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Hello everyone. I've been getting cluster headaches every 2-2.5 years for 4-6 weeks at a time since 2014. I am currently in the middle of a cycle and recently found this forum. I understand that there are mixed opinions about Sumatriptan here, but I thought I'd share this tip. My insurance only covers 6 autoinjectors per month and they cost a fortune after that. I found an online pharmacy called Springmeds that sells Sumatriptan vials outside of insurance for $55 for a 5 pack. I convinced my neurologist to send in a prescription for 10 vials and ordered two 5 packs for $110. I also picked up 6mm insulin syringes from CVS. I've been taking 0.2ml whenever I get a bad enough headache and it's been working great. The vial is labeled 0.5ml but I can still get 3 doses of 0.2ml so they apparently overfill them a little. I believe this equates to 2.4mg per dose, much less that the 6mg from the autoinjector, but still enough abort an attack and with less side effects. This gets me 30 doses for $110. Hope this helps someone. https://www.springmeds.com/productdetails/Imitrex-Vial-Sumatriptan-6mg-0-5ml-Vial-Box-of-5?uidtype=group&form=Vials&isGeneric=Y&strength=6mg%2F0.5ml

This is a way to make something that will work "like" a mask (in that it will hold O2 for you to breathe in, and then it will refill for the next breath). You might or might not want to try to whole process (hyperventilating with room air, etc.). It is recommended by Batch (whose handle here is xxx), and there are not many people here who know more than Batch does. https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/4919-batchs-hyperventilation-red-neck-bag/ If you do it this way, be sure to squeeze the O2 out of the bag after you have stopped the attack.* You don't want a bag of O2 laying around. *Actually, you should keep using O2 for a few minutes after you have aborted the attack. It seems to help prevent subsequent attacks. You can do this last O2 breathing in a more relaxed way than you might have used to abort the attack.

Hmm not great lol - I don't know if that's what it is either. I appreciate you sending.

Hi - Thank you. Yes, I've read that a few times. I tried ginger yesterday and today I'll try one of the other ones. I'm also getting together the D3 regimen and started taking most of them yesterday and all of the vitamins today (in some form, I don't have it exact yet). It's a very helpful article <3

In your first post you mentioned that you have had all-day headaches, with spikes. We kind of ignored that, but as you raise this I think you might want to consider the possibility that you might have a CH "lookalike" condition, some form of hemicrania. Hemicranias typically do not respond well to oxygen or triptans, but I gather that you have not really tried either one yet. You don't really fit into any of the specific hemicrania categories, but you can see the symptoms of one type here: https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/hemicrania-continua#:~:text=What is hemicrania continua%3F,both sides of the head. It could be/is most likely that you have CH and you are experiencing what are called "shadows," but what you describe seems like it might be more than shadows. In the document I keep urging you to read -- https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/6213-basic-non-busting-information/ -- there is a discussion of shadows and things you might do to alleviate them.

I'd say that's either an 8lpm (not enough) or a 15lpm (a good starting point). Hopefully the mask you ordered will come quickly. Just using the hose really isn't the best way.

Thank you for following up. The attack came back last night and today I have pressure (shadows) on my right side. I actually knew it would come back last night b/c I felt the pressure come back around 9pm. Attack at 2am. I chugged water, just stuck the O2 tube in my mouth and did push-ups. It did stop the attack from taking hold. Lasted only about 30min. Okay. I will start the Vitamin D. Thank you for the extra push. The micro-doses have been about .25 of a gram, and I do feel it for about 30min. I am worried it will wear off. Okay so a larger dose 5 days apart. I actually did a larger dose (1 gram) recreationally two days before this started. The attacks started 2 days later. Which is weird/odd timing. I am not using Triptans. Stopped on the 21st. And yes, they messed up the mask multiple times. Agree it's almost inhumane to give me the O2 with no way to use it properly. It's a big tank about 3 ft tall. It does look like I have a regulator but they just dropped it off an never told me how to use it. I ordered a mask online from a link on this site.

I've seen your other posts on various threads and just wanted to follow-up on what @spinysaid with regard to micro dosing. First and foremost I'm so glad that you seem to be experiencing relief! That's so promising and makes me happy for you. Second I have to ask you to follow up on here as the general consensus has been that micro dosing just isn't enough. Most that have experienced success have taken 1 to 1.5 g. Per session which leads to a mild, maybe sometimes obvious trip with enhanced color and sensation maybe even visual distortions anyhoo .. I'm cheering for you!