Bejeeber

I see much of what I've tried has been mentioned, so I'll just list things from my past cocktails, etc. that I don't already see listed at first glance. OK here's what I'm remembering right off the top of my clusterhead: prednisone sumatriptan sansert (methysergide) ergotamine midrin capsaicin (Zostrix) in nostril O2 chiropractic acupuncture intravenous magnesium sulfate Naproxen wisdom teeth removal deep breathing of freezing air vigorous exercise the Jeebs Jibulator energy drinks

Well ya can do what I'm doing so far and CRINGE mightily. I find no mention there whatsoever of busting or the D3 regimen, two obviously super important preventive treatments. Oh, and now I see the new admin there at this predatory hijacking of OUCH US is someone known for banishing any mention of busting on his disturbing Facebook CH site, where the most prominent and helpful figures in CH prevention have actually been banned from participating. The original, real OUCH US was very supportive of ClusterBusters.

I too have seen CH'ers reporting relief with benadryl at times - it makes sense to me that allergens could be a trigger especially for those who ordinarily suffer from allergies. Well not all episodics are being hit in the springtime - I've been so lucky not to have experienced strong pollen allergies in my life so far, and over the decades my episodic cycle start ups have probably occurred in every month of the calendar, with spring months not being any more likely than other months. The pollen is thickly blanketing all outdoor surfaces here right now, and no signs of a cycle for me. Knock on a wooden nickel.

Oh no - what a huge loss, this is super sad indeed, and it seems to me the impact of Mark's involvement with discovering and developing busting (!!!) can not possibly be overstated. Mark, you've eased, and in many cases, stopped the suffering of countless CH'ers, and your efforts will continue to do so on a large scale. That sort of revolutionary accomplishment is rare in this world. Thank you for leaving the planet a MUCH better place.

Yo FAB!! So good to hear see your voice, and yes so SUCK to hear of the details of the serious heart condition and the enforced boredom, then so good again to know your getting a lil' better each day. It's a real rollercoaster ride! There's been another recent thread where I've confessed to my past pharma abuse in the name of trying to keep said beast at bay. Taking these big drug risks is just something so many of us have done before we learned of the non-toxic busting and such. Why we would have been motivated to have taken such dangerous doses of meds is of course obvious. YOU ARE NOT ALONE THERE, that's for sure! I'm just sorry you're experiencing a major side effect right now. Relieved to know the day will come when you're cleared for resumption of non boring lifestyle.Â

Sorry, no email reply from Fab yet - I'm afraid she may not be seeing her incoming email at this time. :-/

Awright, that bunch o' greetin's has just been forwarded to Fab via email. 8-)

I think I'll make later today the first cut off for sending a well wishes compilation email, but of course in a second batch I can also forward anyone else's message that comes along after that. I sure HOPE she ain't at no hospital, and considering your past hospital experiences I know you're hoping the same Spiny. I got an impression that she was home and under orders not to exert, strictly enforced by her hubby and daughters. Maybe her computer is located up a flight of stairs....Looking forward to the day when Fab can jump back in here and clear up all these rumors.Â

*bump*

Hi Vickie, I'm a lil' late to the lyrica party here - my impressions are actually all about its predecessor/close cousin neurontin (gabapentin), which I've seen more reports of being prescribed specifically for CH. I do know Lyrica gets prescribed for various sorts of nerve pain. So ANYHOO I've seen that while the occasional CH'er swears by neurontin, probably a higher percentage swear at it. Personally I was a lucky one who actually got good results with it back in my pre busting / D3 days. It brought down the intensity and frequency of hits in a high cycle that was about to spin completely out of control, making aborting all remaining attacks manageable. And I didn't mind the Side effects of feeling a little different and food tasting way too good. I don't know if the food thing happens with lyrica too. Just another example of how various individuals can respond quite differently to the same drugz. 8-)

Well if following someone else's suggestion (CHfather's) = genius, then I guess I have suddenly become smarter'n all crappity smack!  ;D

Fab, get recovered and back here TOOT SWEET. Please. And while yer at it do it in real jiffy. Pronto. We're BEGGING. It's all humdrum and drab around here without your blasts of high spirited good vibes, bursts of color, and perrenial huggings. And your nutty little Yorkies too. ;D I bet they're keeping you good company during the down time. Unless they're constantly bugging you for more and more snacks on top of snacks. OK maybe I'm just starting to project our dog's behavior onto yours, so I'm going to try to shaddup now.Â

CHfather suggested a dam good idea, so I'm gonna do it! At other threads, we've mentioned that our much-loved member, Fabalicious, is currently having some serious heart issues that keep her from coming to this site. Apparently the prime suspect for the cause of her heart issues is her past use of lots of imitrex. Word is she canÂ’t even come here to look at PMs. And I don't know if her PMs get forwarded to her email. But . . . I have her email address . . . So hereÂ’s the idea . . . Those who want to send get-well-soon wishes to her can post their messages on this thread, and IÂ’ll copy them into an email and send that to her. IÂ’ll add your user name so she knows who itÂ’s from. Maybe sheÂ’ll see them and maybe she wonÂ’t, but it feels like the best we can do to let her know how weÂ’re feeling.

