Bejeeber

I too eluded capture in these photos, retaining my aura of mystique.

Color now returning to message board ;D, but blugh, sorry to hear about the problems with the various tubings! Sounds fecking miserable. :'( I have an uncle who just had an intestinal blockage from a hospital stay, and the way he describes it, the first scan they did on him for it didn't work, so they ended up giving him another dose of the stuff they were putting in him that lights up in the scan or something, then they scanned him again. Turns out that stuff can have a dissolving effect on blockages and by the time he got the second dose that's just what it did!

;D ;D ;D

Yep, I would put paint in the general *fumes* category along with stuff like gasoline and bleach that can be triggers for me.

Glad the attacks have become less severe but sorry they're still there for ya Mike. Agreed with Spiny that the 90% male thing dished out by the medical establishment is just more of their old BS. Too many females who eventually make their way to the CH forums only arrive after an experience with a doctor who refused to diagnose them with CH because they were female. My experience with Sansert is that it is an incredibly nasty drug with horrific side effect potential, and in my case it was ineffective. I think we agree that pharma is fraught with failure and peril when it comes to preventatives for CH! I see from your earlier posts that you tried HBWR, but have you tried other busting substances such as mushrooms (which tend to be MUCH more effective than Sansert)? There are a LOT of CH'ers here who've had incredible experiences becoming pain free and even able to drink alcohol etc. without a triggering effect (including some chronics who've gained 6 months or so at a stretch completely PF) by simply ingesting some of these plants that grow right at our feet, the medicine that nature intended. Granted, when trauma is involved it can be tougher to get anything to work. :'( I've seen so many CH'ers report onset or worsening of their CH following head trauma that I'm personally convinced there can be a connection. So I don't know, this may be a semi-tough crowd for your tyramine avoidance diet - at least with the luckier among us like me who are PF now thanks to busting. Interested to see how others will respond.

Mystina, Mystina, where has you been? :-?

Agreed with CHf. We've seen conflicting things about Kudzu with no real concrete evidence of anything. So with the latest report from davidj of no interference that CHf mentioned (and also now hearing of the researcher's comment), I'm no longer waving warning flags as vigorously about the possibility of Kudzu crashing any busting parties. And 10 seeds is a super low dose IMO, so if nothing happens we can't necessarily blame it on the Kudzu. If you haven't seen any results from the Kudzu, yeah I think maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go ahead and discontinue it now, so there would be no question about it's interaction with your second bust, which will likely involve a higher number of seeds....

Growing frustrated and frustrateder here that the medical profession hasn't provided you with an expert diagnosis yet - that just plain blows. In the meantime while you're working on getting that diagnosis ASAP, I suppose your plan of trying some of the treatments suggested above might provide some clues (but not necessarily conclusive evidence) as to the classification of the attacks you're suffering from, depending on how you respond. I would hope that you've had an MRI since the concussion? I'm guessing that'd be pretty important at this stage! Please continue to keep us apprised, I feel for you, wish I could offer more treatment suggestions, and am joining with the other fine people here in pulling for you to get some speedy answers regarding whether this is Hemicrania Continua or what, and to get some major relief!

The term "Auggghhhh!" immediately comes to mind. So now this is the CB forum official theme song??!!  Warning to the uninitiated, below video has induced gag reflex in those who lived in or visited households with small children who watched Barney over and over and over and over... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsKO_r76kfQ

What FunGuy said about the CH, HC and Indomethacin. Sorry, but I'm thinking you could still benefit from a diagnosis by a headache specialist, if you could go around your lousy sounding doctor and locate one in your area. There's this OUCH list of "sufferer recommended doctors": http://www.ouch-us.org/chgeneral/doctors.htm The list isn't iron clad or fool proof, but there might be something there... Also if you feel like mentioning here what area you're in, it's possible someone may know of a good neuro there and respond.

