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Sorry to hear your bangers are back.. I am assuming you are taking all the co-factors? As far as when it kicks in varies and depends on where your D3 levels were to start with. If you can get some lab work ups to see where your at that would be good in aiding your initial loading. There is a ton of info on here about the D3 reg but the info from X (Batch) should be regarded as best practice. There is a write up in PDF form on here that is really helpful but unfortunately I dont have access to it as im limited to responding with my phone for a bit but I'm sure you can find it with a quick D3 query.

Hi all, Once again been a while since I posted -- which is a good thing! Another cycle started up for me this week, and this one is different than normal. I've been getting up to 3 headaches a night, like clockwork. All 3 nights I've fallen asleep around 9 pm, woken up at 12 with a headache. The first one will last about 20 - 40 minutes. Then I will be woken up again around 2:30 - 3:00 am with another headache, this one typically lasting longer, about an hour. Then, when my alarm is about to go off around 6:30 am, I get another one. All of them pretty bad, except the first one for some reason. I just started the D3 regimen yesterday, so today is day 2, and I've started with 20,000 mcg of D3. How long does it typically take to start working? These 3 headache nights are unbearable and making me feel crazy. Thanks as always for your help!

I have taken a few cruises in the past pre covid and was always able to have my oxygen tanks delivered to the rom by a third party company the cruise line works with. This time I am leaving out of Cape Canaveral and the 3rd party company does not offer oxygen tanks. The cruise line said I can bring my own. That is nice of them and all but you can not fly oxygen tanks.. Road trip! Not a show stopper this time but what if I wanted to cruise out of a location that I can not drive to? Anyone else have this issue? Is it just a location thing and other areas still offer Tanks from different ports? Just curious. They also only allow D size tanks and you need to carry them on yourself, I gotta think of all of my comebacks to the comments im gonna be getting. I can be a firefighter, balloon animal maker, scuba diver, you drink bottled water I breath canned air.

That’s a solid use case!

@NeitherHere I hear you on trying to figure out our full history. I was asking about the concussions because in a neuro event like a TBI or concussion, the brain rewires itself. There are memory cells involved that directly relate to the CH cycles we go through. This is what led me to discover the trigger that caused my first cycle. Not sure if this is helpful but figured I'd share it.

Jon019, now that you mention it my sinuses are swollen pretty often. I never really put the two together beyond my sinuses locking up before attacks. Ive always looked at it like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares kinda mind set lol

My first concussion was around 2009-2010 . My first CH attack was somewhere around 2018-2019. Ive learned not to bother trying to do history. My background is so full of neurologically damaging injuries and exposures that it would be more surprising if I didn't have multiple neuro issues. I will say this though. They got more and more intense as I had more.

@NeitherHerewere your concussions before your first ch cycle?

I found more hope. This one might be hit and miss for others LAIRD brand coffee, particularly their "performance" line. It has lions mane, chaga, and other fungi. Caffeine is onenof those tricky things for ch heads. I respond to it pretty well. If it doesnt work them the worst thing I get is increased restlessness and let's be honest I wasn't gonna sit still anyways. To my surprise after a few sips the clusters backed off and I fell asleep with the thermos on the recliner. I finished the thermos after I woke up and was pain free all night. This morning the shadows started slowly rolling in as the barometric pressure started to climb up to 30. This particular brand seems to be more effective than the other coffee products we've tried this year. It might be worth noting that I get clusters and migraines usually ontop of eachother or back and forth between the two so this could explain why I feel relief while other ch patients are freaking out about how thats a cardinal sin. Ita also worth nothing ive had repetitive concussions, heat illnesses, and dehydration events so my eggs have been scrambled beyond just ch. Hopefully this helps. This is the second time I've noticed immediate and persistent relief from Laird brand coffee out of colorado. The one I use is "performance" and its red on blue labeling. About $15lb/bag. They also have organic powdered creamer that is pretty much powdered coconut. I think the mct oil in that can help some too. This is all just speculation of course. Correlation is not causation but thisbis what im experiencing this week. We were going to add in "p" but it was unnecessary each time with this brand for some reason. I also drink it black no sweetener

Congrats on finding help. I started taking magnesium and saw some improvement in shadows. Nice to see a list of other potential things to try.

Great to hear a success story. I've learned Verapamil is a pretty common course to try and gentler than Amlodipine. I was on Amlodipine for almost a year and while it did take a noticeable edge off other side effects were unbearable. Thanks for sharing a good outcome. Michael

thank you for posting this.

