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Hello I've had the Cluster headaches since around 2016 , then l was not aware of what they were or why. It always affects the right side of my head when the attacks happen . After l was diagnose from my Neurologist , he issued Verapamil at 80 milligrams six times per day. I found taking that many pills was hard on my system , to many side effects. So l was cutting back on Verapamil to find the right mix of pills. My cycles were always later September when they started and end around the first week of February. I would only take the Verapamil when the season started then around late March, and that seem to work for a few years. I would have headaches around late evening always the same time every day. He also issued Sumatriptan 100 mgs and Rizatriptan at 10 mgs as well to stop the pain when they peaked 10/10. When the headache ended l would fall asleep fast when taking triptan cocktails of pills but they worked. So for the first 5 or 6 years or so they were like clock work they start up again late fall and then early February Then one year l hardly had any at all. Didn't know why either. My neurologist gave me a prescription for the shot in the back of my neck had it twice , but it did not work. A couple of years back l got on oxygen and l found that it really helps , it stops them before they build, hence no more sumatriptan or Rizatriptan to kill the pain . I still get shadows at times that linger , but now I take Verapamil 80mgs three times a day and that keeps away for good. I don`t get off the Verapamil at all now. I live in the western part of Canada I am a senior now ,and also male, but when they started I was in my late fifties. We travel a lot and I find that the atmospheric pressure has a lot do with headaches as well. I hope this helps as you are not alone with this condition. Hawk

Batch has made this recommendation: I buy the bulk powdered vitamin C in 2 lb jar as shown below and stir two level teaspoon measures (8 grams) in 12 oz of water. I drink a gulp of this solution every two hours throughout the day until it is gone by bedtime. This is the least expensive form of vitamin C at 3 to 4 cents/gram. The liposomal vitamin C costs 8 to 9 cents/gram.

...cool beans Craigo! ...as CHfathers's citation(s) demonstrates, don't be leery of older studies(not that i doubt you!). i distinctly recall discussions and papers demonstrating higher incidence among clusterheads of OCD, smoking, alcohol abuse, and mental health issues, etc...and i'm talking 20+ yrs ago. ..will certainly take this test but just by subhead alone, i know i'll score off the board

Thanks for posting this @Craigo. Definitely something to chew on. I'm down for the Google Sheet poll. In all fairness though, I have to point out that these studies were conducted "after" the individuals were afflicted with either CH or migraine so I can't help but think that the trait outcomes being listed are skewed because who wouldn't be a bit paranoid, schizoid, depressed and anxious after dealing with a good ol fashioned brain arse kicking? I get that it would be hard to conduct the test prior (say on those with a higher likelihood of developing one or the other) but life changes after CH...

....if you're taking a statin (e.g. Atorvastatin) for cholesterol control a typical side effect can be leg cramps. boy-howdy those 200AM cramp-athons will get your attn. yes, i take Mg, but find that skipping a statin dose now and then is muy bueno. your doc may disagree...so discuss it....

I will sometimes have leg cramps but I think the cause is to much caffeine. What helps me is Bananas (potassium) drinking lots of water and stretching on the floor (fake yoga). Not sure if this will help you with the pred cramps but it does help me.

Triptans can send you down the rabbit hole of hit after hit. For me using nasel sprays 10 mg Zomig works great to stop an attack but it will cause rebound hits. I found that the 2.5 mg ZMT work fairly well and unless I use them for more than 2 days I am good. It seems like the higher dose along with the faster absorption of the nasel sprays causes problems.

cannabis has dilative effects, nomatter the strain (sativa, indica, hybrid). it has never helped me get rid of any headache, ever.

Really interesting insights! I've come across similar discussions on personality and coping styles over at www.themigrainenetwork.com, which might be helpful for anyone exploring the connection between headache disorders and psychology.

