court1218

Hey Thoro, In my boyfriend's case we've had a hard time getting our hands on shrooms. D was chronic for about 3 years (not even knowing what CH was or knowing about the shroom option) At any rate ... he has cut his headache frequency and level down considerably by doing an elimination diet. It has consistently reduced the pain and frequency over the last 8 months. It's consistently been once a week and recently he goes about 2-weeks in between. I posted the results and the diet here under The ClusterBuster Files section: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1301882443 Also, if you are interested in this type of therapy in general watch the 'Food Matters' documentary or clips on youtube.com to learn about how important food is and the big money that goes into creating genetically modified foods (corn & soy and potentially salmon), spraying crops with dangerous chemicals and of course, pharmaceuticals. We all know that in high doses these things are bad for us. When they test these chemicals, if only a small percentage of the population has an adverse reaction ... it still goes on the market. That sucks if you are the small percentage. I hope you try this even if you are able to get your hands on some shrooms =). Courtney

D has tried accupuncture... it's great for dealing with depression during difficult cycles. It's been a great resource for educating ourselves ... and our accupuncturist is continually trying to find new solutions and has helped us dig through a lot of information and resources. He has become an ally and a great resource for finding alternative treatments.

Thanks Guys! Pixie, that's good to know. The treatments for the water was going to be about $100 ... and that's a lot if it isn't going to help.

Just to clarify, the melatonin and pineal gland caught my eye and made me wonder at the potential to affect CH. It's a bit random ... but Kidney Stones are the only other time I've seen someone in comparable pain to CH.

I had heard that flouride (which the government puts in our drinking water) is known to cause kidney stones and I started looking into it a little more in it's relations to other body parts. I found this article on the potential affects of flouride on the pineal gland ... it's a rough idea ... but I wonder if anyone has eliminated flouride from their drinking water and what were the results. Here is the article, basically it discusses the affects on animals, how it possibly calcifies, how it may block melatonin, and just a ton of stuff. http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/pineal/

Diet #2 - Maximized Living - note that there is a version for healing and a version that is recommended for anyone who wants to maintain health.

Here are the cliff notes of D's journey and how the attached diet helped him. D is the sufferer, I am the girlfriend/researcher and I feel a responsibility for us to share what we've found successful. D's typical chronic schedule from 2007 - 2010: 3-4X a week. Pain medications would help a little, he even had an epi-pin that would work 50% of the time.  After a few months, he'd have to get a new medication when the prior medication would stop working. In spring of 2010 he stopped medications and started alternative treatments. The results are as follows: * Chiropractor (stopped 12+ mos ago): no change * Acupuncture (stopped 5-6 mos ago): Went 7 days w/o a CH .... but then resumed to typical amount ... but CH schedule changed (not just at 2:00 in the morning ... but randomly during day or night). * Guna (last treatment - 2-ish mos ago): HELPFUL!! Homeopathic, fda approved pharmaceutical from Italy. Painful, expensive but improved quality of life in between headaches and recovery time. I can ask Dr. for professionals in your state – if anyone asks. Reduced headaches to 2x per week....also headaches were somewhat less painful. *** Elimination Diet**** (started Nov 2010): I was already a health-nut, now I am a total weirdo. This stuff worked!! First few weeks, nothing significant changed then D, eliminated oats too. For 8 weeks, D had 1-2 headaches a week. They were less intense too ... 3s and 4s. He did have a bad one a few weeks ago, but he had tried to add some foods back into his diet and the weather changed ... so we are not sure which triggered it...he went back on the diet 100%. Many people in the alternative health world use 'alkaline diets' and other diets for things like cancer, diabetes, etc. There are also theories about Leaky Gut Syndrome, genetically altered foods, and serotonin in the gut. I am telling you this, incase you want to do research. I don't really have a lot of information on these things. ... but if anyone else knows this stuff, please share. I wish I understood why this has been effective. PLEASE READ BEFORE TRYING EITHER ATTACHED DIET. I AM ATTACHING 2 DIFFERENT DIETS – EACH MUST BE READ VERY CAREFULLY. In D’s case one food, made a significant difference. ELIMINATION DIET: This is the one D tried. He also eliminated oats and this was key.... MAXIMIZED DIET: This was a seminar I went to last week from a health professional who promotes this sort of eating in general but especially for healing ... the idea is to get the body to heal itself. Its very similar to D's diet and the premise makes more sense to me, but I can't claim any results. It also has websites listed for additional information. GOOD LUCK! If anyone tries this, please let me know how it goes or if you need any recipes. Agave is a life saver ... it's a natural sweetener...and pretty good.