Bejeeber

I've had plenty a shadow between cycles. I don't recall too much of what others besides @BoscoPiko and myself have reported about this, but I think of it as being kind of 'normal' for us episodics. Like BoscoP, when the shadows get stronger (and for me, more frequent), I take it as a likely sign of an impending full strength cycle revisit.

What FunPiko said. Or was it BoscoTimes? Anyway, those two individuals dispensed the big, solid, and for so many if us life altering clues which could make all the difference in your search for something that will work. I'll just drill down into a bit more of the detail realm: What form of Sumatriptan are you using? If it's 6 mg injections, that's an overdose, but the good news is that since you only need 2 mg you can triple your supply with the imitrex tip - extending imitrex. Here's hoping the new neurologist may be a headache specialist, since that is the type typically in the know.

Hi Gail, so sorry to hear of the evil switcheroo that has been pulled on you with the unexpected O2 fails. I realize you've participated here in the past and you know about the two most popular non pharmaceutical approaches: D3 regimen and busting, so I'm at a bit of a loss for any good new ideas. I suppose you've tried caffeine or energy shots with the O2 to give the abort that much better of a chance. Then you mentioned the seasonal change, and you're probably aware that an antihistamine such as benadryl or quercetin is known to be recommended as an adjunct to the D3. There has been a mini trend that finds some respected CH'ers using DMT for aborts with 100% success rate, but it seems to be hard to source, and not exactly all that simple to extract either (plus it is one of those illegal psychedelics, although an extremely short lived, short trip one). I don't have a recollection of whether those PH affecting grapes and oranges have ever been discussed as having any effect on CH prone-ness. Personally I'd be skeptical that they'd be the culprits, but maybe we'll see if anyone is interested in discussing that.

Yep, prednisone and verap often prescribed together with the intent of the pred kicking in immediately, while the verap more gradually gains effectiveness. Personally I used to find a pred burst/taper could knock even a high cycle down - but just temporarily while at the high dose (which would be dangerous to stay on for a more sustained amount of time - I know, I pulled that very dumb stunt 33 years ago and am still paying for it).

Cluster Bunny®

I used to get broke neck on occasion (around our house we like to refer to it as the "Lock Neck Monster"), but I never thought to track whether it would precede a cycle. I do seem to recall a lot contributors here being a real pain in the neck reporting some serious neck pain, and I believe @Dallas Denny is one of them. "Cluster bunny"? Some genuinely classic gallows humor there! I hope you don't mind if I start using that - you should probably trademark it and require a royalty payment whenever it is mentioned.

This is new to me, but a very welcome idea to think that snorting a bit of ground black pepper, then letting out a whopper of a loud shnoz-blast could abort an attack. I wonder if it helps to keep mouth closed during the therapeutic sneezing session (I had seen some study where they determined most stuff expelled during a sneeze typically comes shooting out of the mouth)? Here's hoping you continue to successfully deploy "sneeezeborts", and please keep us apprised!

Spiny that reminds me to start planning on stocking up on heat sensitive vitamins (the B vitamins in a multi are especially in this category), before the hot months encroach here. And Joe maybe something for you to keep in mind too, that stuff shipped from the roasting US in the summer could be exposed to some high sustained heat on the way over there to the Emerald Isle?

This! ^^^ Ditto for me, just more of an evening habit in my case. I tend to come out of it feeling like a most welcome reset button has been pushed, and with a relative feeling of physical homeostasis. Now if I could just keep the meditation from triggering attacks while in cycle (oof!), much the same as other super relaxing activities such as naps and night time slumber will.

Hi @BoscoPiko! Good question. I thought this fairly recent scientific study on the subject, using MRi and everythang, which concluded ".......if you want to get something out of your mind so you can put in new information, 'suppress' works best.", was interesting enough to be trying their technique some myself. Not sure yet how well it has worked for me - I have so many self recrimination inducing memories vying for attention, it will take a good while to work through them and try to boot them out.

