Bejeeber

Yeah I'm afraid most if not ALL of us are familiar with that sad and tired old routine! I sure hope you can get to a good headache specialist sooner than later, Legion, as it's hard to imagine one of them trying to slap the hillbilly heroin on ya - certainly the experience wouldn't be as FUBAR as it is with your current doc. Glad the girlfriend didn't comply with your hammering instructions.Â

Thanks for the update MG, that's pretty darn tootin' interesting.

Oh. Well based on my personal experience, that can be a MAJOR game changer right there, since as episodics we do have the option that our chronic compadres don't have of riding out a cycle with meds, then following up with maintenance busting. I've ridden out a 2.5 month cycle before with O2 and meds (plenty of trex jabs at high cycle for the wake up hits) when RC didn't bust it for me, and have successfully busted with vit M ever since, so I can see this approach working for others too, especially when there are only 2 weeks or so expected to be left of a cycle. With hyper-vigilance, luck, and armed to the teeth, I was able to abort every single hit during that 2.5 months, at least well enough that I never had to endure a full blown, full length (3 hour long) version. So my take on it is that we don't have to adopt a religious sort of shunning of all meds when there's a temporary, critical situation they can very likely help us out of. [Caveat: keeping in mind that there's a slight risk of an episodic pattern treated with meds turning into a chronic one when we least expect it - a risk I took and was lucky enough to come out the other end fine.]

Understood about the need to have that trex injection handy. You might find some recent posts by Ricardo on the subject of trex injections in proximity to busting to be interesting, keeping in mind that there can be a wide variation in how we CH'ers respond to these things, and that Ricardo takes unusually high Vit M doses: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1369049582/11#11

Hey iPain, the following idea may seem ridiculous, and maybe it isn't really a realistic or advisable option for you, but just grasping at straws here I started thinking about how close you are there in South Florida to the Bomba Shack. I don't even know if the Bomba Shack still exists, but If you haven't heard about it, here's a link to a thread devoted to it: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1297450426

I'm compiling a few of those here for the heckuvit. There's a photo circulating somewhere on this message board I think of the last graphic on the bottom tattooed quite largely onto a members calf (it was photographed at a CB conference).

Hey iPain, If you're considering trying other busting materials such as vit M, that does sound like a logical next step to me. Certainly there have been others (including myself) who've been able to get back in the busting saddle again after switching. Also, have you tried different vendors / fresh seeds for your latest RC busts? Some of us believe RC potency can possibly be an issue from batch to batch.

Hey Legion, so glad you're connecting with other CH'ers and their supporters now, because THAT'S when a headbanger tends to finally find valuable info about how to get some genuine relief. And I'm even gladder to see CHfather is your first responder, because in typical fashion he just laid out a fantastically thorough and succinct CH killing road map there for ya. I'll just add that CH'ers trying melatonin on for size are known to start with a 9 mg dose before bed, then increase in 3 mg increments all the way up to 18 or even 21 mg if necessary. About your oxycodone prescription: There are drugs commonly prescribed by headache specialists for CH and oxy absolutely isn't one of them. Yep, it's just wrong, dammit. Hey have ya seen the National Geographic episode about CH and busting ? (Busting is a more effective CH preventative then any prescription). Well here it is - the segment starts around 30:50 into this video and it features our debonair forum member Dan/Hipshot and his lovely wife LeeAnn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjteSZu_JqM

WT FACK??!! I didn't even know that was possible. > Really sorry to hear that your beast is right at the forefront of such innovations. Â

COOL. 8-) Nice photo of y'all hangin' with Jay Leno too.

Happy birthday Matty, and hope to see you in Chicago in September for the convention.  [smiley=birthdays.gif]

"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute -- then it's longer than any hour. That's relativity!"Â Â - Albert Einstein

DAM. I'm afraid all manner of headbangers may be delayed at airport security on their way to the CB convention when their prednisone induced hip replacements send the metal detectors into full tilt (if the hips are being replaced with some sort of titanium or other metal...?)

Thank you for piping in about that Ajax - I know I needed the reminder, as I've been hearing good things about it from you and others, but it slipped me brain. This is getting interestinger and interestinger.

That's a heck of an interesting angle you have there with the small doses of trex in proximity to busts, Ricardo. Question: Do you recall ever going a full 5 days detox before a bust? I (and if so was the bust any more effective than usual?) And chrisw, is it safe to assume you're just injecting "partial" but effective doses of trex in the 2mg / 3mg range, not what amounts to a completely unnecessary overdose of an entire 6 mg syringe per abort?

