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jeb', You can have oxygen at your office. You really, really, really want to have oxygen. If your trex is injectable, you can split your doses and still get fast relief. https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/2446-extending-imitrex/ There are other ways to achieve the same result -- getting it in vials instead of in an autoinjector, or getting a prescription for an autoinjector that's 3 or 4mg instead of 6.

Great advice from F'T' and Freud. OXYGEN can't be overemphasized. It's the real lifesaver. If you can't get a prescription, you can do as many do and create your own system using welding oxygen. For most people with CH who have done the vitamin D3 regimen, it has been effective at stopping cycles, reducing severity of attacks, and preventing future cycles (though not right away -- it can take a few weeks, although for a small number of people it's faster). http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 Often, a good doctor (and I would say emphatically that you do not have one, given what was prescribed to you) might use a steroid taper (prednisone, usually). In some cases, it will stop a cycle, but in most cases it gives pain relief for a few days before the cycle comes back as you are tapering off the steroid. You can use those few days to jump start the D3 regimen, or to use the commonly prescribed preventive, verapamil, which takes time to get into your system enough to be effective. Regarding "busting" with shrooms or seeds (or L S D), read the numbered files in the ClusterBuster Files section of the board. You might find other things that will help you as you read the other files in that section. The "triggers" document, for example, has been helpful to some people. Also, because CH is often flared up by allergies, even ones you don't know you have, consider taking Benadryl 4 times a day, 25 mg 3 times, and then 50 mg at night. It's a lot, but it can help. Some people find that melatonin at night, starting at about 9mg and working up as needed, helps. Melatonin is an important chemical (hormone??) that is low in people with CH. NOT recommended to take both Benadryl and melatonin at night.

Tips on helping abort the cluster. First thing you will want to start working on today is getting a script from your doctor for high flow oxygen at 15-25lps with a non rebreather mask. things you can "do at home" are down a 5hr energy drink at the first sign of the pain. drink ice water with a straw pointed at the roof of your mouth on the cluster side to kind of freeze it out. put your feet in hot water, as hot as you can take it. down strong coffee, this is kind of like the 5hr energy drink thing. chew on fresh ginger. pushups, jumping jacks or some other kind of exercise sometimes helps. just a quick few things I hear of that have helped people in the past. I have tried just about all and sometimes they help and some times they do not. Every attack is different and you will need to try a few things for some attacks before something helps it. But the one thing that works best for me is the pure oxygen. between that and 5hr energy drinks I do not use triptans (Imitrex) but maybe once a month if things get real bad. Also look into getting Imitrex shots, they will abort in about 5 minutes. the pills take much longer. Take your time and read up on this site and a tun of help will come your way.

...and then there's some of us (me anyway) that found verapamil produced a 70% reduction or dampening of daily destructive debilitating hits.....better than anything else added to O2/caffeine. THAT was a whole lotta light at a very dark time in my life.... ...ingesting any med, drug, supplement (artificially or naturally sourced)...heck, SUBSTANCE, taken in a dosage higher than nature typically provides in diet, requires the prudent patient to research the heck out of it...including roots, seeds, leaves, berries, and even mooshies…………….. Best Jon BTW: I'm at over 20 different meds in this ch career (plus chemo).... and whatever long term price I have and will pay...nobody is gonna be able to tell "yup, that was the one that did it"...……………….personally, I believe verapamil to be WAY down on the lifetime impacts list...………………….YMMV BBTW: Yup....D3 fer sure....with O2 back....and CB.org in reach

Jebstuart888, IMHO - Energy Drinks!, 100% high flow Oxygen, and Busting. These three are my go to. Also - Stay away from known triggers - Alcohol, Chocolate, Fermented Cheeses or Preserved meats. ANY aged or overripe foods. Stay far away from these and you should see a noticeable drop in your attacks. PFW, J

…..not enough "reallys" Chf ……….I'd add at least a: REALLY!!!! ...quick, effective, cheap, easy, portable, NO side effects, life changing...what's to lose!? ….add an energy drink at the earliest hint of a hit (minimum 100 mg caffeine and 1000 mg taurine)... ….consider trying Zomig nasal spray (2.5 or 5 mg) for breakthroughs...my experience it's less of a hammer than Imitrex and 18 hr "free" window with no rebounds...…. ….and I'd JUMP on the D3 regimen....it may make all the above moot.... Best Jon

The only thing I can add is ask for zembrace. It is half strength imitrex injections that allow you to take 4 a day instead of 2 at full strength. My insurance used to cover 16 per month. Still a drop in the bucket but every little bit helped. Now I prevent my CHs with mushrooms and have kept them at bay for 6 months now. I am chronic not episodic. If I was you I’d look into RC seeds to bust your cycle. Many people here have had good luck and there is no real wait time like with growing mushrooms.

I am chronic so yes I get them every day. I have just had a 9 day break with no clusters at all. that was my longest in over 5 years. But that fun has come to an end and am back to every day hits. I had 8 yesterday. They come and go with the weather, if you are chronic they come and dont go but fluctuate from not to bad to very bad. You now have a bunch of friends that will help you figure out how to fight this and not everything works for everyone but a lot of things help so you will need to string together a few things that help and build on that.

FunTimes, thank you for the advice. i am willing to try anything at this point. Do you get then 4-5 times a day like i do? it is really starting to ruin me. i work in an office and have to take Imitrex at least 3 times while at work just to function.

jebstuart When I started out on Verapamil it was a low dose and my doctor upped it slowly over a course of a few weeks. In general you will need about a week for it to get into your syste. I have read on this site and also experienced on my own the standard release works much better then the ER type. a high dose of about 800-1000mg a day can be taken by someone with clusters but no way you want to jump to that amount out of the gate. I would also look into getting oxygen to use as a abortive rather then the Imitrex. I currently grab a 5rh energy drink and my oxygen tank as soon as I feel the hit coming on. you can read all about that stuff on this site and ask questions and someone will have help for you. You will also want to read about vitamin D3 here that helps a lot of people manage.

Here is the link to the vitaminDWiki page. https://vitamindwiki.com/Cluster+headaches+substantially+reduced+by+10,000+IU+of+Vitamin+D+in+80+percent+of+people

Hello, can someone please lay out the vitamin D3 treatment. how much? how often? how long? where i can buy it? I have been suffering from cluster headache for almost 5 weeks now. at least 4 a day. i am taking Imitrex which helps abort the pain but i need to try and break this cycle or at least cut back on the amount of attacks i get a day. i am new to this and need help getting this under control. Thank you...

Every time your dose is altered by 80mg to one way or the other you must get a heart film. I would not recommend verapamil to anyone in a world where we have anti-inflammatory regimen (vitamin D), herbal protocol (liquorice root) and busting (MM, lsd, lsa). It's not used for it's regular uses (heart/blood pressure) not that much anymore because there are better/safer options . IMO 480mg per day is just about maximum for any kind of safe use for majority and even on those doses there usually eventually arises either a heart problem or problem with the response. I've been well over a thousand myself. Verapamil will have an impact for the rest of your life, no matter the dose. I agree with CHfather, do the D3 regimen instead. Good luck !

You have to ramp up Verapamil, with monitoring of your heart. Many people with CH need large doses before it's effective -- considerably larger that what is used in its typical application, as a blood pressure med. Something in the range of 960mg/day can be required for full effectiveness. (The need for such high levels is recognized in the medical literature about CH -- it's not something people do on their own -- but many doctors are not aware of this.) The D3 regimen, if followed properly, will probably be more effective for you, and better for you, than Verapamil.