Hi Yammy, agreed with DM that an actual headache specialist is your best bet for an accurate diagnosis (NOT a garden variety neurologist - they typically don't know jack). Of course the guy you've been waiting 6 months for very well may be a headache specialist, since a significant percentage of them are negligent about making the patients with the most severe cases wait so long - and with active CH it is an emergency level condition indeed. Speaking of A-HOLES! Grrr >

What Spiny said.

Just for the record, I found your idea of Ruthie hosting a round of Wheel of Fortune and Potter spinning the wheel at the next CB convention to be pure genius and funnier'n hell!! ;D I suppose we should get Potter's input, but I'm guessing he'd be up for it, and I'm practically 100% sure Ruthie would be into it! ;D If this is somehow inappropriate, then I guess we're both in the doghouse now Lenny.Â

Just saw a post from you on the CHf appreciation thread Pixie - does this mean you're officially back in town now and back to the forum??!! We missed ya big time - it'll be so good to have you and your unique color commentary back again. 8-) Some color drained out when you were gone. ;D Did you see that next year's convention will be in Chicago? Wondering if that might mean you could fit it in with another one of your visits there? That would be mighty cool!

I guess we shoulda known. Obviously this term was inspired by and is named after our very own Kaboom - yet another reason for us to burst with pride over the renown of our CBusters family.

;D ;D Well when she's not being booted off of Facebook sites, now her name is associated in the news with bomb scares....everybody better start watching out when she bursts through those saloon doors...

DITTO on every single word and emoticon above! I like to think of myself as the president of the CHfather fan club, but I know we have a LOT of presidents of that particular club here (um..if that's posssible ;D). Clearly CHfather is that rare combo of: ;D

Ooh that is a good find, with the mention of the Trader Joe's brand especially welcome to me since I do most o' me shoppin' there, but hadn't tried their melatonin. [smiley=thumbup.gif]

;D [smiley=thumbup.gif]

Auuggghhh so now we have thousands of Potter posts to go back and decode?! Hmmm now I'm wondering if even the name "Potter" is a code... I know this isn't exactly it, but I'll start off - if we brainstorm and tag team this one maybe we can figure it out: 1)...P...punks 2)...O...oughta 3)...T...tag 4)...T...team 5)...E...every 6)...R...riddle

I was just sort of going with the flow when I spontaneously coined the term *ice cream cones of poison* for them. In fact, I have no education in how to tell what's food and what ain't in the mushroomy world.

Those *ice cream cones of poison* variety of mushrooms look like they think they've found the absolute ideal environment. Does this mean we should inject spores into the cracks in our driveways now in order grow under best conditions?!

WOW, glad and proud to hear how you persevered, sorry to hear you had to do it during a high cycle! Super glad to know that's just black textile in the underarm area. ;D

