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Hi Mike, Sorry to hear that the headbangers are back... It's always a serious bummer to read about this sort of situation. Attached is a PDF of the D3 Quick Start guide. There has been some good discussions on splitting your trex injections as most find that they get the same relief with a half dose and this method helps to reduce overuse. There are other resources on here if you are open to less conventional methods to manage your bangers (Blue ribbon at the top-New users please read here first). I hope this passes soon!! Quick Start Guide - Sept 2023.pdf

Hey Erick. It's not strange at all - I get it, we get it - I actually travelled from New Zealand to Dallas this September just to meet other cluster headache patients. We hear you, we see you. Welcome and I am sorry that you find yourself in the midst of a particularly tough cycle. 1-2 a week would be nice, 3-7 a day is more in tune with my cycles which run annually Nov-Mar. I would say this isn't your life now and there are options available to you and you are in the right place to learn about those. There are 3 types of therapies for CH, abortive, bridging and preventative. For the abortive I hear your thoughts re triptans, they come with side effects, you can only use so many within a 24 period and they can cause rebound attacks. I would recommend investigating high flow oxygen via a non-rebreathable mask like the cluster o2 kit or looking into a DMT vape pen (there is a recent thread on this from one of our active members maybe worth checking out). Once you find you are able to abort effectively and quickly you'll hopefully find you get a bit less dread and anxiety for the next attack. Bridging therapies are used temporarily to offer relief whilst you wait for a preventative therapy to start working, sometimes a short tapered course of prednisone is enough to break a cycle or buy you 10-14 days pain free bliss and hopefully when you taper off, a preventative medication has started to work. You haven't mentioned what preventative meds have tried, you could share that info - perhaps we could offer our thoughts. I would just leave you with my experience being that I am now in the 10th season of successfully preventing my CH using the patient led treatment protocol the Vitamin D3 Anti-Inflammatory Regimen for Cluster Headache. If you immediately thought yeah, right - tell me another one then I'd encourage you to put that preconception to the side and just learn a little more to see if it resonates with you. It has been so effective for me I consider myself lucky but I am one of thousands since circa 2011 that has seen similar benefit. I also like that it is natural, safe (when followed as documented), accessible and affordable - I buy the supplements for less than $1 USD per day. www.vitamindregimen.com or I am sure you will find the protocol here on this site as well. There is the option of busting and I am sure others would be able to offer solid advice over and above the resources available on this amazing website. Importantly hang in there man, I hope pain free days are around the corner for you - this will pass. PFW, Craig.

Clusterbusters is partnering with another nonprofit organization - ClusterFree. https://clusterfree.org/⁠ ⁠ They have sign on letters. One is global, then there is a list of locations - please check their site for both. They are working to:⁠ ⁠ To achieve our mission, we:⁠ ⁠ Publish open letters demanding that governments, regulatory bodies, and medical associations worldwide take action immediately.⁠ ⁠ Engage with policymakers globally to advocate for better access to treatments.⁠ ⁠ Publish research on cluster headache and support other researchers in the field.⁠ ⁠ Collaborate with entrepreneurs and philanthropists motivated to bring effective treatments to market.⁠ ⁠ Thank you ClusterFree for partnering with us and raising awareness of cluster headache on a global scale!

I don’t know if I’m using this forum right, and I feel real weird being like, “hey strangers, someone please talk to me…” but … I don’t know what else to do. i used to get terrible headaches as a kid, maybe a couple times a week for awhile, but then they’d disappear for awhile and come back after a couple years. Now I’m in my 40’s and am learning that these are cluster headaches. This “cycle,” however, is BRUTAL. Instead of 1-2 a week, I’m getting 3-7 a DAY. The Dr has me on SIX different meds. The Rizatriptan works great, but I can only use it a few times a day (and supposed to only use it a couple days a week… but I’ve been using it 7 days a week). I’ve been to the ER three times this week. is this just life now (the Dr can’t tell me)? Since this cycle is so different, did I go chronic (the Dr can’t tell me)? What can I do (the Dr just keeps throwing more drugs at me)?! Sorry if this isn’t the right forum - I’m mostly just purging… but it would be great to talk to someone who knows what this is like. Erick

