Warning- tetracyclines + headache

cheerleader

Jeff has a monster migraine (first one) throbbing temples. I'm hoping it's not from mino causing intracranial hypertension. Will check with neuro tomorrow. His vision is OK, (and he's not an obese woman), but he says he's never had a headache like this one. May be at ER before the night is out-
send good thoughts, please
AC

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/326/7390/613?etoc
_________________
Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter

DIM · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:02 am Post subject:

More than everything else what impress me AC is that you first do your search and then ask for help-opinions, I do the same!
Wife's exacerbations always start with terrible headache but I don't want to upset you as Jeff's migraine is probably due to mino, I have heard again of this symptoms due to ABxs!

Loriyas · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:54 am Post subject:

AC
When I first started the abx protocol I had a few terrific headaches. And I am not one who often gets headaches. They were the worst I have ever experienced. I know it was the introduction of the various antibiotics and I feel it was a sign that they were working-you know the saying "feel worse before you feel better"? Well that definitely applied to me. I found that drinking Emergen C helped tremendously. If the headaches are bad he will probably need to drink more than 1 pack a day. And if it persists he should probably keep it up every day even on days that he doesn't have a headache. See if this helps!
Lori

cheerleader · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 8:15 am Post subject:

Thanks Lori and Dim...
Jeff' s feeling much better this morning, thank God. Will do the emergen-C and call his doc. So far no visual issues. This could just be a coincidence, but he was in agony last night, and I could see his pulse throbbing at his temples.

Glad to have the support and immediate "world-wide" help.
blessings,
AC
_________________
Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter

DIM · Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

Hypertension may cause also headaches so give Jeff plenty of water, more garlic and mint (herbal) with his tea (prefer the rooibos that has no caffein)!
Cheers

duncan1 · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject:

I started a course of doxycycline after having a 15 year long Lyme Disease infection (I found my medical records from May 1990 documenting the onset of the disease after having a tick removed by a Dr and a positive test for Lyme that was misinterpreted - I was diagnosed with Lyme in 2005 as a result). I developed severe long lasting headaches (8 hours/day) but these were not due to a reaction to the Doxy, but from the herxheimer effect, which is a side effect of treating spirochetal diseases with antibiotics. A sudden amplification of symptoms upon starting antibiotic treatment, for diseases that have MS like (or from my perspective, Lyme Disease like) symptoms, may indicate that spirochetal infection is the underlying causation of the disease, with LD as the likely candidate.

Anecdote · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 3:42 pm Post subject:

Thanks Duncan, it isn't always the result of a spirochetal infection though, since I had a sudden, two week long increase in symptoms but my MS was caused by a chlamydia pneumoniae infection. I never had a headache, though, except pressure headaches before thunderstorms.

Sarah
_________________
An Itinerary in Light and Shadow
Completed Stratton/Wheldon antibiotic regime for aggressive secondary progressive MS in June 2007, after four years. Still slowly improving with no exacerbation since starting. EDSS was 7, now 2 or often less.

duncan1 · Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject:

Very interesting! It is exciting that Drs have finally gotten around to treating MS with Abx.
I read the results of 4 MS trials of Mino, involving 40 people, in Germany, the USA and two in Canada. of those 40 people, over 30 had a dramatic improvement in symptoms, and those who did not improve, typically dropped out rather than completing the trials. I also read several reports of long term trials of mino for RA, and they went well also, especially in terms of safety, which concerned me before I opted to try mino long term.

There is a large scale, 2 year Mino-MS trial of 200 people underway now IIRC, in Canada, which is being led by the U of Calgary team.

cheerleader · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject:

Welcome, Duncan-
Thanks for your concern. We had my husband checked for Lyme last year by Igenex labs in California, and his results were negative for Lyme, but he did show antibodies for a non-specified spirochete infection. The antibodies indicated a prior, rather than on-going, bacterial infection. We've never tested for cpn, although I know from all my reading that the tests are never 100% anyway.

He is back on mino, at a lower 100mg. dosage (200 mg. when the headache appeared), no further headaches, he's feeling much better. It may have been a herx reaction, but his neuro wanted to be better safe than sorry with the intracranial pressure issue. Blurry vision with headache is the tell-tale sign to watch for in tetracycline reactions.

Check out all the antibiotic threads, and you'll see that this treatment is gaining traction all over the world. I wish you all the best with your Lyme treatments.
AC
_________________
Husband diagnosed RRMS March 2007
20 lesions brain/spine
Copaxone, Swank, supplements, laughter