bradg

Hey CHers; I have had some success (read: correlation) with using fruit and vegetable juice to combat my headaches. There were a few things at play here: summer is usually light in the pain department for me, I had a big bust at the end of May, but I swear this stuff has really helped. It's either the juice, or the first real remission I've had in several years. I drink apple, carrot, and cucumber juice two out of three meals a day, and I've been doing this all summer. School just started back up - usually the beast is out to play, but nothing so far. I decided to give this a try because 1) I'm a little hm...fluffy around the middle, 2) another CH sufferer I met said she controls hers with a strict diet, and 3) I watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. It seems to be working, but then again, correlation does not imply causation. Any experience with this?

In my experience, "fluffy white" is the cobweb mold. I had a bad infestation while trying to use a new humidification setup. It grows on the cakes at first, then takes over the bases of the mushrooms. I took out my cakes, washed them, sanitized the container, replaced my perlite, and used scissors to cut chunks out of the cakes where I saw any mold. After a couple days, I cut up the cakes again. My yield was down, but I still got some usable medicine. google cobweb mold and see if that is your problem. Best of luck! bradg

I get hit this time of year around St Louis, every year. Also fall. Crazy.

Hey old headbashers, I've done this twice before--waiting until the last minute to get my PC growing. I am an idiot. When I have PF days, I just don't think about it until it is too late. Coupled this time with giving doses to my brother and two new-to-busting sufferers I met in the last two months, I'm very close to dry. Here's the question. I have 14 capsules left, and I usually take about 8 as a preventative every month or so. By my math, they're 0.2 grams net (dry) in each. Am I better off taking two doses of 7 pills 5 days apart, or, taking all of them at once? I have no problem with the "side effects." I also have quite a few year-old RC stuck in the back of my refrigerator. What would you do? As a side note, one of the sufferers I met was getting hit really bad, every day, in class, and had never heard of this site or busting. I asked her a few questions about the nature of her headaches, and it was obvious what her problem is. I'm glad I was able to help, gave her some instructions, and when I saw her on the following Monday, I got a big hug and a smiling "thank you!" It was so awesome to share the ClusterBuster love! take care, bradg

Hey friends. I haven't posted in a while because life's been a little busy! When I last checked in I was battling the worst cycle I've had. Since then, the RC helped tremendously (after 5 doses of 50-60), so that's new in the arsenal. Also, my vitamin M matured, and that works better for me anyway. I got married at the end of May to a beautiful, understanding woman. She even puts up with the CH! Honey moon was tremendous, and thankfully, I got the first few sprouts of the M to my head the night before liftoff which means no major CH during the trip. Life is good. Thanks to everyone here for their help. Question: anyone use gelcaps for the mushies? love, bradg

I've long wondered if one could inoculate a log with pc and bury it so it fruits like this. I've seen other strains that like to grow this way, shitake, so why not psilocybe?

No offense taken, spiny. I finally understand what is meant by "slapbacks." Holy cow! That didn't happen with the vitamin M.Two splitting hits that night, and a shadow has come and gone regularly since. I think I'm busted, but will have to try again this weekend to really send him on his way. Thank you EVERYONE for the tips, support and love. Bradg

Spiny, thanks for the advice, but just because I'm taking physics doesn't place me in the same age bracket as the other 'kids!' It's my second trip through undergrad, after a hiatus. Anyhow, I dosed with RC this morning. I took 50 seeds, removed 20% floaters and coffee-grinded the remaining 40, soaked for 1 hour and drank with OJ on an empty stomach. I was braced for some kind of experience, but didn't feel a thing. Maybe a little lethargy, but nothing out of the ordinary for a Friday after a week in engineering school! It may be too soon to tell about the bust, but Mr. Shadow did move to the opposite side of my melon. Bradg

Ugh! Day 2 of detox from all the bad stuff. I got hit bad in Physics class this morning, it is a terrible place to have a cluster. Had to leave of course, but where to go? I went to the bathroom. They must think I'm psycho. The beast always tells me how hard he's charging on his way in, and I sometimes get really scared about what is about to happen. > I'm not going to miss this bastard! Come on, Friday.

Thanks for all the advice. I start the regimens and stop my medicines tomorrow, bust this coming weekend. I'll be in touch. Brad

Since I'm no stranger to busting medicines, do you suppose a larger dose of RC would be beneficial? Good to have you back, pixie, and thanks for the advice. Hope you're feeling better soon.

If you're into this sort of thing, I highly suggest the Missouri state fair. There was one booth that would deep fry ANYTHING. buy it at a different booth, bring it to be fried. Good lord! Poptarts though? How in the world?