For an overall guide, you might look here: Basic non-busting information - ClusterBuster Files - ClusterBusters. At the end of that file is the same concise description of busting that appears under the button "New Users -- Please Read Here First" near the top of each page. ("Busting" -- using psychedelic substances to treat CH -- is the reason this site was created, but we cover everything you might need to know if busting doesn't appeal to you.) This is most definitely NOT how your life will be!! CH is manageable. Craigo has told you many of the ways (all discussed at the above link). Your overuse of the rizatriptan is understandable, but it is also almost certainly worsening your attacks and extending your cycle. OXYGEN is a necessity. (And rizatriptan is probably fifth or sixth among triptans in effectiveness for CH. I'm gonna say that by throwing meds at it and (as far as we can see from what you've said) not prescribing what works best, your doctor probably isn't great. A headache center is best if you can get to one (but many people here only see doctors now for filling the prescriptions they know they need, such as oxygen, and getting tests for the D3 regimen). Did you get relief at the ER? If so, what were you given there? A lot of people worry that they have become chronic. It's at least 90% likely that you have not. You are going to be okay. You might get the kind of fabulous preventive effects that Craigo and others (even people with chronic CH) have gotten, so that you are actually pain-free for long periods -- years, even -- but even if you aren't that successful, you will know how to manage your cycles and your attacks so they do not define your life.

Two useful tools I wanted to share for anyone here who keenly follows research on cluster headaches, migraine or anything for that matter. The first is Harzing’s Publish or Perish. It is a free citation analysis program that lets you easily search scientific literature across a range of journal sources. Link: https://harzing.com/resources/publish-or-perish The second that I am really loving at the moment is Google’s NotebookLM. It allows you to upload papers, PDFs, and links, then ask structured questions and generate summaries, comparisons and notes directly from your sources. For anyone trying to understand mechanisms, track themes across papers or just stay organised while reading, it is extremely handy. Link: https://notebooklm.google Both tools make it easier for patients who like to follow the science closely to evaluate studies and stay on top of emerging research. If anyone wants a quick explanation of how to use either tool for cluster headache-related topics, I am happy to share examples. The last tool - bonus lol, I went looking for something to match CHFathers cat picture in a recent AI post - found another Google tool. An experimental tool for visual exploration: you input images for subject, scene, style and the system remixes them into new visuals - here's what I got for my new CH Forums profile pic - I am here to stay now! https://labs.google/fx/tools/whisk

Hi all! I'm considering starting a new local/regional support group for Illinois since we have a conference every other year in Chicago. Any ideas on days/times that would be good for attendance? Would a 6pm CT or 7pm CT on a weekday work well or a weekend day/time? I'd like to be able to advertise something like the 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm type of time so it's consistent. Open to ideas and I'll lead it until someone else feels comfortable and I will always be available for support. Just thought this might be helpful and if there are people who have an idea of another location that could use a virtual/zoom support group, let me know. We have California and Texas and both have been really amazing groups.

Hey thanks for the help. I actually am able to have vials RX and dose myself. Also have a demand valve setup. Appreciate the links. Mike

This is a new and highly relevant study for anyone with CH considering or already following the Vitamin D3 Anti-Inflammatory Regimen. In participants with baseline 25(OH)D3 levels below 20ng/mL, researchers used the same loading dose of 600,000 IU that the regimen recommends. What makes this particularly interesting is that their maintenance doses were substantially higher than the standard 10,000 IU per day typically required to sustain serum levels in the 80–100 ng/mL range. Across roughly ninety patients these higher doses were well tolerated, with no evidence of renal impairment or disturbances in calcium homeostasis. This offers compelling reassurance for CH'ers who may feel uneasy about achieving or maintaining the regimen’s target vitamin D levels. Regular monitoring remains essential, but this study reinforces that the dosing strategy is safe when managed appropriately. It also suggests that if some CH'ers fail to achieve a therapeutic response with the base regimen they may entertain elevating their 25(OH)D3 level higher in order to reach a therapeutic threshold (again with close monitoring of labs).

