When I was first diagnosed with hemifacial spasms, the neurologist I was consulting with had never before seen a case of HFS. He looked at videotapes of my face twitching and prescribed Neurontin (the brand name for Gabapentin), which did very little to control the spasms. I gave up on this medication after a month of twitching while feeling unpleasantly drugged. I sought out a second opinion from another neurologist and this time was given Botox® injections on the left side of my face. This caused my eye to drip tears constantly, my face to sag and my mouth to droop so that I looked like I had suffered a stroke. Although my left eye stayed open (all the time!) and my cheek was flaccid, I could still feel the spasms. I concluded that this was also not a satisfactory solution, so I stopped having Botox® injections. My next approach was to seek alternative forms of treatment. I had run a mental health agency for 30 years and was very familiar with the various forms of mind-body connections that could be made and the techniques, which were most effective. So, I explored the use of meditation, self-hypnosis, biofeedback and NLP (neurolinguistic programming) to control spasms. Most people have tried some form of meditation. I find that the simplest type of slow deep breathing accompanied by just thinking the word "relax" can work pretty well. When I was hooked up to a biofeedback machine with tones that indicated a deeply relaxed condition, I was also able to stop spasms. However, this wasn't much different from the level of relaxation I could reach without technology. (I am very experienced with these techniques, however.) The procedure that worked best with NLP was touching my left cheek lightly while in a relaxed mode and then using this as a trigger to restore this condition when I was in spasm --- again, with some success. All of these techniques have been helpful. If I drop down to a state of deep relaxation, thereby lowering my heartbeat and blood pressure, the spasms will stop completely. I am then capable of being without spasms for several hours at a time. During such times, I can engage in very low key activities such as taking a walk or reading a book. I can even hold a quiet conversation with my wife or dig in the garden. However, as soon as I am subjected to any kind of stress, my spasms start up again. The difficulty is that I am most likely to have spasms during exactly the same occasions when I most want to be spasm free. I will be interviewing someone at work and this person will become quite animated. As I get caught up in the emotion of the moment, I sense the spasms returning. The embarrassment of knowing that my face is twitching and my eye winking causes me to feel even more stress and at this point, my spasms return with a vengeance. My left eye clamps shut and my cheek pulls against the side of my mouth as though someone had grabbed it with a pair of pliers and yanked it with all his might. My face locks up in this position for about five seconds at a time. (see picture of me in the HFS website photo gallery). The person I am with will ask, "Are you all right?" I have to explain that I am not experiencing a medical emergency. I realize that if I could remain in a state of peaceful tranquility 100 percent of the time, I might be spasm free without any other treatment. However, as a practical matter, this just isn't possible. I can't even type this message in a spasm free state. But I dread the thought of risking potential deafness from brain surgery since this would also be a tremendous detriment to my work. People often whisper during those times when they are revealing the most important information. I need to be able to hear well in order to make accurate assessments. So, although I will seek a consultation with Dr. Jannetta sometime next month, I keep hoping for an alternative cure to HFS.