Head problems due to sun...what is causing it? Long post

[Guest guest]

Hi Angie,

Thanks for your response and welcome to the group. :-) I actually

feel like a newcomer myself. I have received the list since last

October, but I had a very bad winter and there were months when I

couldn't touch the computer. I am sorry to hear that you also have

this mito condition but glad for you that at least you were able to

get it diagnosed.

About the eye twitches, I suspect that any over use of the eyes could

trigger one of these episodes if you are prone to them, not just

computer use. This recent episode was not due to overuse, but from

being outdoors and sweating. I suspect that I may have sweated out

an essential mineral and caused a deficiency of that mineral and

therefore the symptom. Of course, it is probably not that simple.

BTW, I just want to clarify, I was not out all day. I wish that were

the case! [g] I was out a little longer than usual on a hotter than

normal day. I want to clarify so everyone can understand how little

it takes to cause a problem sometimes.

I actually had been able to go outdoors maybe every other day on

average, during April and May with no problem. I would go out for

about 30 minutes at a time and come in and rest and maybe do that 2

more times through out the day. I had even sat in the sun and read a

few times with no problem. Since I have never had airborne allergies

and had no problems all of April and May, to have had one day of

symptoms due to allergies seems an unreasonable conclusion. So I

think I can safely rule that out.

My success at being able to be outdoors and making progress with my

level of activity that I could tolerate made me a little less

cautious than I should have been, and one day I stayed out longer

than 30 minutes and did a little deadheading and it was really hot

and I had forgotten to get out early in the day and I noticed I was

very sweaty, which is not usual for me. I was wearing a hat. I went

in the house at that time, but the damage was done. In thinking

back, I felt a moment of light headedness in the yard, but it was

very mild and again, this is unusual for me. I didn't notice it again.

I stayed quiet the rest of the day, but had trouble sleeping that

night. This is always a signal to me that I have overdone it. I had

just gotten to the point of being able to count on at least 5 nights

a week of 6 hours of sleep a night. The next day my eye was

twitching and the headaches started and temperature regulation

problems. One minute hot, take off a sweater, ten minutes later,

cold, put it back on...etc. The eye twitch was more like rapid eye

movement and was uncontrolable and sporadic but pretty constant. Was

made worse, by trying to use my eye at all, was only on the right

side and was accompanied by facial sensitivity, all around my eyes

and forehead and pain going into my teeth. This was worse than the

first time I had an eye twitch which was mild and not accompanied by

the other symptoms, but in the previous time I had peripheral nerve

ending pain in my hands and feet.

The last time I had it, I looked up in a holistic medicine book what

to do for it, and magnesium for twitches was recommended. I had been

using green drinks for magnesium but it wasn't enough, so I started

eating every food I knew had magnesium in it. Nuts and seeds

mostly. Within 4 hours the twitch stopped and three weeks later,

after daily nuts and seeds, so was the peripheral feet and hand pain

which had dogged me for 6 months. This time I am not able to really

eat the nuts and seeds, but I am trying the green drinks and a very

small amount of peanut butter. It took much longer to get rid of the

twitch, but some of the rest of it are still problems and the

headaches are a killer.

BTW, I don't usually take aspirin or tylenol unless I am dying,

because it can upset my stomach if I take it for too long. I

wondered if anyone here takes it routinely for pain or headaches and

if it is actually helpful for resolving the symptoms or just for pain

relief. Also, I am not recommending the nuts and seed/green drinks

for anyone here on the list, as I know some of you are on very

specfic diets, and would have to check with their docs whether it was

alright for you to try what I did.

I know I may have missed responding to a post or two, sorry about

that. Someone mentioned medications as the culprit. I am not on any

medication but Synthroid. I am taking Carnitine and QGel and

digestive aides but that is it. I have looked up dehydration, heat

exhaustion and heat stroke. Since the heat seemed to have such a

strong reaction for me, I thought it might help remind others on the

list of what the signs are so I include them below.

I am confused about it. For in looking over the list, I was not

thristy. I rarely feel thirsty actually. I did not have dry lips.