In the spirit of "the Lord helps those who help themselves", citizen science and understanding the transitional turmoil society is wrestling with these days its hard to do anything "unconventional" with traditional medical support as many who hold licenses are reluctant or not open minded enough to paint outside the lines. When treating individuals who come to a medical provider there is an obligation to follow the rules, protocols and standard of care. While this behavior is most common much latitude exists when addressing uncommon or unclear issues. The problem remains there is no real strong "proof" or data to support many treatment pathways. Experience, individual response and "because that was how I was taught" often color health care delivery. Point being, when addressing difficult to treat, poorly understood problems with unsatisfactory treatments like CH I submit there is plenty of room to explore options on an individual basis while ascribing to the overriding tenant "first do no harm". This philosophy allows exploration of things like psychedelics, vitamin supplementations, diet, nerve stimulation, o2 etc.. Most of these (and other) interventions started from individual case reports, speculation, dream states, desperation, deduction and reasoning. Proof of course proves elusive as the standard of acknowledging an effective intervention requires a control group or some fancy statistical manipulations. This is important info to have to make widespread recommendations but for individual choice the bar is much lower. The point of the blabbering is to suggest gut microbiome issues, diet and physiologic state and even other peculiar interventions are worth exploring when help remains elusive. Proposing ideas, reporting outcomes and supporting each other becomes critical. The horrors of CH are only know to those who suffer them. There is no way to express the pain, destruction of life goals, isolation and despair CH brings. One way to combat this is to feel free to evaluate treatment option no matter how far fetched. And then discuss.

Yes, they work. The anti-inflammatory impact is significant. I also do not have a cluster headache. I have had a constant headache, 24/7/3365, always, even while sleeping, since 7:34 am March 16th 2009. Botox takes 2-3 points off of the pain. Qulipta takes 2-3 points off of the pain. Shrooms, get rid of 75% of the pain for me. It is not fun. S&S is critical. Knowing the strain and dose is critical. Knowing what you are doing before you do it is critical. Where to get the information, not sure, the government does not allow proper research. Not in grams, but on potency. Some have 1,000 units, some have 19,000 units, per gram. Watch every video you can.