Wow Joe, that hammering you took sounds like the worst, really sorry to hear it. If I were you I think I too would be moving into the zone of combining busting with the D3 regimen. Note that microdosing, if defined as being in the .25g realm, isn't generally considered an effective preventive by those with a lot of busting experience/knowhow. Meantime here's hoping your reorder of the multi arrives toot sweet!

@Juss, are you going with the NOW brand of NADH? Any thoughts on it and your NAC vs the NAD3/NAD+ craze? I'm known to procure and consume HPN brand NAD3 from the Bezos empire, but it was kind of a roll the dice crapshoot when choosing between it and the Niagen NAD+ (and whether those forms are what they are marketing-cracked-up-to-be). I'd like to drop several more ultra-annoying acronyms here for all to enjoy right now, but have to run, will check back later.

I'm inserting some genuine encouragement <here>. Wow, that is beyond nightmarish indeed about your current bout, but first, kudos to your doc for the suggestion to check us out, and second, lots of people have gotten a significant amount of control over the migraine and CH, so there is real hope you can too. For starters: If you happen to be in the US, many here will go for cheap welding O2 (which is the same stuff), for an O2 affordability workaround You'll notice some unlikely seeming, but now about as long proven as you can get (while awaiting completion of large scale scale scientific studies), preventives used successfully by legions of CH'ers, and starting to be adopted by migraine folk. Namely the D3 regimen and busting, which play well together. That "New Users - Please Read Here First" Blue Banner at the top of the page contains starter busting info. If you're not seeing a lot of responses on this very new migraine side of the Forum, we can move, or copy your post over to the long established cluster side, especially since you unfortunately straddle both.

I don't have an informed opinion on whether the verapamil could be a factor, but I have noticed that sudden changes to what had been predictable timing patterns, including time of day, are common.

Good question @lbh, maybe Batch @xxx will have encountered this and be able to offer a workaround. And heck I may have some personal interest in the subject, as I suspect I may have been able to correlate a brief wave of evening nausea to nights when I've taken magnesium glycinate following dinner.

I'm not aware of any universal cycle coming to an end indicators - I've seen some CH'ers report the attacks going out with a bang, and others report them going out with a whimper. For me it's been the latter - they've just kind up ramped down and fizzled out, much like they gradually ramp up for me.

I wouldn't be surprised it were to end up being the if anything, like just a timing the beast has seemingly arbitrarily chosen this time around, as opposed to a dietary trigger, but heck, seems like no harm in tracking the diet and experimenting with it, in case there's actually something there that has become a genuine trigger.

I must agree with the esteemed previous responders. My cycles do ramp up starting with more shadow level "warning shots across the brow" (a term I believe I am guilty of coining, although it doesn't exactly fit in my particular case, since I feel it behind the eye). So yeah I'd be moving right now on getting all those ducks in a row, and even backup ducks in a row. The stuff @BoscoPiko and @jon019 mentioned. Plus you've probably noticed a whole lotta headbangers have successfully prevented cycles with busting, as seen at the blue "New Users - Please Read Here First" banner/link at the top of this page.

That sounds like plain old everyday man behavior, which of course can complicate man flu treatments.

Count me as really sorry to hear this too. I'm not even close to being qualified to comment on the D3, not to mention Vit C and stuff, but @xxx has been quite generously chiming in a lot lately, heck maybe he'll even want to address this topic also.

Classic! ^^^ - and indeed a real world example of how sometimes a strategically placed woosie admonition by the right person really can end up being helpful.

Now THAT is the best kinda MIA! Attack free for 6-7 weeks!? Here's to the O2 tank continuing to collect all manner of dust!

SOLD on the hot springs Sue - they in all seriousness sound like a most excellent environ for a clusterhead. "Fill it to the rim with Brim" is one I've trotted out when this particular coffee subject has come up in the past (Shaun if they don't have Brim in the UK, it's a coffee brand, and that used to be their advertising slogan).

OK let's make a pact to try exactly that, and let us not forget to puff on some DMT at the same time, while remembering it is only polite in such instances to share with neighbors. Wait, firing up some DMT right when sucking O2 would be a highly combustible situation, but talk about going out in blazes of glory as we take flight in bathtubs over the roofs of the neighborhood.