Bejeeber

That is stunningly awesome. :o Thank you thank you thank you Bob'n Kaboom.

I'm afraid I'm not well informed on the subject, so I can't offer an opinion with any sort of credibility. :-/ This got me to wondering though whether RC seeds could be something to try, since I and others have found we can just take a therapeutic dose before bed and get a better than usual night's sleep, without psychedelic effects, in contrast to mushrooms, where 1 gram can throw some of us into a state of sort of disorientation and there's more of a bad trip possibility....?

What he said! Glad that you've escaped major interference from the elements - when I hear about severe weather in Oklahoma I always think about you and the new house going up. Cool that you have your own private woods. 8-)

Great to have you here Red, and here's hoping that you'll find some good relief and can get back to sleeping with no need for fist clenching. I would imagine that high liter flow 100% O2, RC seeds and the vitamin D3 regimen could all be good things to try (simultaneously! ) as soon as you can.

What they said!

"cluster headache is associated with a low prevalence of cardiac disease as well as cerebrovascular disease even though the majority of patients are chronic heavy smokers. In US cluster headache sufferers, there appears to be comorbidity with restless leg syndrome, and this has not been demonstrated in non-US cluster headache populations." Interesting. I can vouch for being a CH'er with restless leg syndrome. I've relieved the RLS with magnesium BTW.

Yep, the deadly combo of ignorance and arrogance unfortunately appears to pervade that profession. > It's nice to be able to vent with some online doctor bashing - I know, I've had years of experience!

Happy B Day Lenny, but don't tell CHfather about that slip up or he might open up another can of whoop-ass on Ron!Â

So the head of Neurology is unaware of the existence of chronic CH and refuses to acknowledge it as a condition.... Sadly unsurprising.Â

Hey Ting, Sounds like nobody even had to use the bucket at cross fit. SWEEE-eee-EET! ;D Is this one of the impossible to upload pics you were talking about? ;D You do look like you're having a fun day! [smiley=thumbsup.gif] That tall dude in the middle needs to roll down his pants leg though.Â

And hey I just noticed that at least with this online version of the interview, we get to post replies, and get our $.02 about O2 and stuff in there. 8-)

Hey Jerry - In my view the statement is almost accurate, as it sounds like he's talking about a high dose burst of prednisone, which will more often than not completely stop the attacks. Of course it doesn't really stop the cycle though, since as he goes on to say, as soon as you taper down from the unsustainable high dose of prednisone, the hits likely come right back (and boy they often come back with a vengeance! ). So yeah, I too am disappointed in the omission of O2, etc., and the dismissal of natural treatments, since a natural treatment (mushrooms) is working better for me than anything else ever did! Also, one thing I try to keep in mind when reading interviews - but don't always succeed - is that IMO at least, *medical doctor* isn't the only profession that is rife with laxidasical, negligent slackers. Another prominent one is *journalist*. Misquotes in interviews have historically been the rule rather than the exception.Â

Hey Brad, Here's something I and some others have found about O2 and imitrex: I know I can safely hop on the O2 tank first without going for an imitrex injection, because if for whatever reason the O2 won't perform the abort alone, it keeps the attack at bay enough that when I throw in the towel I can jump to the imitrex and still abort with an injection as a last resort. That said, nothing under 45 (!) LPM O2 will abort an attack for me when in high cycle.

Ha! ;D So it turns out that one would have a good chance of sending their CH into remission by visiting a UK PMD, and practically zero chance by visiting a US PMD (primary medical doctor).Â

Hey Gord, Good to have ya here clusterbro! 8-) Sounds like you could use a serious backup CH fighter or 3 in your arsenal, and I'm agreeing with CHfather that high flow O2 would be something really good to be acquiring right around now. IMO you oughta try rockin' a demand valve system. 8-)

Yes. My CH has always been on the right side and I feel a real connection with that little varmint. ;D

OK now the brainstormin's kickin' in and Kaboom just took it to the next level, as is her custom. 8-)  ;D

And here I always thought PMD stood for Pickled Mambo Donuts! I guess Primary Medical Doctor it must be then - good snag Jerry. 8-) And I can't think of anything better than Jerry's vote for doctor X for both referring and primary doctor. I sure hope they can actually make good on the UCSF Headache Center Practice Manager's offer (that we have in writing!) to "do our best to accommodate an appointment expeditiously once records are received". Hoping that in this case "expeditiously" means expedite.Â

I'd say since you like dogs you could get one like this, but I guess these are just for girls, darnit:

Ooh good catch there Brew - I had plum forgot about that. :-?