Hey Kevin. To my knowledge there is no specific migraine busting protocol. FunTimes offered a solid reply to your earlier post on the general board and the key information regarding the process is on the following page. https://clusterbusters.org/resource/alternative-treatments/#busting You might find the Yale psilocybin migraine study useful to look at as the dose they used somewhat correlates to the Cluster Busters range, if I am correct They gave 0.143 mg/kg of pure psilocybin and when you apply a conversion factor for Psilocybe cubensis potency (roughly 0.8 percent psilocybin by dry weight with variance as to strain, when it was picked and even which part of the fruit) that works out to the same content found in about 1.5 g of dried cubensis - give or take, maybe a little less. The key difference is that the study used one single dose followed by a two-week observation period whereas cluster warriors traditionally repeat doses every five to seven days. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S187874792301214X My personal thoughts - start a bit lower than the typical 1.5g dried cubensis mushroom to get accustomed to the feeling, I quite enjoy the euphoria and introspection and find it doesn’t last too long before I’m hungry and tired. For what it’s worth a quick scour of the literature found the most recent paper with title including "migraine" "psilocybin" - a case report of a single male migraineur in his 30s whom used psilocybin alongside otc pain relief at 1.2g dried as an acute treatment with greater reported efficacy than pain relief alone. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10561985/ You may find another popular treatment option used by members of the CH community worth a look-in whilst you are here, the Vitamin D3 Anti-Inflammatory Regimen. You’ll find the information here or collated by myself and Pete Batcheller over at www.vitamindregimen.com I would say that given a sensible approach and applying the protocols as per the guides, IMHO both of these patient led avenues are generally safe and worth investigating - in any event a walk down the unknown path can cause a bit of anxiety so good luck as you navigate - I remember being nervous as heck in 2015 when I started the D3 regimen against my Doctors best recommendations and yet 8 days later things took a turn for me, I cried like baby, hugged wifey and got my life back - 10 years later I think there is still a part of me that is in disbelief that it actually worked and I only wish that could be the same for everyone. Whilst I have had success with D3, I found a penchant in the hobby of mycology, I have a wonderful big laminar flow hood that takes up our spare room and all the mycological tools to grow wild and wonderful varieties from "cubes" to turkey tails and beyond - and have done so over the years with great success, it is a fascinating and wildly fulfilling hobby with lots of highs (no pun intended) and lows of the process. It isn't a fast thing either and after weeks, sometimes months of cultivation to have a fruiting body appear overnight is awesome or to awake one morning after the same period to find dreaded trichoderma has destroyed all your hard work is devastating! Still, well worth it for the journey and knowledge learned! Were there any specific questions you wanted answers to, I’m sure we will do our best to help. Best wishes to you. Cheers, Craig.

I see the kitty in your profile pic now @Craigo

Prolonged high dose daily oral vitamin D3 in the management of psoriasis: A retrospective chart analysis Renu Mahtani, Sudhir Singh, Pradeep MK Nair, Satya Prakash Singh & Mankul Goyal Published in IP Indian Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dermatology on 26 September 2025 Link: https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijced.89447.1758864688 Abstract: Background: Autoimmune disorders, particularly psoriasis, are often associated with vitamin D deficiency and vitamin D resistance. Higher daily doses of vitamin D3 are considered effective in overcoming vitamin D resistance and reversing psoriasis symptoms. This study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of individualized, prolonged high‑dose daily oral vitamin D3 therapy in patients with moderate‑to‑severe psoriasis. Materials and Methods: In this study, we present data from 95 patients with moderate‑to‑severe psoriasis who underwent individualized high‑dose daily oral vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) therapy. From this cohort, six representative cases are described in detail to illustrate the approach to personalized dosing and the monitoring process using biochemical markers such as parathyroid hormone (PTH) and ionized calcium. The efficacy of the intervention was assessed using Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores, while safety was evaluated through regular monitoring of serum creatinine and ionized calcium levels. Statistical analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between vitamin D3 dosage, serum 25(OH)D levels, PTH suppression, and clinical improvement. Results: Significant clinical improvement or remission was noted, without hypercalcemia or toxicity. PTH levels consistently declined in parallel with clinical response, suggesting vitamin D action. Conclusion: Monitored oral vitamin D3 therapy in higher than supplemental dose, can be a safe and effective treatment for psoriasis.

We had Dr. Rev. Tammy Isaac come to our conference this year. I reached out given November is Family Caregiver Month and she sent me these resources and she will create some NEW content for us next week! I'll try to remember to add them to the thread when they go live. Our Care Partners are so important! We want you to know how much we care and appreciate you - and remember...you can experience grief in this process too. We have Care Partner groups and programs! ⁠ ⁠ Below are some resources from our amazing friend Dr. Rev. Tammy Isaac. Those who were at the conference heard her speak, she has some resources I'd like to share. Please take a moment for you to read/listen to these- and know how much gratitude we have for you.⁠ ⁠ Blog Post: Carrying Love, Carrying Loss: The Caregiver’s Journey⁠ https://www.breathegriefcounselingcenter.com/post/carrying-love-carrying-loss-the-caregiver-s-journey⁠ ⁠ Permission to Breathe Podcast Episode: Caregiver Grief: Loving Through Loss Before Goodbye⁠ ⁠ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5nqQFAs5Xre7m0HF5LJkGE?si=4iaIx_lYTiW6sU9Psrxnrw⁠ ⁠ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/caregiver-grief-loving-through-loss-before-goodbye/id1767836754?i=1000721385568