This last season was harsh and violent. Things changed pretty dramatically worse than they already were. I didnt think they could get worse but this is atleast the third season I've said that. This time I changed things juuuust a bit. Instead of drinking water I started exclusively drinking body armor hydration drinks strawberry in particular. I also started getting melatonin in my system. I slept when ever I could. I exercised as much as I could. I noticed I kept gasping for air before and during the attacks so I stsrted practicing deep breathing through out the day. Within 3 days it started to fade and within 5 days it was GONE. Im getting very very light shadows this week from the persistent overcast but its a whole nothing burger. The body armor drinks are full of : magnesium B12 Potassium Vitamins A C E NIACIN B6 and zinc I think flooding mysystem with those was what made the change. I have a hard time getting myself to drink water during cycle and the coconut water in these drinks seemed to not only get me hydrated but KEPT me hydrated. Something in this has probably already been mentioned multiple times already but I wanted to share incase it hasn't. I also recognized that my attacks really start up around noon and again with much more intensity between 5pm-3am. This gave me more time to prepare knowing those times in the day were going to be "no go times"

I want to thank you folks for not alienating me for this post. I can't express just how important that is for the uninitiated / less involved to actually talk about CH and our experiences. I also want to note that just because I have CH and am a recovering addict doesn't mean I allow myself or others to treat me as anything "less than" I was recently accepted onto the community CERT team(community emergency response), have the approval of the associated Search and Rescue team. I'm also working on another opportunity working with the state in a volunteer capacity involved in natural disaster /defense roles There is hope for a man/woman who will do anything necessary to achieve their goals. Just because I have CH doesn't mean I cant be a valuable asset to my community in some regard. On the contrary, I believe it means I can be extraordinary in these roles. The substance abuse was from a lack of purpose and meaning in life. I think i finally got my way into the purpose that those drugs slowly robbed me of. Ch is the stone that sharpens me. Theres this belief that language is power. How we use words is what gives things power. It changes how we see things. I've learned to stop giving ch power over me and to weaponize it to make myself stronger. If I can survive something that I know feels worse than getting shot (personal experience) then I can work through damn near anything. The first step is convincing myself I can. Never surrender.

I really hope this helps a lot of you that suffer from the suicide headaches I sure am glad it’s been working so far so good another year and I will know for sure that I am trust free of this torment which caused me to lose my first wife

My 34-Year Battle: How Amlodipine and Lifestyle Finally Ended My Clusters Background: I’ve suffered from cluster headaches since I was 22 years old. I am now 56. The Pattern: My cycles were episodic, hitting almost exactly every five years. The Breakthrough: In 2020–2021, as a new cycle was starting, my doctor prescribed 10mg of Amlodipine (a calcium channel blocker) for both high blood pressure and headache prevention. The Result: Remarkably, it worked almost immediately. It shut down the attack and has kept me 100% pain-free for over four years. Dual Success: I also managed to lose weight (maintaining 160–165 lbs), which brought my blood pressure to a perfect 110/70. The Strategy: Even with perfect blood pressure, I chose to stay on the 10mg dose through 2026 to ensure I bypassed my "five-year" attack window safely. My Message: If you struggle with clusters and also have blood pressure issues, talk to your doctor about Amlodipine. It isn’t the most common choice (like Verapamil), but for me, it was the "off switch" I needed after decades of suffering.

Hi Mike, I had a similar experience. While I was on the oxygen it would work, but when I came off it would ramp and return. My father used oxygen and it worked like a charm for him, 20ish minutes deep calm breathing and he could abort. I was never able to get it right. I discovered hard cardio (20+ minutes of running with my heart rate near 140) aborts almost all of my attacks. Just a theory, but I wonder if someone has a high VO2 Max if the oxygen isn't as effective? Not enough of a variation between normal breathing and high concentration of O2? I don't have a big sample just me and what I remember my father telling me. Keep trying, listen to any advice you can get, and I hope it works for you.

I guess now is the time I chime in to the CH boards as my clusters start rearing their ugly head (it's funny how I ignore this place for months or years at a time, and then come crawling back). But yeah, I'll echo this that energy shots are basically the only thing that's ever worked for me. And even then it's not a panacea, as they maybe work at best 33-50% of the time. I've actually found that the Aldi brand for some reason works the best for me. I initially tried the larger energy drinks but it's difficult to get it into your system fast enough, but the energy shots are small and pack a punch.

