CHfather

welcome! i know you're not boasting here -- someone to advocate for you when you're suffering so much for so long is a great thing! stay in touch. (maybe start a new thread) i suspect that you have read these files, but if not, please do: "detox" and interactions: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290130731 seeds and preparation: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290128974

:)

mrsg, another one here with all fingers and toes crossed hoping that this is the beginning of the end of all you've been through. your O2 prescription ought to permit you to have more than one tank: ask your provider about that.

nice going, tucker. nice gumption. here's hoping for a quick payoff.

Many people use welder's oxygen. As you say, since that regulator doesn't register LPM, you just have to open the flow until your bag fills quickly between inhalations. Others have cautioned you about this, and they're right. Keep in mind also that busting is usually a process that can take a while. Three or four busts, each five days apart, is pretty common.

 Purp, I admire how much you've dug into this and then shared your knowledge with others. As I was trying to figure out how to prepare RC (before I came to this site), I was reading all these scarily complicated extraction methods (using naptha and other chemicals) at the sites populated by recreational users. I pulled on some old college ties and contacted someone at a med school who I was told would know about these things from a research perspective. I told him I was thinking of trying an extraction with red wine, but that seemed so simple compared to those complicated methods that I wasn't sure it would work. He was wonderfully generous with his advice to me, and among what he wrote was the following: >>> A cold-water extraction is fine, since lysergic acids are quite water-soluble. There is a lot of misinformation on the topic of extraction.... Lysergic amides are water-soluble so an alcohol extraction shouldn't be necessary--but wine is close enough to water from a chemical standpoint that it's the same thing. There's endless debate about the number of seeds necessary, but my analysis found a ten-fold difference in LSA content from batch to batch, so it's impossible to predict how much LSA is in a given seed without trying it. Generally five days between successive administrations seems to be necessary.<<<< So that is the source of my "knowledge" about methods of extraction and time between doses. I'm sure he would agree with others here that the "science" of it is still imprecise and evolving. I had forgotten (this exchange took place in 2010) that he also discussed kudzu and LSA, which is a topic that was brought up recently in davidj's thread, but here's what he said (correctly, it seems) on that subject: >>>Kudzu seems to help intensity, frequency and duration of attacks, but doesn't affect period length. I suspect it's the estrogenic effects of kudzu that helps with cluster headache, and I'm unaware of any interaction with LSA (doesn't mean there ISN'T one of course).<<<

i'm no expert. diltiazem, like verapamil, is a calcium channel blocker. (wikipedia says, >>>Its pharmacological activity is somewhat similar to verapamil.<<<) so, i think i would treat it like verap in terms of the D3 regimen. here's what batch has written about that: >>>in order to minimize a possible interaction with calcium that may limit verapamil effectiveness, separate the verapamil and calcium doses by at least 8 hours. Again, discus this regimen with your PCP, neurologist, or cardiologist to work out an optimum dosing schedule.<<< this is from this file: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804 i believe there is some consensus here that busting can be effective, though maybe not completely effective, while taking verapamil. i assume the same would be true for diltiazem. maybe others know more about this.

Mrsg, it sure hurts to see you still going through so much, so courageously. Really hoping for better from your next bust! Here's a link to the licorice root info: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1298659068 To be certain about the D3, you can read the details here if you haven't already: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804 I know that some people have combined the two approaches (D3 and licorice root) with success. Just please be careful about the various warnings associated with them. Sending you intense PF wishes.

Tucker, here are some sources for regulators. Most people, I think, would recommend that you get one that goes up to 25 lpm, but of course 15 might do it for you, as it does for many people. Some of these places will overnight them (in my experience, eBay doesn't). Be sure that you get one that fits your tank: there are two different types of connections! 15 lpm: http://www.tinashomecare.com/oxygen_therapy_oxygen_regulators.htm?gclid=CMP24tOb... 25 lpm regulator (I think you have to call or email them to order): http://www.lifegas.com/gas_devices_and_therapies/regulators%20and%20demand%20valves.asp 25 lpm regulator: http://www.madamedical.com/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MM&Category_Code=MOR Regular and higher-flow regulators: http://www.floteco2.com/htm/Products/Regulator/B-Regulators.htm eBay : http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1311&_nkw=medical+o... If you're using a tube rather than a mask because you prefer that, then this might not be crucial for you, but a lot of people swear by the O2ptimask, which was designed for people with CH: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/khxc/ Lots of people understand your hesitation about trying something new, having had their hopes raised and then dashed many, many times. But lots of people here have benefitted greatly from RC and would urge you to try it. These files will give you the basic information: Background: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290127865 Using RC: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290128974 "Detox": http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290130731 Here's a report of some LSA users' experience (different kind of seed; same active ingredient): http://www.maps.org/research/sewell_2008_aha_lsa_poster.pdf I think quite a few people here would also urge you to try the anti-inflammatory "vitamin D3" regimen that has helped a lot of folks: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804 Or, if you meet the criteria, the licorice root protocol: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1298659068 As you get closer to taking the seeds, check back in. People wiser than me will help you along that path.

purp, if you change "date" on the search engine at le monde from "depuis 7 jours" to "depuis 1 an," several articles show up, including the one in question.