Hi all, I know you probably all know this already, however, aside from these attacks getting me during the onset of REM, I am just curious about the spike in stress levels especially at 12 am. Seems weird. These were the last 2 nights stats. Also whilst melatonin is mentioned to control you from going into REM, there's mixed signals about it from what I have read. It can also send you into the "devils playground". Just fascinating looking at this. My awake times are when I am having the attack. Will continue to monitor.

Thanks @CHfatherand @Bejeeber. I'm on Day 18 since my first headache post-op and it's definitely a normal cluster episode....ugh! Appreciate your insights, you both are always a wealth of knowledge and support. I was unaware that epinephrine was a trigger but good to know for future.

Yeah it is right? The one I'm using is an Huawei smart watch G2 paired with my old Huawei health app on the Mate 20 Pro Series. Seems to be doing the job. It's amazing that the very 1st REM onset triggers my attack which is usually 1 hour after falling asleep. Yet the following REM spikes doesn't. I'm just trying to get some more research done regarding the sleep aspect as well as why my subconscious stress at midnight is skyrocketing. Try it out brother. Let me know on your findings. Good luck

I still think we are more prone to hedonistic behavior than average as a way to balance pain we experience with pleasure. No....I'm not admitting to a damn thing..... It's merely a theory.

I think it's kept up and running mostly for archived information now. Sad to look back over the posts and see names lost to the years.....

That's some weird, suspect timing following the implant, but even though epinephrine at the dentist is a notorious trigger for some, the fact that the repercussions would typically be expected more instantly makes it sound like coincidence can't be entirely ruled out(?). Also, as you may be well aware, even following decades of consistent behavior, we can still expect CH to pull a change up on us, and start a cycle in a never-before-experienced fashion, such as a slow ramp up with advil etc. abort-able attacks at first. Hate to think it, but I would be bracing for some possible continued ramping up.

Given all the circumstances, it seems very unlikely that this is the issue, but I think it's almost universally true that the anesthetic that dentists typically use, Xylocaine + epinephrine, triggers CH attacks. (It's the epinephrine that does it.) But, among other things, the attacks usually come on more quickly than what you're describing, and of course you've had many previous dental procedures so it seems very likely you would have had the X+e during one of them. I think your next procedure with this oral surgeon won't be for quite a while, but I suppose you could request a different anesthetic just in case.

Plus you have the (Moog??!!) modular synth action going on in the background, which....OK....may have nothing to do with CH, but is cool as hell.

This could be the photo in the dictionary next to "leonine"!!

Thanks CHfather, I have updated the poll to ask the question and record if the person is a sufferer or not and if so, what form. I take it you added your email and received the analysis run through the prompt - it's just sending your results via an automation to a model with a prompt to analyse them - the prompt deals with a tie in scores based on prioritizing CH traits and if a tie stills exists, rank in alphabetical order - I have made that now clear in the email summary. Thanks for sharing these studies! Raises more questions than answers. Significant that the observed craniometric abnormalities were independent of smoke and alcohol intake which contrasts previous hypotheses that lifestyle factors might explain facial features like the "leonine face" that Graham and Kudrow wrote about. We also have a new paper published a few days back - Smoking in primary headaches – a systematic review and meta-analysis looking at smoking in primary headaches and found a weighted-pooled prevalence of smoking in CH patients of 65% being the highest prevalence among primary headache types evaluated, compared to 20% for migraine and 19% for TTH. Despite this they concluded that current smoking was not associated with CH diagnosis when compared to controls and suggest this lack of association might be due to the limited number of studies included for CH in their meta-analysis but also state that while smoking is commonly associated with CH, it may result from other as yet unidentified factors which aligns with the 2021 craniometry study's finding that the observed bone abnormalities are independent of smoking and alcohol consumption. On the losing beloved family pets, oh man it's tough. I'm sorry. We lost Harper our female border collie at 9 maybe 2 years back, Ollie held tough, my loyal mate, for another couple of years and he enjoyed great health over his 15 years with me. The sharpness of the pain has subsided but boy do I miss him, I find myself telling "Gurl" that Ollie would have adored her, he got so excited around cats. Cats are so different, try and approach them they run away, ignore them and they come to you. Alas its my Sunday and I have one very important task to do today, and that is book flights to Dallas for September. We are very excited but trying to figure out how much time to spend exploring Dallas and maybe Austin before going upto Seattle. It's a long old flight to not make the most of it - 24 hours, ungh.

