Leaderboard

Hey Sharon, Sorry I missed this yesterday. I generally buy most of my supplements at Costco per the photo below. I've recently switched from Nature's Bounty 5,000 IU vitamin D3 to Bio-Tech 50,000 IU water soluble vitamin D3 capsules as this is the least expensive form of vitamin D3 at 23 cents/capsule and it gets into the bloodstream faster than the oil based softgels. As one 50,000 IU Bio-Tech capsule of vitamin D3 is good for 5 days (An average of 10,000 IU/day) the cost per day is less than 5 cents where the Nature's bounty runs around 12 cents/day. The 50,000 IU vitamin D3 capsules come in handy during the 12-Day loading schedule as it beats swallowing 10 of the 5000 iU softgels each day. https://www.amazon.com/Bio-Tech-D3-50-50-000-200/dp/B00IAQUJH0/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1531495610&sr=8-4&keywords=bio+tech+vitamin+d3+50000 I order the Bio-Tech 50 K vitamin D3 and the LEF Super K with advanced K2 Complex from amazon or iherb depending on specials. Hope this helps. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

While it is beyond understanding the pain of CH if you don't experience them, it is possible to show her how some others cope. You Tube is full of videos of people having an attack. Perhaps show her a few of those. Or the Nat Geo section of Drugs Inc that covers Clusters. I know that is what made my husband understand a whole lot better than any words I had ever said. I recently gave the hospital I use a really great demo on what works and what does not. I was having a scope with sedation, the normal procedure. I got hit while under. I was out, but my body was thrashing violently on the table. They had to administer full anesthetic to get the procedure done, They informed my husband that I would be at least an hour waking as they had to put me fully under. In 5 minutes he was notified that I was up. Yes, I woke with a hit They had been informed and had my gear ready when I sat up. "Here's your mask and your flow is set at 15lpm.' They were amazing and amazed too. They had never seen such a thing. And it was duly noted on my paperwork for future reference. If you have something she could help with - wet washcloth, ice pack, caffeine - ask for her help. For me, listening or talking are out of the question. Any focus on words ramps the heck out of them. That was the hardest thing for us - the leave me alone part. He felt bad he could not help and that was hard all around. Now my O2 is in another room and I have the quiet I need to return to 'earth normal' before coping with people. That too may be hard for her. But I think it is pretty darn common. Not trying to hide, just can't handle the additional pain caused by human interaction. And those on the outside can't grasp why you are doing X to cope. Moxie is right about getting her to possibly join the site. She would learn a lot and understand what you are going thru much better than she does now.

Hi Onglamesh (great nick btw) Would your partner be interested in creating an account on the forum and talking to others here? It might help her get a bigger picture perspective, and hear from other people that can collaborate your story. The pain levels of CH are pretty unbelievable and difficult to grasp for someone who hasn't had them. Heck, migraines are hard enough to understand if you don't suffer with them, and CH blow migraines out of the water. Also, try to get her involved in supporting you. I always hated how my best friend felt so helpless when I was having bad attacks. So I asked her that when an attack starts, to make sure I had a glass of cold water nearby, and an energy drink if I had one in the fridge, and a coffee if not. And then, during the attack to just give me space, as there's nothing anyone can do anyway. Then, as the attack fades, make sure my glass of water is refilled, as clusters really dehydrate me. I hate it when people stand there asking 'is there anything I can do' at the precise moment I'm unable to turn thoughts into words. I want to scream 'cut my head off', but that's not very productive. So I found if I gave my friend standing instructions of what to do during an attack, she didn't feel helpless or at a loss of what to do. She was then suddenly involved, and was able to tell other people to just leave me be, that I'd be OK in a bit. Wikipedia Article this is a good, brief summary of clusters, if she's up for reading it. MG