Imitrex is known to block the effects of RC seeds and the like. You may be able to get away with staying on the verap. A mid size can or shot so that you're getting around 100 mg caffeine. Chug it as fast as possible at onset of CH attack. I don't think cold or warm matters. Some CH'ers believe that the carbonation in the cans helps with quick absorption. I dunno about that - I think downing a shot in one second makes for pretty quick absorption, and helps you get to your freezing air breathing/welding O2 breathing or whatever else ya got faster. [Edit: just saw CHfather's post that went up while I was typing mine. You're the fastest gun this time CHF, but I'll get ya next time - meet me at high noon! . Anyhoo Crystal, I'm agreed with CHF, and will just add that some CH'ers even take the melatonin up to the 18-21 mg range (I don't actually know how safe that is though) to get night relief.]

Un-fecking-believably cool!! Glad to hear you're leaving the max amount of trees standing. 8-)

Unfortunately you would have to be detoxed off the drugs for 5 days in order for mushrooms to work effectively. :'( You and I, as episodic CH'ers are in a different place here than the chronics when it comes to deciding whether to detox and bust, and with only 2 weeks expected to be left of your cycle, well I would probably save the mushrooms (or RC seeds, more about that later) for prevention of your next cycle. A couple things to note: That verapamil dose is a low one for CH. CH'ers routinely find that much higher doses are what actually works. Hopefully someone who's been there will happen along and elucidate, or you could start a new topic here or at the other ch.com message board asking about it. If the prednisone isn't helping much, well I'd taper off. That's because at prolonged doses of 60 mg I experienced immune system malfunctions, and this and many other serious probs are to be expected with sustained high dose prednisone use. I just don't know how dangerous 40 mg a day is compared to 60 mg. If you're in the US you can potentially just get welding O2, cheaper, without a prescription! And it's reputed to be the same stuff as medical. lots of CH'ers do this. I bet CHfather will provide some input on this. Always listen carefully to everything he says. I do. 8-) Your idiot doctor sounds kind of hopeless, but don't you be! I imagine you're pretty much in "high cycle" at the moment with attacks coming on strong. That could make it more difficult for the following couple of quick and dirty free CH aborting techniques to work, but they could be worth a try: 1) At onset of attack, breathe freezing air deeply through the nose. if the outdoor weather isn't co-operating, jump in the car and put your nose up to the blasting A/C vent. 2) At onset, exercise extremely vigorously, as in sprinting A couple more side notes - drink an energy drink or shot such as Red Bull that contains caffeine and taurine at onset. This could also help the partial dose imitrex/freezing air/exercise/O2 work longer and more effectively. If you were to taper off the prednisone and hadn't taken the imitrex for 5 days it could still be worth trying RC seeds (which are legal/easy to acquire) or mushrooms even while still on verapamil.

Crystal check out this link that describes how to stretch your imitrex doses - it may enable you to get 2 CH attack aborts from that one last shot (I've used this successfully many times for getting 2 doses from a 6 mg shot): http://www.clusterheadaches.com/imitrex.html

That sounds like it would be the pill form of imitrex, which most of us find to be quite ineffective. Of course there's a wide consensus among those who've tried high flow 100% O2 that it is a preferable first line abortive, but if you are going to use imitrex, have you considered the partial dose injection method which is much more effective than the pills, and cuts expense and side effect risk by providing 2 or 3 aborts per injection? Here's the link: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/imitrex.html