Indeed. I only put up my cat avatar because there was some joking I wasn't getting enough likes, and cats were a theme among the more-highly-liked posters. Never had a cat; never wanted one. But then again, it's very relevant here to note that I don't have CH (my daughter does). So you might want to take my scores (responder #3) off the spreadsheet. In 1969, a fellow wrote about CH patients' "leonine" appearance," and in 1974, the great Dr. Kudrow "confirmed" that observation. PHYSICAL AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS IN CLUSTER HEADACHE, Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain | 10.1111/j.1526-4610.1974.hed1304197.x | DeepDyve Kudrow also said there that his male CH patients were on average almost six feet tall, which was about three inches taller than the average American male. Questionable as all that might be, there is this spooky-seeming thing from 2021: "Frontal Bone Height and Facial Width were able to discriminate, one independently from the other, CH patients from Healthy Controls with an overall accuracy of 77.00%." (PDF) Can Craniometry Play a Role in Cluster Headache Diagnosis? A Pilot Exploratory TC-3D Based Study Well, I took the Salamanca test. As you say, it seems to leave a lot to be desired. For one thing, the questions/items on the survey do not seem to be well correlated with the actual traits they are supposed to be measuring. I'm guessing that there are two questions per category (there are 11 categories), and you get one point for "sometimes," two for "frequently," and three for "always." (The actual line between "sometimes" and "frequently" seems much blurrier to me than the line between "frequently" and "always.") My top three traits were schizoid, anancastic, and paranoid, all of which are in the CH top six. I also got the same score for "anxious" (also in their CH top six) as I did for anancastic, but somehow they decided that anancastic was in my top three but anxious wasn't. I have to say that by the "normal" definitions of these terms, I am not an anxious or paranoid person. So my four top answers were all in the six most common ones for people who actually have CH. No idea what that might mean about the validity of the findings/instrument.

It's a fascinating topic, but I am also strongly with you on this, Bosco'. I guess people would have to think about whether they have always had the identified traits. (Once after 18 months of severe back pain, my GP sent me to a pain management guy, who was also a psychiatrist. He administered a personality test (Minnesota Multiphasic) that among other things asked about pain frequency, intensity, and expectation of relief. The doc solemnly told me that I seemed to have a predisposition for hypochondria. I am a calm and polite person, but I lost it at that.)

July 5th is Cluster Headache Survivor Day - a day to celebrate bravery, courage, strength, empathy, and hope. Pain free wishes to all and H.O.P.E.

Good day guys, I hope all are managing. I have been taking 50mg of Prednisone daily for the past few weeks, in an attempt to assist with the loading dosages of my D3. It is helping, however I am having excruciating leg cramps mainly at night. Now it is also cramping on the muscle surrounding both my hip replacements. Get them some times when I'm driving also So, I do know that Prednisone actually depletes Potassium levels. Magnesium, for some reason, is just makes the cramps worse. I tried other anti cramp meds out there and its not working. Just wanted to find out if it is safe to take high dosages of Potassium for now and if it will aggravate the Clusters or will it be safe. Thanks

I have been very, very surprised that a product called Theraworx actually seems to help to quickly relieve my intense leg cramps. It's not preventive -- it's a cream or roll-on that you apply when the cramp begins (though sometimes I use it when I'm getting into bed at night as a possible preventive). It's just magnesium. Since it's topical and not consumed, maybe it wouldn't affect you as you have described. Amazon.com: Theraworx Relief for Muscle Cramps Foam Fast-Acting Muscle Spasm, Leg Soreness with Magnesium Sulfate - 7.1 oz - 1 Count : Health & Household I also concur with Jeebs that if you can find a form of magnesium pill that doesn't have negative effects, it would be good. I would say that oral magnesium has helped me more than potassium.