...wow, that is an awesome summary @Craigo...much appreciated! ...personal experience with multiple autoimmune ailments, forum discussions, and an awakening in medicine growing over the years has advised my bias towards some connection with gut biome. one particular experience (chemo), which i'm speculating dramatically altered mine and "possibly" contributed to a significant reduction in my active CH. ...i must say, as a "grampa" clusterhead, another bias is the hypothalamus as mediator of CH....lightheartedly as much as a cluster patient can be, some called "a wonky hypothalamus". partially as an "easy" demon to point a finger at since we really had nothing better...but supported by the symptoms of CH being nearly all systems and particulars controlled by the hypothalamus. not to say the inflammation you discuss would not have an effect on the hypo...but it would seem outsized to this layman. ...i look forward to more of this wonderful reporting...

Appreciation to you for a well presented position regarding the relationship between CH. CNS and gut microbiome. Bringing together your thoughts about Vit D and psilocybin as regards gut microbiome was well done. Your position is very useful because it helps understand why everyone does not respond to certain regimens (busting, D3). By inference it also amplifies the unfortunate limited intervention we do have as basically band aids. Oxygen, while life preserving. relieves symptoms without treating anything. Same for the triptans which are a deal with the devil in my opinion. The relative effectiveness of episodic steroids in high doses also supports your treatise. It will be interesting to see if CH turns out to be largely a gut microbiome issue. This is not far fetched given a few decades ago no one thought stomach ulcers would be a microbial problem. I encourage the CB membership to try and digest what you have shared. Thee is a lot to consider and a couple of neat rabbit hole to explore. My basic attitude becomes what can be tried without harm? To that end I would appreciate your thoughts on a pathway to test ideas. 1) Get some stool testing and profiling. This is becoming more and more available (without a lot of date) from functional medicine folks in the post covid, ivermectin ins a miracle era. Probable not mandatory but dT never bad 2) identify an appropriate probiotic to employ 3) consider D3 protocol or contiue 4) start ketogenic diet as strictly as possible 5) judicious use of psychedelics for their Anti-inflammatory properties (and maybe serotonergic influences) It will be interesting to see if micro dosing turns out to be more of an antiinflammation treatment rather than CNS Well done Thank you

This will be a bit long, but wanted to share some messages from the board. First - We would like to share a message from Ainslie. Dear friends, It’s is with great sadness that due to ongoing health concerns, I have made the very difficult decision to resign from my position as President of the Clusterbusters Board of Directors. I have supported CB since its infancy in the early 2000’s, attended my first US conference in 2015, and was voted onto the Board in November 2019. I became Vice President in April of 2020 and President in April 2025 to date. I was honoured to organise the first U.K./European conference in my home city of Glasgow in 2023, followed by a second event in 2024. In total, 6 years as a very,very proud member of the team. I have been so fortunate to be a part of such an amazing organisation and to work with such wonderful people globally. This has brought me huge joy and wonderful life-long friendships. I wish Clusterbusters continuing success and each individual Board member all the very best in their new leadership roles. It’s quite the amazing team! There will never be enough days for me on this earth to show my gratitude to Clusterbusters. They saved my life. With love and thanks, Ainslie We have appreciated Ainslie's leadership, not only in 2025, or since 2019 when she joined the board, but for her many years of being in our community inspiring HOPE. While it is with great sadness that she steps away from her position, we fully support her taking care of health. She is an amazing soul, who has given much to our community. She has put UK/Europe on the "map" and cultivated a community, maybe rather many communities. She has helped the cluster headache community in so many ways we cannot count. Thank you Ainslie. We love you, appreciate you, and respect all you have done. With much gratitude.... Clusterbusters

I haven't gotten through all of this yet @Craigo but great write up so far!