I didn't look at my eyes. I didn't test my skin. I did not notice

my pulse being particularly fast or weak. I didn't have cold hands

or feet. I was breathing heavy, but I had been outside moving around

and maybe watering plants. my lips weren't blue and I wasn't

confused. As far as heat exhaustion, I did have heavy sweating,

didn't notice if I was pale, no muscle cramps, yes tired, but

expected, not weak, a few moments of lightheadedness, but not dizzy,

headache, don't remember when it started, no nausea and no fainting.

As for heat stroke...I didn't take my temp [i will next time], I

didn't notice my pulse, and now I am not sure if my head was

throbbing when I came in that day or not. I had no dizziness, nausea

confusion or unconciousness.

At any rate, if I had this classic definition of heat exhaustion or

stroke, I still would think it would have cleared up by now. That is

why it seems more reasonable to assume that the heat may have been

the original problem that got the ball rolling, but I am probably

dealing with some sort of imbalance that was caused by that and is

not clearing up quickly. I would assume that once a mito body gets

out of balance, it is pretty hard to get it back in balance.

Especially since you don't know what exactly is out of balance.

I was debating whether to bother checking with the doctor or asking

for blood work to see if there is anything showing up low, but my

other option is to just hunker down and get more serious about doing

all that I already know to do to get on the other side of this. From

many years ..since 1980 actually...I have had so many experiences of

doctors visits being of no use in these situations that I am more

inclined to just do what I can for myself.

Of course, that was before I knew about mito, so I am trying to

figure out if mito docs can actually do anything to help you with

symptoms besides a diagnosis and carnitine/qgel. I asked my mito doc

last week, whether it would be of any value to call him when I get

into problems, and he said well, if you lose movement on one side of

your body that indicates a stroke, call me. LOL Well, yeah, I would

hope you would want me to call you if that happened. So what I

conclude from that is that they haven't been able to figure out what

is wrong or how to help in most cases. I was hoping I might be able

to figure out how to slow down the progression and fix some of the

more obvious problems with supplementing.

At any rate, I am going to be spending a lot more time indoors this

summer. As a matter of fact, I remember just about living in the air

conditioning last summer and not having an episode like this. I have

had the air conditioning going non stop all week. Despite cooler

nights here, it is still humid.

Well, so much for not typing too much today. :-) Sorry if I have

given you too much to read. I do actually write short posts

sometimes. [g] Angie, I live in New England another beautiful part

of the country. Tennessee is also gorgeous. I have been through the

Blue Ridge Mountains and it is beautiful there. Glad you have joined

us and look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for writing. I

will be going offline for a few days.

:-)Adam

Signs of Dehydration

Mild

Thirst

Dry lips

Slightly dry mouth membranes

Moderate

Very dry mouth membranes

Sunken eyes

Sunken fontanelle (soft spot) on infant's head.

Skin doesn't bounce back quickly when lightly pinched and

released.

Severe

All signs of moderate dehydration

Rapid, weak pulse (more than 100 at rest).

Cold hands and feet

Rapid breathing

Blue lips

Confusion, lethargy, difficult to arouse

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning signs of heat exhaustion include the following:

Heavy sweating

Paleness

Muscle cramps

Tiredness

Weakness

Dizziness

Headache

Nausea or vomiting

Fainting

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Warning signs of heat stroke vary but may include the following:

An extremely high body temperature (above 103°F, orally)

Red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating)

Rapid, strong pulse

Throbbing headache

Dizziness

Nausea

Confusion

Unconsciousness

> Adam,

> My name is Angie. I have just recently found this site. I am sorry

to hear about your struggles. I know it is hard to deal with

everything already and then to have a relentless headache, well

that's enought to drive you crazy. I found some of the symptoms you

describe to be similar to things that I experience. First, I was

interested to hear you talk about " eye twitches " . When I was still

working (2 years ago), I was a loan processor. I did a lot of

computer work and paperwork. To give you a little background, I am 40

years old and I was diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy (complex I

with a fatty acid disorder) about 2 months ago.

" ....I developed an eye twitch that would not go away. Doctors kept

telling me it was nothing. This is the first time I have associated

it with the mito disease. Thanks for sharing that yours came with

computer work and such. That gives me one more warning sign that I

had.

