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"My doctor did prescribe me vials of Imitrex but I had a hard time injecting myself with needles. I see there are a couple of companies that now offer 4mg and 3mg triptan auto-injectors but my neuro said they aren't available in my area or through my insurance. I will look into splitting the shots. " That's actually a WAH-HOO moment as most docs are unaware of the existence of vials...and sometimes they are hard to source....BUT it gives you SO MUCH more control over dosage...the smaller amount of Imi used the lesser chance of side effects and rebounds. Also cheaper in the long run as more doses available per script ...the ONLY negative being the actual injection. Get the smallest insulin needles available and you will barely (if at all) feel the injection. Used to have to do B12 injections...huge needles and deep in muscle....once I got past the initial and daunting task it became a breeze...insulin needles thin and short...you will be joyful at the results.... best jonathan

Well, he may think he is doing it for safety when he does not understand that many CHer's have a tank or three of O2 at any given time, year round. Even Episodic's do not wait for a cycle to hit before getting their O2 in order! They may store them carefully out of sight, but they are at the ready when needed. When you set it up, you check for leaks. You secure it so it won't fall and create a possible hazard. Odd that they will give you meds that can be deadly and that is fine, but O2 tanks are a hazard. I find this to be a bit insulting. Perhaps not intentional, but still insulting. It is sad that he does not understand this reality of Ch. By suggesting that you 'wait', he guaranteed you will have pain to suffer till you can get re-supplied. Glare..... As stated above by many, you can safely store and use it. Be it medical or welding O2., it is your best friend!!! Fingers crossed that your PPC will straighten this out for you. Likely he knows you better and will be willing to work with you when he comes into the picture. Written as CHF stated, you should get great relief with the huffing methods most of us use. PFDAN

As long as your tanks are well secured so they don't fall over, the only significant danger would be if your house were to catch on fire (from some other cause). He was right in the sense that there's some tiny risk associated with having tanks in the house, but he was wrong in the sense that now here you are in cycle and still trying to get O2. Splitting the shots from an autoinjector will require you to inject yourself in the conventional way (autoinject is disabled when you take the injector apart). O2 is going to very significantly reduce the number of times you need to inject. (And other things, such as energy shots, D3, and busting, can further reduce that.) You physician probably (??) subscribes to some service, such as UpToDate, that he can refer to in order to find out what recommended treatments are for various conditions. If he looks there, he will see oxygen listed as #1 (along with Imitrex) for CH. But he might hesitate in part because he doesn't know how to write the prescription. If you can say in some casual way that you know what the language of the prescription should be, that might help. One version of that language is "Oxygen therapy for cluster headache: 15 minutes at 15 liters per minute with non-rebreather mask." I think I wrote about this in that other post in the CB Files section. . . some things are spelled out here that a doctor would abbreviate: CH instead of cluster headache, min instead of minutes, lpm instead of liters per minute, nrb instead of non-rebreather mask . . . and if you could get him to make it 25 lpm, or prescribe a demand valve system, that would be cool but probably pushing too far. Not hard, as mentioned in a few places, to optimize your system--and 15 lpm might actually work fine for you.

Maybe this helps explain where it went -- message from CB on FB this morning (not sure why we're not being asked here): Clusterbusters is currently building a new physician finder to help people find knowledgeable healthcare providers. The best place to learn about which providers treat our community well is to ask the community. If you have a great doctor or other healthcare provider that is excellent at treating cluster headaches, please complete this survey to help us build this important resource. Please fill out the survey multiple times if you would like to recommend more than one provider. Thank you for your help,

There is also welding tanks. You wouldn't need a script for that. Buy one tank and you can exchange it for a full one like propane. My local napa offers that service. $42

...Flonase never worked for me for multiple allergies and certainly no benefit re CH...what i did find was that any relieving of the typical nasal congestion pain/pressure during a hit sometimes took the level down a notch and made it easier to breath....for which I was exceedingly grateful.... ....accomplished with Tiger Balm vapors, a Vicks inhaler, or similar....being careful not to inhale any solids... best

Be sure you read the info on splitting Imitrex injections. A typical injector for CH is 6mg; most people can stop an attack with 2mg, or at most 3mg. If the Verapamil works quickly for you, that's great. It's pretty standard CH practice (or at least commonly recommended practice) to consider a course of steroids to temporarily stop or ease the pain while Verap gets into the system well enough to do its job. I'm glad he's taking that step of letting your doc know about that O2 recommendation. In our considerable experience here, most of those docs are very reluctant to prescribe O2. There is a strong belief that most of them don't even know how to write a prescription for O2. Fingers crossed that it's all going to work out. I hope you'll still look at that file I linked you to, to consider all your longer-term treatment options (D3, busting, etc.) and some of your shorter-term possibilities (energy shots; Benadryl; etc.)

I got a script for oxygen from my primary care doctor to a medical supply company. Getting the script wasn’t so much the problem as it was finding a place that actually delivered. Also, getting insurance to cover it is a pain in the you know what. My doctor wrote the script for an O2 tank for cluster headaches. Insurance says they won’t cover it bc headaches aren’t life threatening. I pay $78 per tank out of pocket. I hope you find some relief soon

As far as I know all you need is the prescription. That could come from either of the 2 doctors, then you can call around to local O2 suppliers and work out the rest with them. I would not get to hung up on the flow rate of the regulators they give you because most likely you will want to buy your own, same goes for the mask. I found it much easier to make the calls to the oxygen providers myself, tell them what I wanted and what I need the doctor to send them and them call the doctor and tell them what to write on the script. It is a pain in the ass and yes you are doing someone else job but that is the only way you will get what you need. here are links to the regulators and mask most of us use. If you are comfortable giving your general location im sure we have members on this site that may know of a good oxygen supplier that can deliver to your home. This regulator will work on E tanks https://www.amazon.com/EverOne-Oxygen-Regulator-Liters-Connection/dp/B07L9P7V55/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1_sspa?keywords=25plm+oxygen+regulator&qid=1554376658&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull-spons&psc=1 This one will work on the M and M60 tanks https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Regulator-Standard-Body-CGA540-protector/dp/B00BXRBJG8/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_3_sspa?keywords=540+CGA+oxygen+regulator+0-25lpm&qid=1554376819&s=gateway&sr=8-3-fkmrnull-spons&psc=1 The mask can be found here http://www.clusterheadaches.com/ccp8/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=clustero2kit

You are getting the run around. Clearly your neurologist is either disinterested or not competent to take care of cluster headaches. Yes, your primary can prescribe oxygen as your neurologist can. If you are in the US any licensed physician can prescribe. It is possible the O2 home suppliers are difficult to work with and that is why the neurologists office is punting. Its more likely the neurologist office isn't familiar with the process. Depending where you live it might be worth a call to a pulmonoligist office and talk to the nurses (they do the orders anyway) and ask for advice regarding getting O2. Imitrex can be helpful but also can cause rebounds. Using smaller doses of 2 mg from a multi dose vial works great and limits side effects. Prefilled injectors can be broken down to use smaller doses with an insulin syringe. O2 is a godsend and you should figure out how to have available. You might consider the D3 regimen also. C19 has changed the world and medical care is strongly affected. Telemedicine is ideal for established cluster patients but providers are still working out how to use it. In the end you need a provider who listens, is willing to look things up and will prescribe what you need.