I very much like, and vigorously salute, the @FunTimes reply, and will just add my experiences as an adult life-long nocturnal cramps experience-er, whose wake up calls have been largely in remission for going on a year now: They can be a moving target, just like our 'ol CH buddy. Magnesium citrate worked for me for keeping them at bay for like a couple years at one stretch, then failed. Magnesium gluconate seemed to help at one point also, but individuals apparently can have different reactions to different forms - citrate worsens cramps for one family member, but gluconate doesn't Yep, the potassium-rich foods bananas, avocados, potatoes and sweet potatoes can potentially help significantly (at least until the target may shift) I didn't realize the sudden wake up cramps could be anything other than a ridiculously huge emergency-feeling level of painful until more recently when I had a couple that were a strange and thoroughly unfamiliar kind of 'moderate' I'm known to do occasional 'walking lunge' type leg exercises. Not sure what, if anything they're doing for me in the cramp department, but my current remission has coincided with the addition of this 'Advanced Electrolytes' supplement, one pill with dinner. I might question whether especially high doses of potassium are really required, but of course am fully acquainted with the desperate times/desperate measures mindset many of us here have been known to adopt courtesy of the CH!

Hi, Some of you may be aware I did some research into the timings of CH cycles and remember that it is connected to solar cycles. Recently, it has become more and more obvious that the intensity of CH attacks "peak" whenever the Sun transitions from one sign into the next - whether this be in the sidereal or the tropical zodiac. If around the same day, the Sun is also "afflicted" by certain other planets, the effect is even stronger. In regards to this, I want to make a "forecast" for later this year. Anyone in a cycle around that time, beware of MAY 14-15 2025. The reason: around the middle of May, the Sun will be Ingressing into sidereal Taurus (sensitive point of transition), On top of that, Mars will also be in parallel to the Sun (affliction).

June is Migraine and Headache Awareness Month Our patient conferences are so important - there's no other place where you will see over 100 people gathered in a room who are affected by cluster headache. This is vital to those who experience cluster attacks but also to the Care Partners as well. There are clinicians who not only come to share their knowledge, but it's a time for them to sit with our community and learn as well. We have it all in Grapevine, TX September 11-14th. Whether this is your first conference or your 20th, we want to welcome you! More information and register here: https://cbdallas2025.planningpod.com/. IF you aren't sure - comment, message, email us and we can chat about it. It can be difficult to walk into a place and not know anyone, especially when you experience a disease that has you running to hide. We have a ClusterBuddies program and one way that program can help is we can pair you up with a longtime attendee so that you already know someone before you arrive. Clinicians, we will be offering CME/CEUs! We are excited to have you with us as well. We want to get to know you and be able to help you feel better equipped to help your patients with cluster headache. Pain free wishes to all From the Board of Clusterbusters and our Founder/Executive Director Bob Wold

Many apologies for the late notice! Jefferson Cluster Center Symposium: https://Jefferson.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pF0E7o9oQUqHJ-E5QnzJzg We will be starting at 8PM on June 24 (Tuesday) at 8PM. Dr. Michael Marmura will lead the discussion. This will be recorded- register to get updates on the recording.