> Secondly, I also have a problem with waking up throughout the

night. My face and teeth are sore and I do get headaches. My doctors

seem to think that I " clench " my teeth while I am sleeping. They

think it is because of the pain that my back causes or that the mito

causes. I wonder if it is the pain or if it is just another strange

symptom of this disease. The dentist made me a " bite gaurd " . When I

wear it, it does seem to help.

>

> Lastly, I have alot of allergies. The first thing I thought of when

you said your headaches started after spending all day outside was

not the heat but sinus trouble from some allergen that you could have

been around. You may not even know that you have allergies, but it

may be something to consider and look into.

>

> I can't remember if you said how old you are and where you are

from. I Live in Tennessee and we don't have a support group here.

That's why I'm glad I found this site. I hope this gave you something

to consider. I look forward to hearing from you.

>

> God bless you,

> Angie

>

[Guest guest]

Angie and Adam

Eye twitches are part of the neuropathy package. Any muscle in the body can

twitch from unwanted stimulation of the nerves. I never get them from too

much eye use, but it seems for no reason at all like all my other itches,

stabbing pain, water running down the leg and biting bugs that I feel but

aren't happening.

laurie

>

> Reply-To:

> Date: Tue, 06 Jul 2004 15:25:20 -0000

> To:

> Subject: Head problems due to sun...what is causing it? Long post

>

> Hi Angie,

>

> Thanks for your response and welcome to the group. :-) I actually

> feel like a newcomer myself. I have received the list since last

> October, but I had a very bad winter and there were months when I

> couldn't touch the computer. I am sorry to hear that you also have

> this mito condition but glad for you that at least you were able to

> get it diagnosed.

>

> About the eye twitches, I suspect that any over use of the eyes could

> trigger one of these episodes if you are prone to them, not just

> computer use. This recent episode was not due to overuse, but from

> being outdoors and sweating. I suspect that I may have sweated out

> an essential mineral and caused a deficiency of that mineral and

> therefore the symptom. Of course, it is probably not that simple.

>

> BTW, I just want to clarify, I was not out all day. I wish that were

> the case! [g] I was out a little longer than usual on a hotter than

> normal day. I want to clarify so everyone can understand how little

> it takes to cause a problem sometimes.

>

> I actually had been able to go outdoors maybe every other day on

> average, during April and May with no problem. I would go out for

> about 30 minutes at a time and come in and rest and maybe do that 2

> more times through out the day. I had even sat in the sun and read a

> few times with no problem. Since I have never had airborne allergies

> and had no problems all of April and May, to have had one day of

> symptoms due to allergies seems an unreasonable conclusion. So I

> think I can safely rule that out.

>

> My success at being able to be outdoors and making progress with my

> level of activity that I could tolerate made me a little less

> cautious than I should have been, and one day I stayed out longer

> than 30 minutes and did a little deadheading and it was really hot

> and I had forgotten to get out early in the day and I noticed I was

> very sweaty, which is not usual for me. I was wearing a hat. I went

> in the house at that time, but the damage was done. In thinking

> back, I felt a moment of light headedness in the yard, but it was

> very mild and again, this is unusual for me. I didn't notice it again.

>

> I stayed quiet the rest of the day, but had trouble sleeping that

> night. This is always a signal to me that I have overdone it. I had

> just gotten to the point of being able to count on at least 5 nights

> a week of 6 hours of sleep a night. The next day my eye was

> twitching and the headaches started and temperature regulation

> problems. One minute hot, take off a sweater, ten minutes later,

> cold, put it back on...etc. The eye twitch was more like rapid eye

> movement and was uncontrolable and sporadic but pretty constant. Was

> made worse, by trying to use my eye at all, was only on the right

> side and was accompanied by facial sensitivity, all around my eyes

> and forehead and pain going into my teeth. This was worse than the

> first time I had an eye twitch which was mild and not accompanied by

> the other symptoms, but in the previous time I had peripheral nerve

> ending pain in my hands and feet.