The five-day rule is not some random thing made up to cause people to suffer. It's based on the belief/fact(?) that dosing less than five days apart tends to "shut the door" and make a bust ineffective. So busting after 4 days, and risking rendering that bust ineffective, really results in waiting 9 days for an effective bust. Waiting 5 days is strongly recommended for that reason. Water alone is just fine. That has been demonstrated in lab tests. If you want to add those other things, you can. But water alone is just fine. And yes, real heat will damage the extraction process. But they can be left at room temperature, and in the light. If you want to cover them in a fridge, you can. But it's not necessary. The lab tests also showed that an hour in water extracts a very high percentage of the LSA. You can leave it for longer if you want, but it's not going to make much, or any, difference. As for the number-of-seeds question: People have busted here successfully with doses of 10 and 12 seeds, with doses of 20, 30, and 30 seeds, and with other seemingly "low" doses. If you want to take more and you can handle it, of course you can. I think that what tends to happen is that people take more in later busts than they do in the first one or first couple. They start to get relief, and they think that it's the larger doses that created the relief, when in fact (in my opinion), it's the cumulative impact of the doses that is bringing them relief, and it's unrelated to how many more seeds they took on the third or fourth dose. Like I say, there's no harm in more if you can handle it -- there just isn't any real support for the idea that a large amount works better than being sure you've taken enough--and 50 (if they're good) is almost certain to be enough.

I know you meant "non-rebreather," but just saying it here to avoid any potential confusion.

PS: Now the "Modify" button is back. Thanks FG.  :-* to you, too.

Yes, that's great. Thanks. :-*. Don't know why my mother never told me about emoticons. . Or :-[.

Yes . . . and I think we would agree that as a doctor, she's not supposed to base treatment on her "beliefs" but on medical science, and about all of that, she's wrong, wrong, wrong.

Hey, the "Modify" button is missing!

Bob, I'm sorry . . . I was attempting to make a joke about the "dying" part. As my mother always told me, people can't tell when you're kidding on the internet. I will go back and edit that so it doesn't scare anyone away. As for calling a dealer to ask, well of course you wouldn't ask the dealer you were going to buy it from. But if someone else who already has an existing relationship with a dealer asks an innocent question and then gets tanks filled as they have regularly done anyway, I don't imagine the dealer would stop selling to them because they asked the question. Or there are many other possible scenarios -- e.g., they ask one dealer; ky goes to a different one. They already have the tank to give him; he just needs to get it filled. My primary concern was to think of a way that he could be comfortable enough with what he was getting to go ahead and do that.

O2 is by the book, in Canada, in the US, in Europe.... O2 is medically proven. The fact that your doctor won't bother to learn that while you are suffering makes her, to my mind, not really a nice person at all.

This is just SOOOO INFURIATING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since this use of welding O2 is kind of "off label," I'm hesitant to push you too hard. I can say that people here have obtained welding O2 from many different companies and used it successfully (or maybe the ones who died from it just stopped posting ;D ;D). It's not unusual for people to get it from Harbor Freight, and there's probably a HF store near you.  If you search for something like [purity of welding oxygen] on google, you'll find 97% of people saying that welding oxygen is as pure as medical oxygen -- quite a few say that it's actually slightly more pure. The O2 itself is definitely not denatured or mixed with other gases; the concerns that are expressed about purity have to do with the tank-filling process, and those are dismissed by most knowledgeable people. (Maybe your sister and brother-in-law might not mind calling one of their suppliers and inquiring about the quality of the O2?)

If you have the resources to go straight to psilocybin and are comfortable doing that, then you should at least consider it. Some things to consider: (1) You might of course "just" be having some post-dose hits, which even seems likely given the good results you seem to have had so far from the HBWR. (2) While psilo will work better for some people than LSA, and vice versa, psilo is not overall a more effective agent against CH than LSA. In fact, there are those who have a broad overview who say that LSA is better than psilo. And those same people say that if HBWR is better than RC, it is only by a very very slight margin, if at all. (3) I personally had a devil of a time figuring out what I was doing with HBWR--getting that husk open, finding and picking out those little seeds, etc. -- which is why I (and many others here) recommend RC over HBWR in terms of certainty and predictability of dosage. Is it time for you to look into setting up your own O2 system using welder's oxygen? This doctor thing is upsetting and completely infuriating; maybe it's time to just act on your own?

mrsg, most of us are here because we've experienced or seen busting work. i suspect that about all we can say in this distressing situation for you is that it's likely to work for you, too -- and we are, in our own ways, praying that it will. you deserve it, that's for sure.

Here's one article on that topic: http://w.baillement.com/texte-migraine-evolutionary.pdf (Not PMing it because it might be of some general interest.)

Hitman also has a relatively huge amount of caffeine--240 mg, which is 80 mg per ounce. RedBull energy shot has 80 mg total (so does an 8 oz RedBull), so the RedBull energy shot is "just" 39.4 mg/oz, and the standard RedBull is 9.5mg/oz.  Almost all Monster drinks have twice as much caffeine (160 mg.) as RedBull. At least according to this chart: http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database  I completely agree that that is the consensus. For the sake of our "citizen scientist" explorations, I just add that one poster recently said that RedBull didn't work for him, whereas Monster did. He attributed that to an ingredient that is in Monster but not RedBull (don't recall what that ingredient was). (And I do think I notice that of people who have tried both, Monster seems to be preferred--but maybe it's all that caffeine and not the "mystery ingredient.")

So much admiration for you. So much hope for better days. Jerry