Hi Jubal - glad to see you're getting info here about the O2, busting, etc. that has gotten many a headbanger off the prescriptions and and enjoying some serious pain free time. Ooh I admire a lot more expensive guitars than I own, but if any of those you've acquired are "vintage" I bet you've actually made some really good inve$tments there. 8-) -Jeebs, member of the Fuster Cluckers, gigs pending at the Bomba Shack. ;D

That is clearly a seriously fecked situation you're in Chrisw, I just hope that after you run the detox gauntlet this week you get some good busting relief. Certainly there are headbangers who have been in a similar severe situation, but have somehow made it through, and are now so glad they managed to stick it out. Please listen to Cman59/Johnny who has made it through 40 years chronic, and is enjoying some good life now. I read your previous posts about how cafergot can work for you when you're on the seizure meds, but vit M is blocked, and I can see why you became interested in paper. I know we're all racking our brains here trying to think of some ways for you to deal with the upcoming week. Ordinarily I'd bring up melatonin for those night hits, up to 21mg, and trying an energy shot/drink along with the O2, since some CH'ers report it can make the difference between O2 working or not, plus they can somehow go back to sleep despite the caffeine blast, but I figure that's all probably old hat stuff to you..? The only other thing that's occurring to me at the moment is whether you're hyperventilating super high flow O2? If anyone should be using a full on O2 demand valve system right now, I'm thinking it's YOU. Hell I do know from experience though that in a crushing high cycle even the huffing of high flow O2 can be iffy for the major wake up hits. :'( Just know that you have a helluva cheering squad here and we're pulling for you in a major way to get to that Friday busting goal.

Super glad to hear you have a good UK pal personally coming to your assistance now. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

I think that actually should've been a major CH indicator for any doc with a passing familiarity with CH. Speaking of which: I'm going to try to go one further here and suggest you specifically seek out a headache specialist type neuro, since garden variety neuros often don't know enough at all about treating CH. Kudos to your second doc for doing homework enough to make the CH diagnosis. Sounds that way to me too, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find any headache specialist prescribing it that low. This could be an instance where an injection form triptan (imigran/imitrex) would likely trump the nasal spray and be able to abort the attack. Another advantage to injectors with an accessible syringe is that you can stretch your doses out and make them last, which is critical for so many CH'ers, and I see it is for you too. I guess you'd want a combo of imigran inhalers and injections so you could still inhale while teaching....? Here are details on how to stretch injection doses: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/imitrex.html I believe your research results there are spot on. You may also want to look into the vitamin D3 regimen which many CH'ers believe has helped them with prevention, and IMO you'll DEFINITELY want to learn about "busting", which is a much more effective preventative than any prescription RX, and is something many of us CH vets who have tried and eventually sworn at every med, now swear by. Here are what I consider very important (and also very engaging) links for an easy overview of busting (OK you're a teacher and you don't need easy, but with CH attacks tearing through your grey matter, maybe even you could use a break from the researchy technical stuff). 8-) A Newsweek (major mainstream US news magazine) article about busting and CH: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/10/14/the-psychedelic-solution.html A National Geographic episode on CH and busting, profiling one of our forum members, the now movie star "Hipshot" who regularly interacts with us here (you'll meet him and LeeAnn when you come to the Clusterbusters convention in Chicago in September. Hey MG from the UK is attending ). Dan's feature begins in this video at around 30:50.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjteSZu_JqM A video talk by the founder of this site, Bob Wold, on busting and his long experience with prescriptions vs busting: http://vimeo.com/10918637

That's just un-fecking-believable. Now I REALLY can't imagine... :'(

I can't imagine anyone going through about 35 years (after subtracting your PF interludes) of being chronic, and how on earth you were able to withstand that. So sorry that had to be you C59, but dam happy that you have a remission in the works again. PHEW. Now down to details:

Those moments are so special!! Reminds me of when I had to ask to use the bathroom in a small pharmacy so I could quickly jab meself in the leg with freshly purchased trex after having completely run out. The unique part was that this was not so much a pharmacy, but a farmacia, in TIJUANA. (I lived in san Diego at the time, and it was more economical to pop over the border for med$). Oh well at least that bathroom was actually clean, so you still got me beat b.g.Â

Hate it when the beast returneth like that. > I bet you'll shut him up with the next bust or 2.

Well I know from your previous experience that it can take a few bustings to completely snuff a cycle that's already gained a foothold, but it sure would be simply lovely if your bust last sunday was all ya needed for a good long while! I suppose if I were you, I'd be starting in on the contingency planning for a repeat detox/bust - just in case it becomes necessary. Here's hoping these shadows fizzle out and you do actually find yourself completely scott free!

Well the pred sure does kick your brand of journalism right into the gonzo category, and I have to say it is hyper-engaging. ;D This is entirely classic and should be enshrined somewhere ;D: Sorry to hear that it ain't working out so great in the CH dept. though. The chronic guy I know who had the recent success with pred? Years back he had pretty much sworn it off after he says he went cuckoo on it, and didn't sleep at all. The crazed insomnia is definitely known to happen to to some people, some of the time.