!brass players with dystonia.
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Posted by: Dorinda ® 11/01/2003, 15:39:08 Author Profile Mail author

hi-my name is Peter Gittins,from Hereford,England.I'm a full time brass teacher/conductor with the local education authority,and have been a brass player for 48 years.9 years ago i was diagnosed as having a dystonia.The left side of my embouchure was affected,losing a lot of air from the side,making it impossible to focus the air through the centre of the embouchure.I also lost the ability to whistle,which apparently is a sign of a palsy.Isaw various doctors,neurologists etc,tried various treatments,but nothing seemed to work and i was told i'd probably never play again.However,about 12 months ago i was prescribed an anti-depressant drug named FLUOXETINE for something completely un-related,and lo and behold my playing is now about 90% recovered,and getting better daily!Last week i played my first gig in 9 years.Wonderful! I'm not saying this will work for anyone else,but it certainly has helped me.I've been off the tablets for about 4 months now and the playing has not deteriorated at all.Isuppose the moral to my story is never give up,no matter how tough it gets! Best wishes to anyone who is struggling,and hang on in there!

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Dorinda		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: violinist ® 11/01/2003, 21:24:49 Author Profile Mail author

Peter, That is very encouraging and certainly something worth looking into. Thanks for posting your story. I wish you continued success. J

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Posted by: dorinda ® 11/02/2003, 18:06:28 Author Profile Mail author

Hi Pierre. It was a couple of months before i realized that the playing was getting easier and more responsive.As it had been so long since the chops had felt right,i was almost afraid to believe it, and kept waiting for it to get worse again! I obviously told my doctor what was happening,and she felt that the medication must have had something to do with the recovery as it was too much of a coincidence when there had been no sign of a recovery up until then.Hope this will be of some help to you! Peter

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Dorinda		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: Pierre Hurtubise ® 11/02/2003, 11:40:10 Author Profile Mail author

Hi! I'm so glad to hear about someone who found something to recover! I'd like to know how much time it took, since the moment that you began the treament with FLUOXETINE, to realise that you were recovering from dystonia? Thank's Pierre

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Pierre Hurtubise		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: Pierre Hurtubise ® 11/02/2003, 21:46:34 Author Profile Mail author

Hi Peter! I'm a guitarist from Montreal Canada and I have FD since about 15 years. I tried a lot of treatment in the past and, even if I'll don't put too much hope in this one, I think it really worth the try! So I have an other question in the purpose to guide my doctor. What was the daily dosage ( tablets, mg etc..) ? Thank's a lot for sharing your experience with us! Pierre

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Pierre Hurtubise		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: violinist ® 11/03/2003, 09:51:25 Author Profile Mail author

It is good to hear that something has "reversed" someone's dystonia significantly but I urge all of you to carefully consider this before just taking another pill. This is actually the generic drug for prozac and the side effects can be very serious including (ironically) dystonias. I'm not saying to not try it but research it carefully and consider your doctors advice and the side effects before trying it. That is what I will do. J

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- violinist		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: mary foley ® 11/03/2003, 18:11:39 Author Profile Mail author

When I first started having problems with my embouchure (flute) I went to a psychiatrist thinking that it was performance anxiety. I was put on Prozac (among many, many other antidepressants and anti anxiety drugs) with no improvement. I am NOT saying that Prozac can't help someone else. I did have a "remission" of my dystonia for about 6 months and I thought I was miraculously cured only to have it come back once again. I was also put on a drug called Seroquel which is actually an antipsychotic medication because my neurologist had another patient with Miege's syndrome (or dystonia of the whole face not related to playing an instrument) who had improvent with 600mg of Seroquel. I tried 300mg and my lip started to quiver even when I wasn't playing. Some things work for some and not for others. The best of luck!!!!

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Dorinda		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: terry andrew ® 11/03/2003, 11:52:20 Author Profile Mail author

Fluoxetine is Prozac.

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- terry andrew		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: Pierre Hurtubise ® 11/03/2003, 15:41:28 Author Profile Mail author

As we know Prozac is a popular antidepressant and there is a lot of people who use it for different health treatments. So it is plausible that some people who suffer from FD have used this drug in the past for an un-related problem with no effects on FD. Otherwise we should have heard about them. So that is why I don't put too much hope in this treatment. But, again, the experience of Peter worth to investigate. The fact that one of the side effects is dystonia is not so ironic because it possibly means that it plays in the same brain area. Pierre

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Re: !brass players with dystonia.
Re: !brass players with dystonia. -- Dorinda		Top of Thread	Archive

Posted by: dorinda ® 11/04/2003, 12:20:41 Author Profile Mail author

Hi,again.It's good to see that my experience has brought some response from various people!Yes, i did know that fluoxetine is one of the trade names for prozac,and as i pointed out in my original message,it was prescribed me for something totally unrelated to my embouchure dystonia.whether it had anything to do with me regaining my ability to play i don't know,as like Mary i was tried on various anti-depressant drugs in the early stages of my diagnosis,none of which worked.Iwas also tried on a drug for parkinsons disease,which again didn't work.Itried various alternative therapies such as the Feldenkrais method,hypnotherapy,deep relaxation exercises,changes in diet etc,none of which worked.The left hand corner of my top lip just pulled upwards every time i tried to form an embouchure,and if i tried to pucker the lips i invariably got muscle spasms.I can't say for sure that prozac has been a factor in regaining my playing ability,but again i can't say that it hasn't!Could it be that the relaxing and feel good factor of the tablets have helped the embouchure muscles to relax to the extent that the lips vibrate more easily? Idon't know.I've not taken a tablet since about June,and i've just returned from a full day of teaching and playing,and it just seems to get better and better!Anyway,it's something to think about and possibly look into in more depth.In response to Pierre's question,i was taking 1 tablet daily,and i THINK they were 20mg.Best wishes.Peter.

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