Just as an aside to my post above, I have been using AI lately for complicated work projects with amazing results. If you haven't messed with AI yet, I'd suggest just going to ChatGPT.com and using the free version. I had pasted an image below, but it doesn't seem to show up. I asked ChatCPT to take a photo of me that I supplied and dress it up for my avatar, which you can see, This is completely trivial but an example of fun you can have. A more complex example, I asked it to give me a list of all Chicago Public Library branches located within a state legislative district (state house or state senate) where the legislator has a Hispanic surname. There are about 80 branch libraries and about that number of total state representatives, so you might imagine how long it could take to do this the old-fashioned way. With one more query, I had an answer in less than three minutes (about 90% correct). Or, if you ask about the best ways to treat CH, or the pluses and minuses of using psychedelics to treat CH, you'll get a perfectly good answer in a few seconds.

I don't encourage anyone to jump on the megadose experimentation unless you have a solid idea of what you are doing. I do megadose on what is safe. My baseline is an energy revitalization powder that contains over 35 vitamins, minerals, even the BCAA’s/Protein. I use a potassium gluconate powder to reach about 60% of the RDA, the rest is met by diet. For protein, the RDA of 0.32 per pound is grossly understated; I subscribe to 0.8 per pound, and that isn't for bodybuilding either. I intake at least 800mg of Magnesium, and I take up to 1200mg every few hours during a migraine to abort. When I could afford the IV treatment during an attack I would do that with IV of insane doses of C. Now I megadose on Magnesium and C powder (ascorbic acid) until the issue is mitigated. At my height and weight, that is 135 grams of protein. I don't use whey. When I was heavy into weightlifting in the early 2000s we all knew what that did to the kidneys, the body, and how bad it is for the body (acne is a prime indicator). Plant-based is best. I use one shake a day and the rest through diet. Diet is easy. Eggs for breakfast: no cheese, no butter, and God no, no margarine (that will kill you fast). Don't believe the pseudoscience from the 90s, I eat 4 XL eggs a day, and my total cholesterol is almost too low, 170. There is ample evidence at 160 or lower people with mental disturbances become suicidal. I consume at least a cup of cooked beans a day, and couscous or whole grain rice. I hate vegetables but stomach 1.5 servings of corn, 1 serving of peas (technically a legume), and a serving of carrots. I supplement with a Garden of Life powder that provides the other required 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, the super greens, phytonutrients, and so forth. I'm Croatian and so we don't consume meat like American’s. Well, I am 2nd generation, and I still don't. Red meat is almost nonexistent, and that deli meat, bacon, and processed meat according to Harvard is linked to a 30% increase in Colon and Pancreatic Cancer. I notice when I eat that mess an instant onset of headache occurs. All that salt, preservatives, and chemicals can't help. I eat poultry at most 6 times a month. I don't believe in Paleo, Keto, or fad diets, but my hunch is that steak and deli meat will trigger headaches and that it will lead to coronary artery disease, and eventually kill you. If that doesn't help, as in my case, then you add, only clinically proven supplements and what western medicine can help as an adjunct. I use feverfew and butterbur, with over 3000mg of nicotinic acid, 3000mcg of B12, at least 800mg of magnesium, vitamin C to the bowel (in my case that is 6 grams for breakfast, 6 for lunch, 4 for dinner, and 2 for bed). I also take a Nordic Naturals Super Omega 3 (the best quality of EPA DHA), I mega dose on D, and should disclose that my serum level is low. I should also disclose that I have stiff person syndrome and even when my B12 level is normal, I run the risk of pernicious anemia. Then, I treat the gut. H pylori are linked to migraines. I use caprylic acid, and Pearl Elite Prebiotics ( to my knowledge the only prebiotics that survives stomach acid). Since NSAIDs cause Candida overgrowth, I use white willow bark when it gets nasty/intense. I also treat the thyroid, despite a “normal TH level.” it doesn't take an Einstein to realize that the TH lab is inaccurate. I use a supplement that provides 10,000% of the daily RDA for iodine, provides selenium, and a lot of zinc. Not surprisingly, your BPH symptoms (if a middle-aged male or older improves overnight and in two weeks you can fire the urologist). Finally, there isn't a one size fits all approach, and even I have to resort to the western medical-industrial complex of doctors “it's been 15 minutes I don't care about you get out” model of medicine. I get my Psych NP to write for a calcium channel medication that can be used for self-harm/cutting prevention. Though I don't cut, with my personality disorder she can get away with this. Why do I do this? From experience, all neurologists treated me like a pharmaceutical lab rat and had zero interest in my well-being, and I have seen world-renowned neurologists. Truth is, you can fire your doctor, and doctor yourself. I found the NP’s to spend considerable more time with you, and provide exceptional care. The problem is, to my knowledge, only a handful of states (like mine) allow them to practice on their own. I now refuse to see an MD and only see NPs. It's a matter of preference, I suppose. Last, I have enclosed a baseline journal to prove that vitamin supplementation has a basis, and I encourage all I you to treat the gut (it starts there), treat the nutrient deficits, then try herbal supplements, then pharmaceuticals. I get one migraine a month. I was daily, or up to 5-day benders. And my Fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain Syndrome have improved enough that I could manage with Tramadol (schedule 4); at one point I was on Fentanyl, Demerol, and OxyContin (Schedule 1). And the batshit crazy part 120 lorazepam as a protocol/front line for the stiff-person syndrome. Megadosing on magnesium until normal levels eradicated most of those issues. When I do wig out, hydroxyzine (no scheduled) resolves it. Here is the journal: Vitamin Supplementation as Possible Prophylactic Treatment against Migraine with Aura and Menstrual Migraine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4359851/pdf/BMRI2015-469529.pdf

