Hi, Christina,

If you think back to just after your surgery, do you feel that you
were already having some of the symptoms of forgetfulness or
disorientation, or does it seem that everything started in
February? Is there any way to confirm if it was Keflex that they
had you on?

One of the words that you used to describe your symptoms
was "disorientation." That was the first word I used to try to
describe my symptoms to my doctor. Example: I was in the grocery
store one day as I was recovering, and I couldn't make heads or
tails out of the shopping list as if one part of my brain knew
exactly what I was doing, but the other half wouldn't respond. I
knew the store well, yet I couldn't find anything. I really felt
retarded, seriously.

My doctor wanted to put me on antidepressants right away, which I
refused because I knew it wasn't depression and I didn't want to
have any more potential drug reactions. She also had me go to a
psychologist. The psychologist didn't feel that I needed therapy.
The psychologist did say that pre-menopausal women have reported
feeling disoriented, forgetful, or crazy. So, I wonder if the
hysterectomy has changed your hormone levels, and maybe we're just
both having symptoms of hormone malfunction? But, my symptoms have
gotten better and I'm not menopausal yet. If anything, my hormones
should be even more unstable, so I just can't see that there is a
connection there, either.

I just feel that there is a connection with the antibiotic. If you
get a chance, let me know if you were indeed on Keflex. And, do you
happen to take the glucosamine chondroitin supplement?

Thanks for writing.

