Slo-Mag or Slow-Mag Treatment
I am a man, 82 years old as of 12/2/2003. I first noticed symptoms of HFS about 2 years ago and was misdiagnosed with blepharospasms by my General Practitioner. However, I am a computer addict, so with that word from my doctor, I was able to go online and conclude that what I had was really HFS. Armed with printed evidence, I went to an Opthoneurologist who said although he had never seen an HFS patient before, yep that must be what you've got. He prescribed muscle relaxants, don't remember or have record of which ones, but they did not help. My symptoms are mild and do not drastically interfere with my doing what I want to do. Although I knew that Botox® might help and MVD might cure I decided that, as an old man, neither was appropriate for me. About one year ago I read in an HFSA post that someone had experienced some reduction in symptoms from taking a magnesium dietary supplement called Slow-Mag (some call it Slo-Mag, but my bottle and each tablet say Slow-Mag). This product, available in many US pharmacies, is manufactured in France, packaged in Canada, and distributed by Roberts Laboratories, Inc., Eatontown, NJ 07724, USA. The primary active ingredient is Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate. Each tablet, horse pill size, contains 64 mg. of Magnesium. The bottle says it may help your heart, muscles, and nervous system. Dosage recommended on the bottle is 2 tablets/day. Cost for 60 tablets is about $15 to $20 depending on where you buy it. I started taking 2 tablets/day about one year ago. I think it helps relieve symptoms; it does not eliminate them. About 4 month ago, I reduced the dosage to 1 tablet/day, those pills are expensive. I'm not sure I can tell the difference between 2 tablets/day and 1 tablet/day. I plan to continue 1 tablet/day for the foreseeable future; also will seek lower cost equivalent product such as Mag 64, mentioned in recent HFSA posts.