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Struggling with your humanity and existence with the burden of cluster headaches challenges even the most stable of souls. Add the element of a panic attack, which can feel like the arrival of death itself, and life's burden can be overwhelming. Every human is defined by their underlying physiology, spirituality, history and aspirations, Its what makes us unique and why treatment is rarely a one size fits all problem. Certainly on a basic level cause and effect can be directly related but because we inherit slightly different metabolisms, slightly different anatomy, vastly different toxin/nutritional exposure and upbringings the manifestations of disease and response to treatment can be predictable or paradoxical. I believe that is why some folks can use alcohol and drugs without much long term consequence and others ruin lives from the onset. I also suspicion its partially why we hear about some things working for some clusterheads and the same treatment gets no traction with others. If possible get a support network into place so you can vent and express yourself. I believe you must work hard not to be dramatic and emotional. Express your experience in as calm a manner as possible. People turn off fast if they sense a drama king/queen. Not fair but true. It helps if you write it down and codify it before verbalizing to others. This is true if you are talking to a support person or a medical professional. It helps you align the facts and reduce the embellishments and makes the communication as succinct as possible. Writing it down also helps putting things into perspective and understanding your personal journey and what a strong warrior you really are. Thats thought and opinion take it for what its worth. Panic attacks are very challenging and can be disabling. THC ingestion can often fuel because some folks get paranoid, feel guilty or are not comfortable being relaxed. Most of us who know potheads marvel at how they use it to alter perception, mellow out and frequently use. This behavior is unique to a subset of individuals as there are many more who get no joy from pot. It is possible to have a panic attack proximate to THC use but very unlikely its physiologic 24-48 hours later unless the person is a chronic. THC is stored in the fat and the brain is a big gob of fat. Triptans like Imitrex and Zomig can induce anxiety mostly through reaction to decreased stomach activity and non cardiac chest wall tightness. The uncomfortable feeling can precipitate anxiety. Diclofenac is a non steroidal like ibuprofen and usually doesn't cause or mitigate anxiety. Paroxetine is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and the model drug this antidepressant class was popularized. Since we suspicion clusterheads have a serotonin regulation problem you can get all sorts of atypical responses. It is worthy to note in a depression paradigm many believe it is a spectrum and to become depressed one must pass through anxiety first. Conversely to defeat depression you must pass back through anxiety. Since anxiety is such a horrible debilitating state most folks get stuck in depression. If the Paroxetine is helping you get out of a depression you may be approaching the anxiety as a path to wellness. Thats where support and counsel helps to get you across the threshold. Meds alone rarely are an effective intervention expect for be pharma. Don't know much about Quetiapine but from what I read it looks like a supplement to help with brain function and healing. Some promising results but the jury is still out. Unlikely to be harmful. Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker used historically for hypertension. You were on a very low dose. Its possible it could drop your pressure a bit and cause anxiety or in very rare cases cause your heart to beat abnormally which can also provoke anxiety. It has other anxiety provoking side effects but its rare. Its not use too much anymore because it wasn't a very good antihypertensive and heart rhythm disturbances had to monitored. Steroids and steroid weans can cause anxiety. Lorazapam is a benzo as you mentioned. The prototypical benzo is valium. Long term benzo use can lead to physical and psychological dependence but usually you are talking about moths to years of use. Lorazapam is a very short acting medication and 0.5 mg is a very low dose. While its possible lorazapam contributed to the anxiety its more likely you were under treated and got in that horrible zone between panic attack and relaxed. Judicious use of benzos can be very helpful in managing anxiety but are best used in conjunction with coordinated counselling. They also can also help while busting during that anxious period. Vitamin supplementation is being vigorously studied and reported. While the data is promising and impressive definitive studies are ongoing. Hopefully these studies will further our understanding of cluster headaches and their management. Until then I would suggest the risk benefit calculus favors trying vitamin supplementation following the guidelines put forward. As with most cluster heads you search for explanation and cause/effect in a desperate attempt to manage. Imaginary thinking predominates especially during a cycle. We look for triggers, blockers and treatments to end the horror of an attack. Our uncommon disorder doesn't get much attention from medical science so we are left to ourselves and citizen science to explore options and support each other. At the end of the day it helps to know panic attacks are real, debilitating and manageable. Acknowledging them and exploring management options are important to quality of life.

I will have to remember that.. in the past I didn't even consider busting, but this cycle that (I think is just winding down) was a real test on sanity. The panic attacks I used to get pretty much kept me from even looking into it, but if I have a life preserver (and I do have Xanax for when I do run into anxiety), it would make it way less stressful.. so between now and my next cycle I think I may start "educating" myself in case I decide to take the plunge! Thanks Bejeeber!

Hi Rush. Concerned about panic attacks during a bust? I think everyone here knows exactly what rant I'm about embark upon once again - I'll try to keep it semi-condensed this time: Valium (or Xanax) can prevent those, and it isn't known to mess with the therapeutic aspects of the busting substance. Personally I think of it as insurance against a bad trip, and never leave home bust without it. OK I did try San Pedro Cactus powder for one bust and felt zero anxiety that time, so I skipped the benzo, but for vitamin M or vitamin L I find good old fashioned valium to be the shiznit (many others have reported the same, and it has also long been used in ER rooms for those admitted with bad trips).