Regards,
Larissa

--- In glimmercoloredfilterglasses@yahoogroups.com, christina newfer
<photos_by_chris@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Larissa-
> Thank you for responding. Since I emailed last I talked with my
GYN Doc who did the Hysterectomy and he said the only time I was on
an antibiotic was via IV during surgery.I think it might have been
Keflex, I will have to look back through my notes. I am being told
now that I have "Conversion Disorder" which is brought on by stress.
The next step is to see a Psychiatrist to see if I have the disorder.
> Thank you-
> Christina
>
> larissalle <larissa4@...> wrote:
> Hi, Christina,
>
> Sorry, I've been out of circulation. I had an experience in
> February of this year where I believe I had a reaction to an
> antibiotic, Cephalexin, brand name Keflex. I had been having some
> infrequent, bad headaches of a different type before the
> antibiotic. Since the antibiotic, I have more light sensitivity
> than before, and I now have frequent, low-grade headaches, which
> came on gradually after stopping the antibiotic. I am also
fatigued
> a lot. I also have had quite frequent, dry, burning eyes. I
> figured it was just allergies. I'm also getting into that pre-
> menopausal time when hormones start to do weird things.
>
> In case it helps you think about your chain of events, let me tell
> you some of my chain of events. The night of the afternoon I
> started taking the Cephalexin for an ear infection, I was trying
to
> help my husband with some math problems (we're going back to
school
> late in life). I'm ahead of him in the math classes, and, although
> not an expert, I knew how to solve the problem he was working on
but
> I was unable to get the information out to him verbally or even
> point him in the right direction, kind of like is described for
> Parkinson's -- mentally cognizant but frozen and unable to
> communicate. I was still able to talk, but I couldn't say anything
> but very simple things, and I couldn't seem to hold on to
> information for very long -- a kind of strange forgetfulness. I
> thought I was just really tired. Over the next few days of taking
> the antibiotic, I became increasingly fatigued, had headaches, and
I
> found that, overall, I was losing muscle control. I had to remind
> myself to inhale. I was stumbling, and my fiance says that my
> voice, which is normally too soft, was incredibly loud. I had
> trouble making sense of written material. It didn't really swim on
> the page, but somehow my brain couldn't put it all together. I
> called my doctor and was taken off of the antibiotic. Nothing was
> found with an MRI and other tests. They did a "literature search"
> on Cephalexin and didn't find any cases such as mine, and they
> concluded that my symptoms were due to stress that caused
migraines
> that caused all of my symptoms. However, as my semester continued,
> the stress increased, yet my symptoms decreased. Gradually, over
> seven months, I have regained most of my muscle functions
including
> brain function, with some lingering effects such as the headaches,
> light sensitivity and some slowness in my ability to comprehend
and
> speak. I also developed a ringing in the ear that had had the
> infection, which has been checked out to no avail.
>
> Something definitely happened when I took the antibiotic. During
> the week after I stopped the antibiotic, I found that I was almost
> unable to write an email to a friend in German, and I had been
> speaking, writing, and reading German as a second language since I
> was a kid. I even had to relearn some of my alphabet. For some
> reason, "e" was a hard one for me. I had to slow down my writing
so
> that I could relearn how to form words. At one point while still
in
> recovery mode, I had a physics exam. My teachers were all very
> accomodating in giving me extra time for exams. I sat there
looking
> at a very simple formula for magnification: m=-i/p, where I had
> already figured out the values for i and p. I couldn't get myself
> to plug the numbers in. I even tried taking one finger and
pointing
> to the number on the page, and even then it was a struggle to get
> myself to use my other hand to plug the value into the formula.
> I've had four semesters of calculus. There's no way I don't know
> how to plug a number into a variable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was
> scary.
>
> The only reports I've found where this particular antibiotic
causes
> muscle atrophy is in dogs, especially dogs that are on glucosamine
> chondroitin for joint pain. I was taking glucosamine at the time.
> I'm not saying that your doctor will ever tell you that the
> antibiotics caused the symtpoms you're having, but it's worth
> thinking about and looking into. It does take awhile to recover
> from surgery, though, so maybe your body just needs time to heal,
> but it is awfully coincidental that you have many of my symptoms.
> I'm sorry that they sound worse than mine in terms of the light
> sensitivity and burning eyes.
>
> I was told to stay away from certain food items, like chocolate
and
> red wine, as they exacerbate migraine symptoms. Even if it was a
> reaction to an antibiotic or an interaction with a supplement like
> glucosamine, do you eat chocolate and drink red wine? I have tried
> white wine one night and then red a week later. I do have more
> headaches and light sensitivity with the red wine.
>
> It would be interesting to know what antibiotic you took. Maybe it
> is related to cephalexin. It sure would be good to get some
> answers, I know.
>
> Regards,
> Larissa
>
> --- In glimmercoloredfilterglasses@yahoogroups.com, christina
newfer
> <photos_by_chris@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Larissa-
> > Why do you ask? I had a Hysterectomy on 11/28/05 my symptoms
> started on 2/9/06 I had just my uterus removed, ovaries are
intact.I
> am not sure if I was on an antibiotics or not, I will check with
Doc
> tomorrow.What do you know about the relationship of antibiotics
and
> the symptoms that I have been having? Dry eye, photophobia, and
> chronic mibgraines. I do know that after I had my Hysterectoy I
felt
> so run down and fatigued for quite some time. I still do feel
tired
> all the time, but not as much. Would love to hear what you know.
> > Thank you-
> > Christina
> >
> > larissalle <larissa4@> wrote:
> > Did you happen to take an antibiotic recently, before
> the symptoms
> > appeared?
> >
> > Larissa
> >
> > --- In glimmercoloredfilterglasses@yahoogroups.com, christina
> newfer
> > <photos_by_chris@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi-
> > > I am new to the group. I have been having Light Sensitivity
> > problems for 3 months now, with no relief and no other
diagnosis.
> My
> > Doctor has referred me to an Othamologist and all he could come
up
> > with was "Dry Eyes", Then it was on to a Neurologist who
suspected
> I
> > might have viral meningitis, so I had a Spinal Tap. Before all
> this
> > I had a Cat scan and Stress Test, Blood test etcs. all test
shows
> > that I am as healthy as a horse, but all of the results came
> > back "Negative" Which meant that I had to keep going for tests.
No
> I
> > am at a stand still. My Doctor has my on Amytriptylin and
Tompama,
> > which I am weaning off of because it has only made my symptoms
> > worse. Now all of my symptoms are worse, My eyes burn
constantly,
> I
> > never have any relief at all. If I am in direct sunlight or
> > flourescent light for too long I get very intense migraine
> > headaches, so I wear two pairs of sunglasses out side and one
pair
> > inside. I am still working part-time. I don't know how much
longer
> I
> > will
> > > beable to work. I also feel very disoriented, very forgetful
(as
> > in I will say something and before I get it out of my mouth I
have
> > already forgotten what I have said) My equilibrium is thrown
off,
> I
> > have trouble walking straight sometimes, and my speech is also
> > affected. I have had all of these sysmptoms from the begining
they
> > are just more exagerated then they were. I can't think straight
at
> > all. Please email a message if you are experieincing the same as
> me.
> > If so, have you gotten any results as far as a diagnosis and a
> > treatment? Anything would be greatly appreaciated at this point,
> > because now I have nothing to go on.
> > > Thank you for you time.
> > > Christina
> > >
> > >
> > > ---------------------------------
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