Thursday, April 19, 2012

Botox and Heart Palps

The two months or so I have been experiencing heart palpitations several times a day, lasting up to 3-4 hours! Pretty scary! I saw my cardiologist about it, and he assured  me that as long as I wasn't experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain or other related symptoms that the palpitations were nothing to worry about. This eased my mind a bit, but I haven't been able to stop thinking about the cause of the palpitations. What had I been doing/eating/taking that I hadn't been three months ago?  I thought maybe it was the Butterbur but I quit taking it and the palpitations did not go away. I wondered if it had something to do with going off the Topamax. Then..

Today when I visited a migraine forum, I clicked on a link to a Botox support group page and discovered that tachycardia (rapid heart rate, palpitations) was a side effect of Botox injections that many people have experienced! Reading that floored me--my increased palpitations started shortly after my first round of Botox and I just received a second round on the 4th of April and the palpitations have been really bad all month!
Now, though, I feel a bit relieved that I think I found the reason for the tachycardia, I am royally pissed off! Why didn't my neurologist warn me that this was a possible (and fairly usual) side effect of the Botox?! If I had known this, I would never have gotten it done! So, now, what?!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Co Q10 for Migraine

I have added CoQ10 to my daily regimen. I had heard about it being used for migraine prevention, so I asked around on the migraine forums and received some positive and some neutral feedback about it. It is also good for the heart, so, I figure, if it doesn't help for the migraines, at least it has other benefits. And it's better than choking down Fish Oil pills. I have yet to find one "with no fishy aftertaste" as they all claim.

Check this article out about Co Q 10 and migraine prevention: http://www.helpforheadaches.com/articles/CoQ10-Migraine.htm.

Another One Bites the Dust!

I think I had written weeks ago about considering finding a new neurologist...I have to say that I am now not just considering it, I am definitely moving on from the one I have now! At last week's visit, he insisted I go back on  the Topamax, even though, I told him it didn't work and that the side effects were horrendous..um..HELL-O!  Furthermore, he is condescending and overall unsupportive! I would NOT recommend him to anyone!

Why is it so freaking hard to find a good neurologist?!