Leaderboard

...hi DayLight...welcome! ....you've been down the road of standard CH treatment so it seems odd that OXYGEN wasn't already in there. was a game changer for me and many others, and is the primary abortive recognized by the medical field...absolutely life altering. i understand it's different for different countries, but any physician can prescribe O2 in the US...i got my first once i educated my primary, 20 yrs before i ever saw a neuro. if possible find a headache specialist....many neuros are as frightfully ignorant of CH and its treatment as most PCPs.... .....no need to repeat the the priceless info you will find in the CHf file above...just to commend its accuracy. i found my best OXYGEN sucess was in downing a high caffeine/taurine energy drink (2 oz 5-hr energy type, quick, easily downed, portable, no sugar), or EXTRA strength caffeine drink, at the first sign of a hit, while slamming the O2 mask on my face immediately following. had an E tank in the car, several in my office, and M's at home. there are various breathing techniques...most seem to find the best success by hyperventilation with intensive inhale and crunch exhale. i found slowww/deep breaths to be just as effective, with the added benefit of calming me the f down. breathe and hold another style. try 'em all, sometimes a combination of styles is the most effective... ....the D3 regimen is safe and easy and effective for many....good for you whether you are a clusterhead or not....you should start on it yesterday.... .....you are in a great place to learn about busting... best jonathan

Spinal headaches rival cluster attacks. They should be treated with a blood patch which works immediately. Conservative management includes lots of salt and caffeine. Blood patch is the way to go.

Nasal imitrex is buffered differently than sq injection. I don't think its a good idea because it might cuse cell damage locally or not be absorbed. This is a theoretical answer but dividing cartridge doses into 2 mg aliquots is a good alternative if vials not available. It odd that vials arent available because Canadian pharmacies sell them to the US. Imitrex overuse can cause chest tightness or stomach pain because of vasoconstriction. Generally speaking younger folks (sub 55 or so) can tolerate more doses. Using oral version isn't much help for acute pain of a cluster. Rebound headaches seem to be dose and frequency related. Oxygen properly used is your best friend for acute attacks

Yes, yes, yes . . . OXYGEN. Any way you can get that sooner than waiting for your appointment (a physician you can call for a prescription)?? You could set up welding O2 pretty quickly. You should start the D3 regimen, too, but it's not likely to have an immediate effect. Busting -- sure. I would not abruptly stop verapamil without checking with a doctor. In fact, you might not be taking enough verap (some people need dosages in the 1000mg range for relief -- but you also can't go up very abruptly). Have you read this file? https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/6213-basic-non-busting-information/ There are some things you can do to get through an attack better (energy shots and some specific strategies) -- listed toward the end under Other Treatments . . .

If you're taking that much sumatriptan, there's a possibility you'd be creating rebounds. But that's not definitive. Also, it seems you're taking tablets - how come you're not on injections or nasal spray? Tablets are generally considered somewhat useless for CH in that they take too long to work. Finally, do you have oxygen as an alternative abortive?

@Tony Only SO, so, so happy to hear this!!!! Yeah!

Thank you @trjonas that is so sweet of you Here's an update: After writing these posts I quit taking the Batch regimen (anti-inflammatory regimen) because was forced to do so in public healthcare. I had been leaving "god please help me" messages to the neurology department in my town. In november we had a baby, our baby was in intensive care and as parents we were staying in hospital 24/7 me starting to get CH attacks again. It was difficult even to get O2 treatment in hospital which kind of gave me perspective and real life experience how far behind we still are here in CH treatment. But then one day the neurologist called. He backed me in using anti-inflammatory regimen, I started it back up and public healthcare was forced to give me heathcare. My calcium was checked and it was ok. I can now get my Vitamin D level checked this fall, taking the Batch regimen daily again. I had to use some Lucy in the sky with diamonds to terminate the cycle that tried to get going; me being open with it we are now clients in child welfare services and I'm labeled a drug user. At this point, I don't mind - don't have time to worry about it, but will work for the rest of my life so that no one should go through what we went through. But things are good now CH wise

It's a bit of a twisted logic - Vitamin D is added to our food in Finland since we are Vitamin D deficient as a nation (no sun during winters) but then again if you supplement it's dangerous and we are already getting "too much" from food that has added Vitamin D. This heated discussion has lasted for decades. Few key doctors who dare to disagree are out of doctor's union. Research will change the world.

My doctor does them as she knows that I supplement and why I do it. So, no extra, just part of annual blood work. They can be ordered privately too, but I am not sure of the expense. It varies by area it seems. It stinks that you are penalized for supplementing when your head clearly benefits from it. Another reason to be happy that Batch is succeeding in getting a trial going. Too bad it will take time to implement across the globe!! ATB!!!!

Jennifer, you really need high-flow oxygen (at least 15 lpm, often more) and a high-quality non-rebreather mask. It is very, very often prescribed wrong. If you have CH, a system like this is almost guaranteed to help you. Read more about O2 here: https://clusterbusters.org/oxygen-information/ The mask that makes a big difference is now called the Cluster O2 Kit: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/ccp8/index.php?app=cms&ns=display&ref=splash Hyperbaric oxygen can help abort an attack, but it hasn't shown any effectiveness as a preventive. An optimized "regular" O2 system is what you want. There nothing really "out of the box" about that lidocaine treatment. Lots of people try it. It's called an occipital nerver block, or ONB. I don't think it helps more than 10% of CH patients, from what I've seen. The medical standard for pharmaceutical treatment of CH is verapamil as a preventive, and oxygen and sumatriptan (Imitrex) as abortives. Sumatriptan injections are the most effective form -- it also comes as a nasal spray (often effective) and pills (rarely if ever effective). Taking imitrex pills at night is not going to help much, if at all. Zomig is the nasal spray version of the triptan. Like I said, it's much, much better than the useless pills -- highly effective for many people. Topamax can be effective as a preventive, but as you've seen, the side effects are yucky. I don't know what your verapamil dose was. Many people need a pretty high dose to be effective. There are side effects there also, which need to be monitored. You should start the vitamin D3 regimen right away: https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/1308-d3-regimen/ It just might be the most effective preventive there is, not to mention that it generally has no side effects (and is actually good for you, in almost all cases). You mention "steroid shots." Usually steroids (such as prednisone) are given in pill form, as a "taper." They can buy you some pain-free time, but are rarely lastingly effective. How much melatonin are you taking at night? There are people here who go up close to 30mg before it helps them get relief. Have you tried energy shots, such as 5-Hour Energy, at the first sign of an attack? They can abort an attack, or at least significantly reduce the severity of the attack (even in the middle of the night -- they don't keep most people up). Most people who are regulars here use the "busting" method -- taking small amounts of psychedelic substances in a systematic way. Often the amount can be small enough that there are no, or very few, "trip" effects. You can read about that in the numbered files in the ClusterBuster Files section.