Bejeeber

Well I went and looked at what 'ol Doc Mercola days about Omega 3 sources and I'm pasting it in here (for me to actually post something on the internet advocating animal source Omega 3's says something about how serious I consider CH to be!): "Why Animal-Based Omega-3? There are both plant and animal sources for omega-3 fats, and there are differences between them. All have different ratios of three important omega-3 fatty acids—ALA, EPA and DHA. DHA is the most important for your brain. EPA is also required by your brain, but in smaller amounts. Plant-based omega-3 sources like flax, hemp and chia seeds are high in ALA, but low in EPA and DHA. Although ALA is an essential nutrient, the key point to remember is that the conversion of ALA to the far more essential EPA and DHA is typically quite inhibited by impaired delta 6 desaturase, an enzyme necessary for you to convert the ALA into the longer chain EPA and DHA. Because of this, it is important to include animal-based sources of omega-3 fats, such as krill oil, in your diet."

There are those who steadfastly refute any trauma relation, but I've seen too many CH'ers report onset or worsening of CH following head trauma to believe it can't play a role.

Congrats from me too on the end of the cycle! I do go for the flax oil which is known to be loaded with Omega 3s and is good for general health in 1,000.7 ways. There may be some reason that Omegs 3's in fish oil are considered by some to be more bio-available or something than flax. I think the outspoken Dr. Mercola super self promoter and supplement seller guy may claim this to be the case, but his general credibility isn't necessarily entirely intact IMO.

Hey Jeff! SWEET about the PF since November! 8-) I haven't personally seen anything that would lead me to think scoliosis could cause CH. Here's hoping the scoliosis therapy is really successful. Definitely keep us posted.

Hey Zak, Good to see you here on the message board - and COOL that you'll be at the CB conference! 8-) You are going to be one well informed, and I bet successful cluster buster, with lotsa new CB pals.Â

Right on the eve of the CB conference!!?? > Leave it to Beaster. > Thank gosh there's an extremely high likelihood you'll be able to send him packing again. 8-) Or better yet - this is just an isolated rogue hit.

I'm in! out. :'( It's killin' me reading this topic, seeing who I'll be missing from this group of friends I relate to the most on this planet (various circumstances, including a sudden ill timed burst of work now after a stretch of worklessness, etc. will keep me home bound this weekend). But enuff whinin'! I'll just resolve to participate next year and will be enjoying following Ting's blog. Y'all have the greatest weekend ever! And let the rocking of the Fuster Cluckers begin. -Jeebs

This is one of those super encouraging and inspiring reports that is a huge morale booster. Thank you Clustermom13! And I hope you are enjoying the diamond earings and necklace that Ron sent. ;D

Aughhh now THAT both sux and Bloze. > :( You could get lucky though and not have any attacks - fingers crossed that that's the case and you arrive in one piece and all hopped up on energy drinks. 8-)

Yeah that 'imitrex math' thread Prof T just mentioned details how he's figured out a way to concoct imitrex injections for around $.50 per abort or so, which is a real attention grabber! I know everyone here including Prof T advises extreme caution if considering attempting home formulations though.

One thing I do know about this is heat is supposed to be bad for the active ingredient(s) in RC, so yep, cool down. RC is short for Rivea Corymbosa and they can be ordered legally from various suppliers such as iamshaman.com http://www.iamshaman.com/eshop/10Browse.asp

Hipshot has confided he always thought Jane Hathaway (on the Beverly Hillbillies) was a dreamboat.

Ditto!Â

It's just tuff for me to guess how many seeds for a given individual, but 30 sounds pretty good to me for a particularly safe and sane way to test the waters the first time. 40 if you're feeling a little bolder. Glad to see that you've gotten all ducks in a row and have the process underway AG.

I concur with CH father about the bottled water, and I believe filtered water (such as with a Brita filter) also comes under the category of "good".

I too think it's a good idea to double check that a non-rebreather mask (not your usual mask - these often have to be special ordered) is being used. The ultimate O2 delivery alternative - Demand valve systems - are considered by anyone who has tried them to be the quickest and most effective and IMO should be more strongly recommended in the O2 info link at ch.com. They're more expensive, but let's get real here - quick, effective aborts are beyond priceless! So if FIL can afford one, I think that's a really good thing to look into for any CH'er.