...hi @Lizzie Hall, have heard very little on the sites i visit re psilo and migraine. could you share type, dosage, frequency, etc. would be valuable info for newbies on a strategy that worked....

An Exploration of the Psychological Aspects of Cluster Headache Helena Whitley Published by University of East Anglia on October 30, 2025 Link: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100852 Abstract: Cluster Headache (CH) is cited as one of the most painful experiences known to humankind. This thesis portfolio aimed to provide a greater insight into the psychological aspects of CH. A systematic review accumulated evidence of rates of depression and suicidality in individuals living with CH and an empirical paper explored the psychological experience of living with CH. A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to determine rates of depression and suicidality amongst individuals with CH compared to non-headache controls and individuals with other primary headache conditions (Migraine or Tension-Type Headache (TTH)). Secondly, 13 interviews were conducted with individuals living with CH and this data was analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Meta-analyses of 20 studies showed that compared to non-headache controls, adults with CH had much higher levels of depression and suicidality. However, there was no significant difference in depression levels between CH and Migraine individuals. Comparing individuals with CH and TTH, the initial meta-analysis found no significant difference in depression levels, but a sensitivity analysis showed TTH individuals having higher levels of depression. Considerable heterogeneity and publication bias were present. Reflective Thematic Analysis identified five themes relevant to the CH experience: “Darkness”, “Battling”, “Shifting”, “Control”, and “Despair”. There were differences within these themes based on whether a person was in the moment of pain or between attacks, whether they had the chronic or episodic form of CH, and how long they had lived with CH. This portfolio highlighted that psychological aspects of CH include increased depression and suicidality. Increased depression was also present for the other primary headache disorders. The empirical paper identified various psychological processes important in the experience of CH which could be the target of psychological treatment. Transcription.m4a