>

> The last time I had it, I looked up in a holistic medicine book what

> to do for it, and magnesium for twitches was recommended. I had been

> using green drinks for magnesium but it wasn't enough, so I started

> eating every food I knew had magnesium in it. Nuts and seeds

> mostly. Within 4 hours the twitch stopped and three weeks later,

> after daily nuts and seeds, so was the peripheral feet and hand pain

> which had dogged me for 6 months. This time I am not able to really

> eat the nuts and seeds, but I am trying the green drinks and a very

> small amount of peanut butter. It took much longer to get rid of the

> twitch, but some of the rest of it are still problems and the

> headaches are a killer.

>

> BTW, I don't usually take aspirin or tylenol unless I am dying,

> because it can upset my stomach if I take it for too long. I

> wondered if anyone here takes it routinely for pain or headaches and

> if it is actually helpful for resolving the symptoms or just for pain

> relief. Also, I am not recommending the nuts and seed/green drinks

> for anyone here on the list, as I know some of you are on very

> specfic diets, and would have to check with their docs whether it was

> alright for you to try what I did.

>

> I know I may have missed responding to a post or two, sorry about

> that. Someone mentioned medications as the culprit. I am not on any

> medication but Synthroid. I am taking Carnitine and QGel and

> digestive aides but that is it. I have looked up dehydration, heat

> exhaustion and heat stroke. Since the heat seemed to have such a

> strong reaction for me, I thought it might help remind others on the

> list of what the signs are so I include them below.

>

> I am confused about it. For in looking over the list, I was not

> thristy. I rarely feel thirsty actually. I did not have dry lips.

> I didn't look at my eyes. I didn't test my skin. I did not notice

> my pulse being particularly fast or weak. I didn't have cold hands

> or feet. I was breathing heavy, but I had been outside moving around

> and maybe watering plants. my lips weren't blue and I wasn't

> confused. As far as heat exhaustion, I did have heavy sweating,

> didn't notice if I was pale, no muscle cramps, yes tired, but

> expected, not weak, a few moments of lightheadedness, but not dizzy,

> headache, don't remember when it started, no nausea and no fainting.

> As for heat stroke...I didn't take my temp [i will next time], I

> didn't notice my pulse, and now I am not sure if my head was

> throbbing when I came in that day or not. I had no dizziness, nausea

> confusion or unconciousness.

>

> At any rate, if I had this classic definition of heat exhaustion or

> stroke, I still would think it would have cleared up by now. That is

> why it seems more reasonable to assume that the heat may have been

> the original problem that got the ball rolling, but I am probably

> dealing with some sort of imbalance that was caused by that and is

> not clearing up quickly. I would assume that once a mito body gets

> out of balance, it is pretty hard to get it back in balance.

> Especially since you don't know what exactly is out of balance.

>

> I was debating whether to bother checking with the doctor or asking

> for blood work to see if there is anything showing up low, but my

> other option is to just hunker down and get more serious about doing

> all that I already know to do to get on the other side of this. From

> many years ..since 1980 actually...I have had so many experiences of

> doctors visits being of no use in these situations that I am more

> inclined to just do what I can for myself.

>

> Of course, that was before I knew about mito, so I am trying to

> figure out if mito docs can actually do anything to help you with

> symptoms besides a diagnosis and carnitine/qgel. I asked my mito doc

> last week, whether it would be of any value to call him when I get

> into problems, and he said well, if you lose movement on one side of

> your body that indicates a stroke, call me. LOL Well, yeah, I would

> hope you would want me to call you if that happened. So what I

> conclude from that is that they haven't been able to figure out what

> is wrong or how to help in most cases. I was hoping I might be able

> to figure out how to slow down the progression and fix some of the

> more obvious problems with supplementing.

>

> At any rate, I am going to be spending a lot more time indoors this

> summer. As a matter of fact, I remember just about living in the air

> conditioning last summer and not having an episode like this. I have

> had the air conditioning going non stop all week. Despite cooler

> nights here, it is still humid.

>

> Well, so much for not typing too much today. :-) Sorry if I have

> given you too much to read. I do actually write short posts

> sometimes. [g] Angie, I live in New England another beautiful part

> of the country. Tennessee is also gorgeous. I have been through the

> Blue Ridge Mountains and it is beautiful there. Glad you have joined

> us and look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for writing. I

> will be going offline for a few days.