What CHfather said. Plus, the injections and nasal inhalers (imitrex) interfere with the busting, so unfortunately it is advised to wait 5 days after the last dose of one of those before taking the RC seeds. For any severe attacks that FIL still has to abort with imitrex injection, this tip on how to stretch the doses can be invaluable: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/imitrex.html 15 LPM 100% O2 is better than most CH'ers are prescribed, but for me and many others we have to take it to minimum 25 LPM and hyperventilate it when the high cycle attacks are coming on strong. I actually have to take it to the 45 LPM range. Good that he's already doing the red bull, since chugging one at onset of attack right when going on the O2 can help the O2 abort last longer. I'm hoping a higher LPM could help FIL avoid the imitrex and get detoxed long enough to bust. Verapamil seems more iffy as far as whether it will interfere - I know that formerly chronic CH'er Brew here has reported some success busting with mushrooms while he was still on verap, then complete success when he got off the verap, so it may be worth a try? When FIL does take the RC seeds, I would advise taking them right before bed. Personally I've routinely taken 50 seeds before bed and felt nothing except one minute of nausea and a significantly better night's sleep than usual. The better sleep thing is very common with RC. About what the pain is like - well it is often referred to by female CH'ers as more severe than childbirth, plus it tends to be right behind the eye, which is a tough spot to take your mind off of. Besides the typical signs of someone being in agitated agony, a tearing, droopy eye on the CH side is a common indicator. I'm going to take back the presumptive "needless suffering" comment I initially made now that I know how aggressively FIL has been fighting the CH so far. :-[ We'll hopefully step his game up to that next beast killing level though.

Well he sure is lucky to have YOU! Needless suffering. That's my first take on what he's going through right now. Let's fix that! It really is possible for the vast majority of us CH'ers to find significant relief (me: 30 year CH'er finding lotsa relief). First order of business is to start using high liter flow 100% oxygen to abort the attacks as outlined in this link: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/O2/index.html It's available from medical suppliers by prescription (although idiots doctors usually write a prescription for ineffective low flow rebreather O2 - this can largely be ignored once the O2 is obtained). Or non prescription and available immediately from a welding supply place. Don't volunteer that it's for medical use though. Today would also be a very good day IMO for him to go on the anti inflammatory D3 regimen which appears to have shut down the cycles of some CH'ers and is just good for you in any case: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804 For a super powerful tried and true preventative, psilocybin mushrooms can knock a cycle right out for many of us. Many are fond of the much milder acting RC seeds too. Melatonin 9 to 18 mg before bed can prevent the night hits for some of us. Plenty of other ways to attack this beast, but for starters I've listed what I think are some of the primary things to do first. Stick with us, and please do whatever you can to get dad in-law on this site to hang around with his CH tribe. 8-) I think what you're doing here is going to save him.Â

Ha! Gee willikers I feel all special now! ;D Thanks for callin' me out Kaboomski. I've only been allowing myself enough time to read posts here but not to go off on my routine pontificating the past few days. Plus..um...kinda embarassed to admit this, but I'm going to go ahead and fess up anyway: I've never seen the Blues Brothers movie! Somehow I didn't even realize it was that iconic. Must plead cluelessness. Let Jeebs'n 'Boom now don their matching dunce caps. :-[ Your Kaboom/Sidekickkk road trip sounds like it could be a good bad opportunity for taking up the harmonica though. I do remember this one thing about the Blues Brothers on SNL - "RRRrubber bisCUIT!"

Oh Lordy that blows mightily. Thank gosh you are out of cycle, and here's hoping things get resolved as quickly as possible so you'll be able to get back to delivering knockout punches to this beast without that risk of it being reported.Â

Well you both got me LOL'ing. ;D All I have to offer at the moment is a classic Youtube video - in case any of you haven't seen this one yet: It's the Japanese game show taking place in a public library where everyone is saying "shhhhh!", and the contestant who pulls the skull card has to undergo some kind of torment while remaining quiet. I don't know why torments like "bad smell air" seem funny in this context - but I'm ashamed to admit they do to me. This may be mainly appreciated by guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVHlWcI6vBs The original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVHlWcI6vBs

Somebody needs to alert some reality show producers to the Kaboom, Sidekickkk and younger sister family - the quirkiness of this 100% cuckoo clan couldn't possibly not be a hit. 8-) ;D

That's right I remember Kaboom was wearing pale blue socks when one of the hotel staffers tried to touch her slippers. Big mistake. Don't try this Dan.

Dan, this is a photo of Kaboom's actual footwear taken at the OUCH conference: Dig those socks, too.Â

Thank God for CHfather - the peppermint thing is really worth trying IMO, but I had forgotten about it. :-[