Posted by Jonathan on January 18, 1999 at 10:49:39:
In Reply to: Please please help answer my questions ! posted by Loretta on January 18, 1999 at 10:11:43:
Hi Loretta,
Sorry to hear about your husband,
I'm not sure about the giving up 'preservatives', but I did stop smoking
and drinking, and also eventually gave up caffeine, but that was purely
for my own sanity.. Anything would have helped during my attacks. As I
heard on this message board before "I would have put my head in a fish
bowl if some one had told me it would help".. What I can say is what
worked for me.. Firstly I had to come off of Predisone, It was beginning
to make things worse instead of better. My Doctor put me on Eplim,
(sodium valproate) It's a drug usually used to treat epilepsy and it can be
taken for ever. It has some side effects but they rarely occur. These
are increased appetite and transient hair loss. It can also cause damage
the liver, but this is extremely rare. This drug worked for, I had been
chronic for over a year and suffering from clusters from around the age
of 20. I have now been pain free for a couple of months and am looking
very healthy. I'm not saying that this drug will work for your husband,
but it
may work, so I would suggest he tries to get it. If he's looking that tired
and he's being put on the steroids again, I would keep a close eye on him.
Please if you can try Eplim, please do.. It can be taken for life, a great
many people who have epilepsy do take it for life.
I hope you find a med that will help your husband have his life back!
Chin up.
Jonathan.
PS. I don't suffer from epilepsy, this is a medication that my doctor
prescribed and told me what it is normally used for.