Sigh. I was talking to a long time, very active and tireless forum member at CH.com who I've seen consistently give the most excellent advice (including routinely recommending that CH'ers come to clusterbusters.com) to countless CH'ers for years on end. He mentioned that traffic is down there as of late due to a migration to Facebook. So I figure that CH'ers gravitating to Facebook is a reality that needs to be recognized, even if, judging by my very first look into it tonight, it looks like an unfortunate development so far. Wondering who here is hitting Facebook for CH discussions and what impressions do you have? I'm noticing that as I'm entering "cluster headaches" into the Facebook search box (in order to get an idea what the average CH'er seeking info will encounter), Clusterbusters on Facebook doesn't come up as an option, even though the official CB page does look very well done. Also in this message board universe it's very easy to remain at least semi-anonymous when discussing busting, but since the standard approach to Facebook is to use your full real name and to have your every post instantly broadcast to family, friends and colleagues, that strikes me as an issue for most of us.....? Then the first discussion I just found on CH.com's Facebook page was this following one I've pasted below, and it's seriously pathetic regarding busting: Hello Im from Kelowna B.C. Canada ....I started a new cluster period two weeks ago.....is there anyone in the area also suffering? I Wanted to share some tricks that r helping me Deal with the beast......ora-gel for your teeth ..if u swallow it also numbs the throat ....Ice on neck and head ....i take frova before my next expected attack rather than waiting for the onset ....Has anyone had success with magic mushrooms? 111Like · Jackie Scott likes this. Susie Doug Singmaster Murray I started a cluster 2 weeks ago also. Never tried anything you listed but will look into it. Hope your cluster ends soon August 27 at 5:28am · Like Negus 'Gustafa' Finn my cluster started about 5 weeks ago would like to know any tricks u have,i have only used the nasel spray and painkillers!what is frova my friend? August 27 at 12:04pm via mobile · Edited · Like · 1 Robert Twigge frova is a triptan used to treat a single cluster attack....it is very expensive....about 25 bucks per pill in canada a doctor will likely give u samples for free ....drink lots of water and ice your neck and head i use a thai external liquid and rub it all over my face and neck and also started using ora-gel to numb my teeth and throat....Best of luck! August 27 at 1:08pm · Like Melissa Campbell I personally would not use magic mushrooms August 27 at 1:09pm · Like Melissa Campbell have you spoken to your doctor about it. I do not think something like magic shrooms would be good but I am not a doctor. August 27 at 4:32pm · Like Sandy Kinghorn thought that this might be of interest I have been until recently a long term cluster headache sufferer. In July 2008 I was referred to a consultant at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland by my doctor. The consultant suggested that the cause may be linked to the way I was sleeping. I tend to sleep on my side (foetal/recovery position) often with my hand under my face and also I previously used two pillows. The consultant suggested that the pillows might be putting a permanent crick in my neck during the night and that this might be an underlying cause. He suggested trying sleeping with a very small pillow, or no pillow, to try to keep my spine straight, up-to and including my neck vertebrae, while sleeping. I have taken this advice. I use a very small pillow, and also have tried to train myself to not use my hand as a pillow. (I think that this might also press a nerve in my cheek which might be a cause or trigger). This seems to have worked. I have had one or two individual headache attacks but not a cluster in the same way as before. I have woken up many times with the beginnings of one, but found that I had my hand under my face and/or my neck was scrunched up on the headboard. As soon as I sorted this out (i.e. moved my hand out from under my face and moved back from the bed headboard) the “cluster headache imminent” pain build-up has disappeared, and I have generally been able to go back to sleep. I keep reading reports on line of people with CH clearly going through hell. I remember being prepared to try anything to stop it. This simple solution has worked for me so I am sharing it in a few places on line in the hope that it might help. I put this up on a CH noticeboard on Facebook yesterday and it was apparently removed. It would be interesting to know why. August 29 at 9:00am · Like Robert Twigge I will look into it.....im getting pretty good at avoiding attacks with frova and would like to help other CH sufferers September 1 at 9:22am · Like · 1 Steven Areia OXYGEN is AWESOME to stop the headache in its tracks September 17 at 3:56pm · Like · 1 Steve Lambert I agree with you about the oxygen. While I was in the hospital for 17 days I was able to use oxygen at 15 lpm using non rebreather mask. Consistently, within 15 or 20 minutes the headache would subside. I wish there was a machine that could generate 15 lpm, but I have not found that machine. And, with 5 headaches per day every day (chronic cluster headaches), giant oxygen bottles are not practical. September 22 at 4:41pm · Like Robert Twigge use triptans as weel as oxygen September 22 at 5:50pm · Like

OK so now we know Spiny wields a cutting torch, enjoys making jerky out of Bambi, and digs heavy German industrial music. Oh man I hope she's not packing heat at BusterCon 2013! Ha, just kiddin' Spiny. Your ears must've been burning last weekend when clusterheads were hangin' out in the sports bar and wishing you were there. There was a debate as to whether Spiny is pronounced "spy-knee" or "spinny". I voted for spy-knee.Â