>

> :-)Adam

>

>

> Signs of Dehydration

> Mild

> Thirst

> Dry lips

> Slightly dry mouth membranes

> Moderate

> Very dry mouth membranes

> Sunken eyes

> Sunken fontanelle (soft spot) on infant's head.

> Skin doesn't bounce back quickly when lightly pinched and

> released.

> Severe

> All signs of moderate dehydration

> Rapid, weak pulse (more than 100 at rest).

> Cold hands and feet

> Rapid breathing

> Blue lips

> Confusion, lethargy, difficult to arouse

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

> Warning signs of heat exhaustion include the following:

> Heavy sweating

> Paleness

> Muscle cramps

> Tiredness

> Weakness

> Dizziness

> Headache

> Nausea or vomiting

> Fainting

>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

> Warning signs of heat stroke vary but may include the following:

> An extremely high body temperature (above 103°F, orally)

> Red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating)

> Rapid, strong pulse

> Throbbing headache

> Dizziness

> Nausea

> Confusion

> Unconsciousness

>

>

>

>

>

>

>> Adam,

>> My name is Angie. I have just recently found this site. I am sorry

> to hear about your struggles. I know it is hard to deal with

> everything already and then to have a relentless headache, well

> that's enought to drive you crazy. I found some of the symptoms you

> describe to be similar to things that I experience. First, I was

> interested to hear you talk about " eye twitches " . When I was still

> working (2 years ago), I was a loan processor. I did a lot of

> computer work and paperwork. To give you a little background, I am 40

> years old and I was diagnosed with mitochondrial myopathy (complex I

> with a fatty acid disorder) about 2 months ago.

>

> " ....I developed an eye twitch that would not go away. Doctors kept

> telling me it was nothing. This is the first time I have associated

> it with the mito disease. Thanks for sharing that yours came with

> computer work and such. That gives me one more warning sign that I

> had.

>

>> Secondly, I also have a problem with waking up throughout the

> night. My face and teeth are sore and I do get headaches. My doctors

> seem to think that I " clench " my teeth while I am sleeping. They

> think it is because of the pain that my back causes or that the mito

> causes. I wonder if it is the pain or if it is just another strange

> symptom of this disease. The dentist made me a " bite gaurd " . When I

> wear it, it does seem to help.

>>

>> Lastly, I have alot of allergies. The first thing I thought of when

> you said your headaches started after spending all day outside was

> not the heat but sinus trouble from some allergen that you could have

> been around. You may not even know that you have allergies, but it

> may be something to consider and look into.

>>

>> I can't remember if you said how old you are and where you are

> from. I Live in Tennessee and we don't have a support group here.

> That's why I'm glad I found this site. I hope this gave you something

> to consider. I look forward to hearing from you.

>>

>> God bless you,

>> Angie

>>

>

>

>

> Medical advice, information, opinions, data and statements contained herein

> are not necessarily those of the list moderators. The author of this e mail is

> entirely responsible for its content. List members are reminded of their

> responsibility to evaluate the content of the postings and consult with their

> physicians regarding changes in their own treatment.

>

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> automatically moderated or removed depending on the severity of the attack.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Aspirin and tylenol aren't recommended for pain since they cause more

mito damage. Ibuprofen is what my mito doc recommends if needed on

occasion.

>BTW, I don't usually take aspirin or tylenol unless I am dying,

>because it can upset my stomach if I take it for too long. I

>wondered if anyone here takes it routinely for pain or headaches and

>if it is actually helpful for resolving the symptoms or just for pain

>relief. Also, I am not recommending the nuts and seed/green drinks

>for anyone here on the list, as I know some of you are on very

>specfic diets, and would have to check with their docs whether it was

>alright for you to try what I did.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

-Hi Adam, i don't want to interfere with your diet or anything, but

usually nuts and seeds are bad for gastroparesis. I love them myself

and feel they are healthy so I guess it's a toos up what to do...

Celia-- In , wrote:

>