Not sure if anyone is checking this thread, but wanted to say Thank You! to everyone who participated and organized the webinar last week. I was diagnosed with clusters in 2009 and had them for about 15 year before that. Failed multiple treatments, some with adverse effects. I didn't pursue any more treatments or engage with communities when I discovered hard cardio worked as an abortive for me. I just closed off and focused on that for years, but about 6 months ago I decided to see if anything changed. I live outside Philly and I'm fortunate to be in the Jefferson system. I've had my first course of Emgality, anxiously waiting for my second. Dr. Mccrea, your description of the pain cycle, or the thought process resonated strongly with my experience. Joe, your story is both heart breaking and inspiring, thanks for sharing it. And, Bob, thanks for creating this space for us. Thank you again,

Not related to smell but there was an anecdotal post on a FB group a couple of days back from someone saying that if in the morning they have a particular song playing in their head over and over again, they are guaranteed to have an attack that evening. What happens beneath our conscious awareness where the central nervous system and layers of the mind communicate is absolutely wild. I would attest to the persons comments around often having a particular song stuck in my head first thing in the morning, much to my wifes displeasure as I crank it out on repeat for several coffee cycles, however I do not have a correlation with attacks the same day. Thank-you for sharing this and I am interested to hear more reports, if they are out there. Congratulations, from another with a history of substance abuse, for closing that chapter and may your future be radiant.

@NeitherHere I explicitly remember smelling an electrical fire smell or similar to it the whole 8 weeks of my last cycle. It was odd but unmistakable. I haven't really looked too far into it other than it's related to the sinuses swelling which can affect our smell. Congrats on 2 years clean too. I will see what I dig up on the elevated sensory levels.

...i can't speak to the connection of these phantom odors to hits or cycle except to say that for years i experienced similar. mine were burnt toast, manure, electrical fire, and a few others. my cycles were very close apart and it never seemed connected to cycle position or hit prodrome. as i recall these were random and "interesting". is also a symptom of other scary neurological maladies like MS...which i have been tested for multiple times (negative). that its a "tell" is actually a good thing for you... ...rapid change in barometric pressure...like hi to lo pressure weather wave was a guaranteed trigger for me and many others. re "noon", guessing your particular circadian rhythm... ...that there is WAY typical of CH...it would surprise if only occurring during these... .....boy howdy, YES! and mega congrats on off loading the monkey...from contacts and research it seems clusterheads are more prone to addictive behavior than "regular" citizens... best jon

This last season i've been caught off guard by a number of changes. One of these changes is the unprovoked sense of smelling/tasting cocaine or methamphetamine in my sinuses and upper airways. Now I won't be coy, i'm a recovering poly substance user and cocaine and methamphetamine were DOC'S of mine to some degree but its been almost 2 years since the last time i've even seen EITHER let alone even think about them. I don't get any other associated symptoms, i dont get high when these sensation hits me but usually that same day I get hit with a cluster AND migraine together. Rarely one or the other and consistently both together bouncing back and forth if not concurrent. The cocaine sensory anomaly seems to happen before the absolute most brutal attacks. This also seems to happen on overcast and rainy days as well around noon Does anyone else have sensory experiences like this before an attack? This has never happened before. Even when I was using it never had this sensation. Its as if I just sent a large volume of it up my nose. My sinuses also seem to swell causing congestion during these abnormal experiences too. I'm not sure what to think here but i'm choosing to accept it as a benefit in the sense that I have some sort of benchmark to recognize "an attack is coming "

I heard a similar story from a CHer in Canada last week whom once a year picks up everyone’s fav coffee, tea or whatever (he has it written down) along with some deluxe pastries and donuts and puts on a morning tea for his oxygen hero’s at the store. They appreciate it and I know he appreciates their very efficient assistance. Love it.

....one bit to consider, if even logistically possible for you, is to p/u and return tanks yourself. the O2 shop i used thought it amusing but appreciated. one phone call and i would have all my tanks in a rack waiting for me on arrival...quick switch out and on my way. this would also allow me to pop my head in the back room and chat/thank the techs. they usually don't see their clients, and i have always believed a face to the name is a game changer...once was handed an m60 regulator, no charge, with "use as long as you need" ...i still have it........