

    Posted

    Hi! Good to hear that your spasms are gone with possible your diet approch. thanks for sharing! So,  you mentioned that your last botx was October, you were spasm free on Februry. As of today, June, you are still spsm free? Thanks!
    • daniel76862
      daniel76862 yuriko

      Posted

      Yes, no spasms.

      Sometimes I'll feel very very slight tightness, but it goes away. Could be the botox wearing off.

      One other thing I thought of. I started sleeping more on my side than on my back. That could also put less pressure on the nerve.

  • Mell16225
    Mell16225 daniel76862

    Posted

    I just saw this & wanted to say that my hemifacial spasm started last year, and started pretty rough, 1st eye, mouth and then cheek. I explored surgery right away but my insurance and pick of surgeons is horrible. Well, a few months ago followed by my own regimen and some tips I got from the fb group, I stopped getting any and all spasms (including twitching) back in early March or April.. It is now July 13th and still nothing. I was confirmed HFS by 2 different neuroligists last September, and I was already on Klonopin. They said it was probably "helping". I never had botox..it was getting bad, but not thay bad where I needed it yet. I was then given Baclofen (muscle relaxers) after a few face scares and that eased my twitches up a LOT.... then I started taking magnesium every single night and still do. Everything stopped. I was worried it would come back for my wedding (June 10th) but they didn't return, 1 month later, I'm still ok.. It may be the meds? It may be the magnesium helping a LOT.. I got that tip from some people in the fb group. But right now...I am just very fortunate that they have stopped for now & I didn't get the surgery. I'm going to follow this thread for awhile & see how this goes..   smile 

    • jeri.r
      jeri.r Mell16225

      Posted

      Hi Mel! How many mg. of magnesium do you take each night? Any reason why you take it at night? I may try it. I'm 55 and I was diagnosed with HFS about 2 years ago. Under the care of a neurologist, I was on several types of meds that had no effect, tried chiropractic care, tried Botox around my left eye lid only to cause droopy eye and looking horrible with no relief. The spams are constant so I hide behind my "Sandra Bullock" sunglasses.

    • verdun84
      verdun84 Mell16225

      Posted

      Hi mell16225 are you still free or the symptoms of your face.

    • sonja25029
      sonja25029 Mell16225

      Posted

      HI Mell16225 , Can you please share what type of magnesium do you take and how much. THANKS

  • verdun84
    verdun84 daniel76862

    Posted

    Hi I have read your post and is very interesting but I just wondering if you still free of spasms I would like to know thanks.
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