I think she has been detoxed, experiencing MUCH better prevention success with her chronic CH va busting, and has practically been a poster girl for complete conversion to a healthy, natural anti-CH program for some months now, but apparently not quite soon enough. :-/ Her ears might be burning like hades right now too.Â

Thanks Alley O , And speaking of pharmaceutical risks, so many of us have been noticing the sudden absence of Fabalicious here on the message board, missing her positivity and hugs, and wondering what's up....well it turns out the doctors are telling her she indeed has heart damage and has to take it VERY easy for a while until they can get a handle on things. She can't even go on the message board. The way I understand it large quantities of Imitrex in her not too distant past are being blamed. :'( Looking forward to the day when she can get back on here, and really hoping she can make the kind of full recovery from heart damage that J eventually has over the years since ditching the pharma.

What Pete said! Personally I like that one as is, no rhyming required or desired. 8-)

P-Elf / Mysti, We've missed you too and been thinking about you - A LOT. It seems like it's been forever since your last post, so it is fantastic to see your thoroughly riveting storytelling talents in full force here again, but *stunning* and disturbing to hear about all you (and especially your mom) have been through. :'( So glad and relieved that at least your noggin is doing better though!Â

High flow O2 is so much better of a route to go for an abortive than imitrex, on so many levels. BUT, Warning: I'm about to blurt out a controversial (?) statement.... From what I've seen, the word *O2* can practically be interchanged with the word *Sumatriptan* in the study on increased frequency of attacks, because it can happen with O2 too. Here's something I've experienced and compared notes with others who have experienced the same: In high cycle? Being awakened every hour with a re-attack after aborting with O2? If you abort it with imitrex you'll get 3 hours sleep before the next attack instead of just one. So could I personally recommend imitrex over O2? NO. Quite the opposite. But I think when comparing the two (which is something I realize I'm the only one interjecting into the conversation here so far), the potential serious heart risks from imitrex use I've been hearing more about lately, the toxicity, the expense and the availability are what make O2 the vastly superior choice, not necessarily the rebound issues. Thank gawsh busting preventatives are working for so many of us, and O2 is safe and non-toxic if needed for an abortive. Of course everyone's mileage may vary, and as an example of that, Nightcrawler, I hate hearing about your 51 attacks in 7 days when on imitrex, what a nightmare, and extremely bad mileage.Â

1) Um...sometimes...from what I remember that info can seem like a huge load of legal fine print boilerplate warnings to comply with laws here in the US, or just a case of lawsuit averse lawyers going hog wild trying to cover every base and create work for themselves, but whatever the case, I'm a bit out of the pharmaceutical loop....thank gawsh....since adopting busting instead of toxic pharma for CH. 2) Yes, sometimes to the nth degree 3) Back when on pharma, I looked at the risks, weighed them against the specter of unrelieved CH attacks, and if the risks were particularly ominous/dangerous.....I would say screw it and still go ahead and risk it anyway. Examples: At high cycle I was injecting five 6mg imitrex shots a day (back before I knew 3mg was a plenty strong dose), right when media reports about coma and death from imitrex were peaking (mid/late 90's). I was charging up a helluva credit card bill at the Tijuana farmacias I would cross the border to visit for imitrex, available there without prescription. Or taking sustained high doses of prednisone despite reading it could cause me to need to be on dialysis for the rest of my life (I don't know if I had even read that right, but now I know too many CH'ers who've needed hip replacements courtesy prednisone, and it sure walloped my immune system after tapering off of it, a known side effect that still treats me to repercussions 26 years later). So my drug risks offered mixed results. I don't know if I'll get off scott free without any imitrex heart issues catching up to me many years after my imitrex abuse. I do have to say imitrex saved my arse for a couple cycles back when busting and 100% high flow O2 weren't known options. Yes I did experience more attacks per day - just as I do if aborting with O2. Here's the thing about that though: I still made it through an entire approx. 11 week cycle without a single attack ever going full blown. And I was never aware of a single side effect from imitrex, which makes me lucky, as that sure isn't the case with everyone. I'm mainly critical of imitrex because of what I've seen others experience, especially the spate of recent reports of SERIOUS heart issues, but not from my own experience. I think the fact that we can be so desperate to quell the beast that we'll take scarily risky amounts of prescription dugs is a good reason for all CH'ers to be well informed about the busting alternative.

Agreed with CHfather. Again.

Sorry I don't know anything about Botox injections in the Sphenopalantine ganglion. It does sound hopeful to me though that the topical anesthetic at the SPG had some good effect. The most closely related discussion I've seen here that I can recall at the moment is on the subject of the occipital facet Botox injections Dan/Hipshot received from a pain doc with some success: https://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1380388743/0 Best of luck to ya tomorrow robertr.

I'll admit to having zoomed to 42 mins for my initial listening. Good stuff, thank you Shocked.

That is awesome to hear about the Ting. Super vigorous exercise at the onset of an attack is a known abortive for some of us (for me it can work, but not in high cycle). For others exercise is a CH trigger, which is just the sort of added insult to injury only a beast could stoop to. >

And may I add that when I talk about busting I'm specifically referring to using Rivea Corymbosa seeds, psilocybin, or other substances in that realm in the effort to stop the cycle. That appears to me to be how it is "officially" used here in stickies like *BUSTING INSTRUCTIONS* and info for Newcomers, but sheesh have I been using the term incorrectly all these years, not realizing it actually should include prescription meds and the like? Doh. If we get more responses here I will be interested in how others have been thinking of it.

I've finally watched it in it's entirety. Agreed with everyone about it being fascinating, awesome, powerful.