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Hey Bilal! I only have one add to put out there. It sounds like you are on Extended Release Verap - taken twice a day. The older short acting variety has been shown to provide better relief. You can tailor the taking to when you normally get 'hit'. You just want to keep them spaced out. Say 4 hours between. I used to take mine at noon, 5pm, and 9pm. Most of my hits are nocturnal, so I took most of my preventative later in the day. The D3 Regimen is very effective for many and not expensive. Just over the counter vitamins. You would likely see some results in about two weeks. It is really good at reducing the severity of hits and slowing ramp up time. Some patients have gone pain free with just these vitamins.

...and oh...I should have said don't give up if one pharmacy says no....ask around. And as one of our brothers here said(sorry, can't remember who)....if they don't stock it, ask them to order...they make good bucks on this type of drug....so they would have ample motivation....

...if the doc won't prescribe vials (the only reason I can think of would be excess caution re possible overuse).....ask the pharmacy to sub the vials for the statdose. As one told me one time...."same med...same price"...just need a box of skinny needle syringes. ... ...price has come down since I Iast used suma...was $600.... ...might want to consider Zomig nasal spray (5 mg)....pricey but 99% effective/rapid for me w/o the "ooky" side effects...and no rebounds Best Jon

Looks to be a made by Teva Generics, same ones I have. I'm assuming the purpose to open these up is to self-administer variable amounts? Is it possible to ask your doctor to prescribe the vials? If so, Walmart has sumatriptan 5 vials (0.5ml) 6mg/0.5ml for $122 on www.goodrx.com

Hey DM. How did it go with Dr. Burish? He's in Houston, right? I'm up the road in Austin and might be interested in participating in the study. Let me know what your experience was like. Thanks!

Drug Induced Hypomania is right, man. I'm basically in a state now where I'm taking all of my feelings and strange, extrasensory, paranoid perceptions with a grain of salt. I mean, I was hearing a duck quacking in my left ear the other day... Prednisone. I'm grateful that it stopped this cycle (although by the time I got on it the cycle may have been petering out anyway) but I don't know that this is the treatment I'd chose in future considering the side effects it has on me. The Doc has me taking the prednisone twice a day, once with breakfast, once with lunch. The earlier the better, he says, so that sleep is not so interrupted. Well, my sleep is still interrupted, but then I've had insomnia problems all my life, so... As for the Verapamil, I take it three times per day: breakfast, lunch, dinner. The total dose is 240 mg. The side effect I'm dealing with from that is constipation, which I treat with high-grade probiotics and fiber supplements.

I am not surprised that pain killers did not work. They normally don't work for CH! Melatonin does help many, but the dose needs to be higher, say 20 to 25 mg. The standard dose of 3mg will not do anything much. But higher doses can help. Try 9mg for starters if you are concerned about being groggy in the morning. The D3 really is pretty great for us. It is best to get your D3 levels checked by a blood test first if possible. If you can't do that you can start it without. Just be sure to take all the co-factors. The other ingredients. Yes, people will make comments like 'Take an aspirin' or some other over the counter pill for mild pain is a very common statement. It is pretty upsetting to us, but they don't know. They do not understand that even potent pain killers will not work. Alternative treatments are discussed on the closed boards 'Share your busting stories' and 'Theory and Implementation.' Only members have access to those. Drinking some caffeine - an Energy Drink, coffee, etc - can help at the very beginning of an attack. O2 does not help unless used properly with the right mask. I am so sorry that it is not available to you. Try putting your feet in very hot water, as hot as you can stand, for relief. Keep the water hot! I will sit in it and just keep adding water to the tub as needed. Breathing cold air helps many. If it is cold, go outside and exhale fully, then inhale deeply. Repeat. When the pain drops then breath normally for a few minutes before going back inside. We have members world wide. Where are you located? We may have a member or two from there who could be more helpful with your local situation. And in some places Truffles are legal. They will work too.

Hi Bilal, I’m sorry that you’ve had to find your way here, but welcome anyway. Certainly, what you’ve described does sound like CH and quite similar to how I remember mine starting. I was 18 when mine started. I was woken from sleep one morning with a horrible piercing pain behind my right eye that I just couldn’t ignore. It probably only lasted 15-30 mins and then I went back to sleep. Another one struck during the day a few days later. They became more frequent but then died away within 2-3 weeks. My first few bouts were always like this. Your doctor sounds pretty switched on. He has looked to rule out hemicrania continua by trying indomethacin and has then gone for the standard front-line CH treatments. But I agree with CH Father – 80mg of verapamil daily is probably too low to be having any sort of effect. I’ve used 700mg daily in the past. I can think of a handful of really appalling CH attacks I’ve had over the years, but I reckon that the bulk of my attacks would have been 5-6 on the pain scale and they are manageable, especially if I’m sitting up or able to walk around. It took me a long time to realise that lying down made them much more painful. So your description sounded very familiar to me. Personally, I haven’t had a full CH attack in 14 years, but nowadays I suffer with bouts of “shadows” which can last for more than a year, and I never truly believe the CH attacks are gone forever. For me, sumatriptan injections worked very well and the nasal sprays were also good, if a bit slower. It’s possible that verapamil actually aborted 2 of my bouts, or at least controlled them. I hope it’ll work for you but you should definitely be talking to your doctor about increasing it. You must do this under supervision and with regular ECGs. Good luck, Joe

Hi!! The experience lasted very very short i would say, around 15 min top maybe.Not longer. I don`t think it was that bizarre as described around on the internet, but it`s intensity was quite something. i`m used to long duration LSD trips and also high doses. U can say it was like hours of LSD trip compromised down to 15 min. What also was very surprisingly true after Reading about it was that the effect came more or less IMMEDIATLY after inhalation. I mean you could feel it start in your lungs. Also it was very physical, before you just "blacked out" or disappeard or whatever i can call it. But very pleasent feelings. At one brief moment i remember thinking "could this build up to be a bit to much". Never been thinking that before, but it went away as i was thinking it. I don`t think there`s room for more than the effect itself actually. But i think we need EXTREMELY small doses from this for us to be effctive for CH. So little that one do not need to experience Visuals, not much at least. If it`s not wanted. The good thing with this is that if it is that effectful that it seems, it is really a quick way to bust and no need to fasting etc., simpy do 1 or two inhalation, lay Down for 15 min and life can actually just move on. Not shaken and stirred for days. Wonderful. My shadows are gone, my pain is gone also my nerve pain and i broken the high cycle, hopefully a cycle for the first time in my life and i will continue to experience with different dosages. The goal is to find the smallest dose possible for it to work. Hope your doing well Big hug