INDICA IS BEST STRAIN FOR PAIN RELIEF, DOSEN't do anything for CH

Greetings all, It’s been a hot minute since I last thought about the intersection of personality profiles and CH but a recent literature dive brought it back into focus, unintentionally I might add. I don’t know if you’ve come across a tool called Harzing’s Publish or Perish, it makes searching the scientific literature super easy. Using it I stumbled upon a 2016 paper that struck a chord over the past couple days and I wanted to share it here. I want to say before you read further there was an element of reading this study that was triggering / confronting so I just wanted to make that disclosure - this can be a challenging topic to navigate. Personality traits in patients with cluster headache: a comparison with migraine patients https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4791411/ According to the Salamanca screening test, personality traits included in cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders) are more prevalent in CH patients than in a population of migraineurs. Larger studies are needed to determine whether certain personality traits are related to CH. The study compared 80 CH sufferers (mostly male, average age 43) with 164 migraine patients (mostly female, average age 36). Using the Salamanca screening test, they found the most common traits in the CH group were: Anancastic (52.5%) Anxious (47.5%) Histrionic (45%) Schizoid (42.5%) Impulsive (32.5%) Paranoid (30%) Compared to migraineurs, paranoid and schizoid traits were significantly more common in CH sufferers. According to this screening tool, Cluster A traits (odd or eccentric personalities) appear more common in CH patients than in migraine patients. I was curious enough to simulate the Salamanca test using a language model and, no surprise, I scored highly on the same cluster: anancastic/OCPD, anxiety-related and schizoid traits. I did not score highly in the histrionic traits. Here’s a brief overview of what the 2 of these personality patterns look like that were pertinent for me, starting with anancastic (also known as Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder, which is distinct from OCD). Anancastic was a new term for me, I hadn't heard of it before: Anancastic Traits (OCPD) Preoccupied with rules, structure, and control Perfectionism that interferes with task completion Rigid thinking, especially around morality Workaholic tendencies at the expense of relationships Difficulty delegating due to high standards Hoarding or excessive saving Stubbornness and resistance to change I score fairly solid on that one, lol. I look at the list and recognize a number of things that I consider work-on's in my life, balance between work and social relationships being one of them; real estate is not a great choice for that I must say. Definitely rigid in my thinking around morality, I wish I was an excessive saver(!!!) and I like tradition, I am not fond of change. And then there’s schizoid which frankly the word has a certain connotation to it but putting that aside: Schizoid Traits Strong preference for solitude Emotionally flat or detached Disinterest in close relationships, including family Limited enjoyment from most activities Unmoved by praise or criticism Few or no close friends or confidants The last time I had really delved into the above traits was to explore one of the other topics of my podcast, fatherlessness - Freud wrote about some of these qualities in Mourning and Melancholia. I was surprised to see some of those traits appear in this study. I have often wondered what bearing early parental loss had in the context of my CH, again difficult to explore because the discussion is contextual, there's no hard and fast with such abstract subjects albeit I have little doubt that early life adversity played a part in my journey with CH. Alas, if you’ve ever felt a bit “wired differently” or found it hard to relate to the social world most people seem to navigate with ease, this study suggests you may not be alone. It’s fascinating and maybe even a little validating to see how certain personality traits appear more frequently among cluster headache sufferers. It raises further discussion points. Are these traits a product of the pain, isolation and the unpredictability of CH? Or is there a deeper neurological or biological predisposition at play? My wife also took the test and didn't score for these results. I could setup an anonymized poll via a Google sheet if there was interest - equally interested in your thoughts as always. Craigo.

Sleeps an interesting thing! Sorry if it was mentioned but how are you measuring, a smart watch or such? Good on you for tracking, super cool what tech can do. This article was published, I’ve only glimpsed the review but based on above you may find it interesting. Not a specific CH sleep study but CH is reviewed in the context of arousal & CGRP. It also looks at microbiome research and sleep. I had this set aside for this weekend to read, will come back and share further thoughts once I’ve digested it. Orofacial pain/headache interlaced to insomnia, sleep apnea and periodic limb movement during sleep/restless leg syndrome: a critical and comprehensive review with insights into social determinants https://files.jofph.com/files/article/20250612-403/pdf/OFPH20241219001.pdf

It is almost spooky. I had the same attack sequence in the nights. I am also getting a sleep tracker. Very interesting

