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Suffering from Clusters gives us a first hand understanding of what the term practicing medicine means. Most of us on here have been wrongly diagnosed for years and have been through a hand full of doctors. Best advise I can give is keep pushing on, if your doc does is not willing to work with you find another doc. The fact that you found this site is a huge plus as there are so many great people here that can help you in many ways. As for O2 you can go the way I did and rent an O2 welding tank purchase a regulator from Amazon or Ebay and purchase a mask through Clusterbusters.

....and not taken as such...i was riffing on your comments that are near universally true in clusterville. What Jon said - especially since @BoscoPiko could easily be deemed LLTELASN (least likely to ever leave a snide comment).

The VNS device is gammaCore. https://www.gammacore.com/ By itself in typical circumstances, it doesn't work as well as an optimized O2 system. It supposedly has some effect when used as a preventive. I think you have to have a prescription to get it. Previously, and maybe still today, the first month was free but then $598/month after that, in the US. A 2021 evaluation within the UK National Health Service (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8611122/#:~:text=gammaCore reduces the frequency and,in the first 3 months.) "recommends routine adoption of gammaCore into the UK national health service," but presents these "key points for decision makers": gammaCore reduces the frequency and severity of cluster headaches but does not work for everyone. There is currently no evidence of a sustained long-term benefit. Treatment with gammaCore should therefore be stopped if patients do not experience any reduction in symptoms in the first 3 months. gammaCore was used alongside standard treatment, so decision makers should be aware that the possible benefits achieved with gammaCore are as a result of the addition of gammaCore to current standard treatment.

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I do have to say though... When I think of the "Cluster Bunny" it looks a bit more like this....

.....ah yes, mamma don't allow no smart ass cluster bunny here....

....and not taken as such...i was riffing on your comments that are near universally true in clusterville. ....VNS works for some...worth a try

...same feelings here as Jeebs....worth a try. have always wondered about our "active" vocalizations that seem above and beyond those experiencing extreme pain. thinking back patients here for one, as i am one. totally theorizing that it is an attempt to influence "some" bodily function that will relieve our pain. sometimes it's voluntary, and sometimes just feels necessary. could it be the vagus we are hunting? dunno ...never seemed to work for me tho studies have shown that vulgarities/profanities shouted in the midst of anxiety do have, if nothing else, at least psychological benefits. since it was mostly wasted energy/made things worse in my experience, i trained myself to remain calm and non vocal while hitting the O2 and concentrating on "breathe" only. before that carried a (soon soggy) pillow to scream into in deference to the neighbors... ...i do think it behooves anyone wishing to explore vagus nerve stimulation to try out the VNS device. 'tis specifically designed to do such. i occasionally see a positive report for CH patients....but it has not caught on so apparently only works for some (who wouldn't want to be one. only one way to find out)...tho i bet $$$ w/o insurance approval.

THIS!.......please.......

It occurs to me, FWIW, that your doctor might have CH confused with the hemicranias (continua, paroxysmal), which have symptoms like CH and, indeed, most of the time do not respond to triptans.