Hello fine folks, I need to pump some advice from the deep reservoir of knowledge around here, if you please. I busted very successfully in July and September of 2011 with the psilocybin, but the beast has come back. Through poor planning on my part, I had no mushrooms at my disposal this time around, so I went to the doctor and received a course of medication that I have found effective for short periods of time (with crazy side effects of course). So now I have a few cakes that are growing their beautiful mycelia, but the fruit won't be ready for a few more weeks (I'll post some pictures!), and I need another solution. I have ordered RC seeds and they are in the mail, from Canada to St. Louis-ish and I don't know when to expect them. My massive prednisone dosing (very effective) is over; I stopped 7 days ago, and the headaches are gaining a new foothold. Attacks at odd times: it hasn't had the chance to be regular or extremely intense yet, but it is closing in fast. I am currently taking nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker like verapimil, oxycodone for immediate relief, and of course the caffiene. What I am looking for is advice on two things: 1. detox over the next few days and 2. melatonin/D3 advice. 1. I would like very much to take the seeds as soon as they come into town. Has anyone else in the midwest ordered from Tranceplants? How long does the shipment take? Through reading material available here, I have determined that 25 seeds is where I should start. Comments? Anyone use skullcap and find it effective? Should I stop the nimodipine? Will the '5 days' rule be enough for detox? I have been taking this for 3 weeks now. Should I taper this off? Basically I want to balance my "medicine" from the doctors (slightly effective) with the real medicine coming in the mail to minimize my suffering in the next week. 2. Could this course of prepping for the RC bust possibly include Melatonin and/or D3? I have waking attacks at night, which tells me that melatonin could be effective. Will either conflict with the bust I have planned? I have never used either of these or O2. I know this is a lot of question marks in one post, but any comments would be appreciated. Y'all are awesome. Stay classy. 8-)

I can't believe I hadn't heard of this before. Great site. Thanks, moxie.

Wow, this is a hell of a crowd! Very funny. The beast has no sense of humor. This is documented fact. All this joking around should keep him away for sure. Best of luck to the two of you over the next few days!

Great link, thanks. Really nice video.

Good thing CHers are the toughest around. Good luck bb. Good luck brew.

My brother and I were adopted when in childhood, so much of our medical predispositions are unknown. However, we both suffer from headache, but the headaches are not quite the same. Mine are definitely clusters. His treat him more like migraines and have responded to migraine treatment, but seeing him with an attack is like watching myself. I can tell they are harsh. His are also episodic, I am chronic. After I found this community and busted the first time, I let him in on the 'secret' and it helped him as well. So that's it fwiw. File this report under 'maybe.'

This is a huge fight to consider undertaking, although you know that. If it is possible, I'm in!

Hello, fellow busters. I've just been lurking since I first posted about a year ago. Back then I was prepping for my first bust and your advice proved valuable. For that, I thank you! I busted with 4g of p.c. in the middle of a long, hard cycle. I use 'cycle' here, but it never goes away! Anyway, I saw immediate reduction from 4/day kip 7 to just shadows overnight. Three weeks later, a 2.5g bust reduced the beast to shreds. 10 weeks without a peep. Life=good. When I had a shadow, I took a small dose of medication (too small for the scale to measure - 4 or 5 little caps), on the order of 6-week intervals for the remainder of the year. This worked well. One month ago, shadows came back, but I had no medication ready. This cycle came on very fast, and the beast was snarling louder than ever. 9am, 1pm, 5pm, 10pm, 2am, clockwork. Tick, tick, tick. The 2AM ones seemed the worst, kip .. oh, 8.5, I'm not sure. Crying, squeezing of whatever was close. You know the drill. SO, I went to the doctor last week. I told him everything. I have been keeping a journal (which he really liked) and spilled all of it about the busting, dosage, preparation, everything. He had some interesting things to say, mostly in the form "If I tell you to up the dose to x grams and space the dosings apart by x weeks, I might lose my license. So I wont tell you to do that." VERY helpful, wonderful, knowledgeable man. I hope you all can find a PCP like this. He asked ME what scripts I wanted. The last combination seemed to do the best, so I asked for that. Prednisone bolus, 60mg/day and wean off. Nimodipine 30mg 3x a day, and Oxycodone 5mg as needed. Started that Friday, 30 April. Just shadows, and the oxy takes care of them. This should buy me enough time to prepare my own medicine. He gave me some insight into the workings of the FDA. He said although they will approve a pill that makes you crap yourself uncontrollably, they will NEVER approve a pill that messes with consciousness, even at sub-hallucinogenic dosages. I generally dislike smileys, but > . So, good news and bad news; more toward the good side, and that's all we ever wish for. Thank you all for your e-love and e-support. Even if I don't post often, I still read other people's experiences, and that helps an whole lot. Regards, bradg

I'm very, very, (did I mention VERY) pleased to report a significant decline in the severity AND frequency of my clusters! I busted a week ago today with 2-3g dried. I don't know what else to say! I had a kip 2 last friday (4 days after dose), and the same yesterday, NOTHING today, and I plan on busting again this weekend to get rid of the shadows. Maybe I'll get out the old Pink Floyd vinyls. I cannot CANNOT say how happy I am. I forgot what life is like! Thank you thank you all for this resource. ;D

I haven't taken anything for 2 weeks now besides ibuprofen. Should I abstain from that as well? Thanks for the well wishes.

Hello everyone. New 'clusterhead' here. I've been suffering for 6 years. I had a Kip 9 brainbreaker a month ago that made me look for information online, and I've been lurking for a few weeks. Never imagined this support network existed. I'm chronic with 2x daily kip 7 in the morning and a kip 4.5 at night. Every day. I had one remission of 60 days, three years ago. I've been through Sumatriptan, Verapimil, and Prednisone treatments with no long-term luck. Prednisone works for one week with very high dose, then things return to normal. Ugh, 'normal,' I wish. I am very pleased to report the fruiting of my Ecuadorian BRF cakes. I expect to have my first 'bust' this weekend or next week. I can't wait. Every time I read a success story, I get a little amped. Thank you all for all the great information! Wish me luck.