A small (I hope) hijacking. I've been reading more about Dr. Graham, who first provided the "leonine" characterization. Just thought these quotes about women were worth mentioning. "It's a man's disease," says Dr. Graham, and women who are afflicted with cluster headache tend to "act mannishly." What's new on heads and their aches? (This article recounts a couple of 1977 talks about CH at a conference. On one hand, they're pretty cringeworthy, and on the other they at least show some folks trying to figure out what to do about CH. (CH was considered just a subdivision of migraine until the 1960s -- which, depending on your age, might seem like a long time ago or pretty recent.) (In 1960, 5% of medical students were women.)) This is from 2006. I think it still took a long time after that to really acknowledge that many women have CH (and many doctors still don't seem to know that), but she (the author) was trying, at least. "Cluster headache is a notoriously painful and dramatic disorder. Unlike other pain disorders, which tend to affect women, cluster headache is thought to predominantly affect men. Drawing on ethnography, interviews with headache researchers, and an analysis of the medical literature, this article describes how this epidemiological “fact”—which recent research suggests may be overstated—has become the central clue used by researchers who study cluster headache, fundamentally shaping how they identify and talk about the disorder. Cluster headache presents an extreme case of medicalized masculinity, magnifying the processes of gendering and bringing into relief features of the world whose routine operation we might otherwise overlook." Uncovering the Man in Medicine - Joanna Kempner, 2006

At the time I was reading about this I looked like my avatar picture. So it was like “whaaaaat?” And my zodiac sign is lion. And I am 1.86cm in height. That is probably 6feet in American?

Hey everyone. Been awhile since i’ve been on here. I hope everyone is well and in good health. The last time i was on here, I made some pretty anxious and depression-ridden topics about how i thought my life was over.. boy was i wrong. I’m posting this to further support the tools and methods that have been written about on these forums.. and to possibly give hope to those that feel lost, as I once did. The last 4 years have been some of the most eye-opening years of my life. I’ve made drastic health conscious decisions that aided in my relatively pain-free years. I’ve tried “busting” and diet changes. Both with great success. I listened to my body and found that a combination of Vitamin D3, magnesium glycinate and omega 3 supplements help keep my headaches at low pain levels or at bay. An (almost) gluten free, no msg or additive, low histamine, anti-inflammatory diet helps maintain that low inflammation in my body. Sleeping with my head slightly elevated and neck supported also helps me keep the blood pressure from building. I also found that getting sick with a cold/flu will immediately bring a cycle on. I assume because of the sudden onset of inflammation in the body. Especially in the face/sinuses. Taking valuable information given by Pete Batcheller, (don’t know his @ at the moment, sorry!) the cycles have been very minimal in times where they should have been grave and unforgiving. I’ve learned to accept the fact that I may have clusters for the rest of my life. I’m 24 years old, and for the first time in the 16 years i’ve had clusters, I’m finally OK with it. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. But it’s important to keep in mind that pain free responses will not happen over night. Not every piece of information helped me. Some worked, some didn’t. Having a strong support system of people helped immensely. I can partially attribute my positive attitude to one of the “busting” methods that we know about. These headaches made me appreciate the little things in life, which in turn, makes life much more beautiful. Music sounds heavenly, sights are awe inspiring, love for those around me increase. I can live my life knowing I have the tools and resources to stop a cycle, should it come back. I also learned that hardships and trying times await each and every one of us, but will never make life not worth living to the absolute best of our abilities. The human spirit is truly indomitable. I extend my love and thoughts to everyone here! I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated as I grow older

@cluster-schmuck77 Thank you for sharing this update and these insights. I'm so sorry to hear you've been dealing with these since you were only 8 years old. That is so young, I was 14 when they started and I feel like I'm usually in the younger bracket of CH sufferers. I'm 33 now, so almost 2 decades of this hellish rollercoaster. Accepting the fact you may have CH for the rest of your life is not easy, and I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say that. I've found that I go back and forth between being hopeless and hopeful. We are still young so who knows where science will be in the years to come. The human spirit is amazing and us CH folks (and other severe headache sufferers) are truly in a league of our own. We live to fight another day and it sounds like you've made some leaps and bounds in your CH management journey. I'm so happy for you and hope you continue to have this great response. Out of curiosity, how much magnesium do you take per day? Cheers!

Agreed. The "Sometimes" was a bit frustrating because you are forced to go with that selection even if your response would have been "Never".. That aside, my top three were anancastic, anxious and dependant. The dependant one was a bit funny to me because my husband swears all the time "you have your mind made up and there's no talking sense to you"!!

And further back it was probably the witch trials. My greatgrandmother died in an asylum nobody knows why or what. But I think I got an idea why it happened . I am so glad I was born in 1974. Today we got O2 and bustingagents.

Hi! No I haven't, but this is interesting. I've only done occipital nerve blocks twice. Each time I got relief from my episodic CH for only like 1-2 days. From a CH standpoint, this injection would likely help or do nothing. I don't think it would hurt or trigger anything. Good luck and don't forget to report back!

I also read sometime that we(ch-heads) have a leathery skin and lion manes. i thought that was very funny and it fits like a glove. Just like the above personality traits. I am diagnosed on the autism spectrum the OCPD is just like a description of autistic behavior. And the schizoid thing is just the consequence of having a cluster. And I also have a monobrow. And everyone knows what that means

Interesting indeed. My, we're quite the lovely bunch, aren't we? The Google sheet sounds interesting, too, if it was quick and easy enough (what kind of personality trait does "wants things to be quick and easy" come under?

Hi all, Sharing a study just published in Cephalalgia Reports titled "Clinical treatment of cluster headache with the serotonergic indoleamine psychedelics psilocybin and LSD and with ketamine: A case series". Abstract Background: Cluster headache is an excruciating condition for which standard treatments are usually insufficient. Evidence has accumulated that serotonergic psychedelic indoleamines including psilocybin and LSD can be effective in preventing attacks. Methods: In this case series, nine patients with episodic and chronic cluster headache that didn’t respond to conventional treatments were treated at a clinic with psilocybin or LSD, under compassionate use provisions, and in most cases separately with ketamine. Results: All patients responded positively to at least one of the treatments, and eight of nine responded positively to the treatment with the psychedelic indoleamines, in several cases with extended periods free of attacks. Conclusion: These clinical data, though of an exploratory nature, add to the existing pool of evidence for the usefulness of these substances for treating cluster headache, and further support the lowering of legal and regulatory barriers to medical access to the psychedelic indoleamines. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25158163251345472 Fairly powerful findings albeit a small patient cohort. I don't know if ya'll have used Notebook LLM - but the attached audio "podcast" is an AI generated conversation discussing the findings of this article in podcast format. As with all AI - always be cautious but I checked it against the article as I listened and it's an accurate reflection of the article. Psychedelics and Ketamine for Cluster Headache Treatment.wav leighton-et-al-2025-clinical-treatment-of-cluster-headache-with-the-serotonergic-indoleamine-psychedelics-psilocybin.pdf

I'm just gonna move to a planet with no sun!!!!!!!

Anyone consider parasites to be a cause for clusters

Update to this just for notes.. I went back in for another infusion last Monday and Tuesday, only 2 days of treatments this time. No clusters after the first day. I think this did help the last time as it got me out of a bad spot and I did have a few multi day cluster free breaks. they did creep back up to about 2 or 3 a day so I scheduled this last treatment. I have not had to use any triptan or the DHE injections they gave me for home use. I think maybe this time around I will mix in some alternate medications to see if I can just get on top of this crap and keep them suppressed longer.

Hadn't seen this either til now. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - thank you for bringing it to attention @Dallas Denny!

Thanks for the warning! I tried but had some leakage

Its bad enough to where I can't do anything but scream and squirm around on the floor wishing i was dead lol. I am a big advocate on staying away from medicine. I don't even use advil most of the time. I just ordered oxygen so hopefully that will help.