CHfather

 Ricardo, I'm sorry that I seem to have missed--or not paid enough attention to--discussions of this before. You find this preferable to trex as an abortive? Works faster? Less side effects? Or just easier to administer? Is it on the "approved" list of CH treatments, so that a doctor could comfortably prescribe it? Thanks.

I am so completely filled with admiration and awe for the person in my life that I support that I can't imagine anyone feeling differently. It can be very tough being a supporter and watching someone you love go through what they go through, and I can see how that could sometimes get manifested in negative ways (frustration or even anger). But if being a supporter doesn't put your own "problems" into a whole different perspective, then I gotta say there's something wrong with you.

Great stuff! I am sooooo envious of this skill! To the moon, Alice.

No need for me to say much more than Purple already has said -- and I'm also not a shrooms expert. Dallas Denny, who is an expert, recommends these videos (and, as Purp says, you'll get lots of advice here): The preferred site for spores is Ralphster's: http://www.ralphstersspores.com/ Since growing takes time, many people (as Purp says) use RC seeds, which are generally very effective. In addition to Tranceplants, some folks are very fond of KT Botanicals: www.ktbotanicals.com If you're in Europe, allsalvia.co.uk is considered a good supplier. OXYGEN, if you don't have it, is a MUST. If it once worked for you but now doesn't, there are many things you can do to get it helping again. Let us know where you're at regarding oxygen (O2). The energy drinks Purp mentions are taken at the first sign of an attack. Many people find that melatonin at night (assuming your attacks come at night) reduces severity of attacks. Starting with 6-9 mg, some people work their way up to 20 or even 30 mg. I am partial to Trader Joe's brand chewable melatonin, which comes in much smaller dosages but is absorbed more effectively than tablets. (Other places sell them, too.) With those, a person might start with 1 mg. But that's a personal preference of mine based on very limited experience. Finally, the search bar at the upper left on the page can help you find good info pretty quickly. That doesn't mean don't ask -- PLEASE DO! -- but it can also help you.

Did your doc fax the prescription to a specific O2 supplier? If so, it could be that if you contact the supplier and tell them you have CH, maybe they'll know enough to realize what you need. In our case, we sure got more empathetic treatment from the O2 supplier staff than from the doctor. We had to educate the staff, but at least they cared.

Wow. Big step for you, Brad. Wishing you the very, very best success.

didg, if you type sphenopalatine ganglion into the search bar at the top left of the page, you'll find some threads where this procedure is discussed. here's one: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1295122470

But you have it. That's a terrible loss.

 For absolutely no good reason that I can think of, except that I completely love the song, dt's tag reminds me of the great Warren Zevon's swell song, "Monkey Wash Donkey Rinse," covered here by the also-great David Lindley and Ry Cooder. '>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY2CZ0GYUHY

I don't have CH myself, d. Like you, I'm the parent of someone who has it. All I know about melatonin and licorice root is what I've read here and heard first-hand from sufferers. Plenty of reports of both licorice root and melatonin helping . . . but not always, of course.

A lot of people with CH have had teeth removed and other jaw procedures done without any benefit. So that's a caution. But apparently in some cases (or that one case, anyway), it might have been the answer. If he decides to have any dental surgery, check back here, if only to be sure that the anesthetic that's used on him is not of the type that worsens CH pain.

just to be clear, didg, what you want is licorice root. it's a liquid, sold in natural food stores and places like that. homeopathic. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1298659068 dr. kudrow is pretty well known here. he seems like a good, caring, imaginative, knowledgeable guy. if he has anything new to offer, i'm sure you'll let us know. at least, i suppose, he will prescribe oxygen, which is a good thing, and maybe he'll convince your son to try some other things.

This is just a thought based on one person with CH who uses Trader Joe's brand (Trader Darwin) chewable melatonin. That person takes one pill at night when out of cycle and two when in cycle, and sleeps very well. Each pill is .5 mg (yes, .5 mg). A lot of studies have shown that melatonin is very poorly absorbed in tablet form, which apparently is, or might be, what makes the chewable form more effective. As we all know, what seems to work for a while doesn't always have lasting efficacy, or doesn't apply to everyone, but I pass this experience along in case it's worth anything. I see that chewable forms are available in higher dosages at several places now (Walmart, Walgreen's, etc.)

There's always discussion here about best suppliers, and I don't think there's common agreement, but I would say the two most recommended have been www.tranceplants.net and www.psychoactiveherbs.com. (It seems that the third place that used to be most recommended, iamshaman.com, no longer carries RC seeds.) Dosage recommendations have also evolved over time. It used to be that a small dose of 10-20 seeds was recommended to start with, in order to check for stomach upset and to be careful about tripping. These days, we have seen plenty of evidence that at least 35 seeds can be taken by 90-plus percent of people with neither of those effects. Most people jump up pretty quick to about 60 seeds on a second dose, still without psychedelic effects or nausea, and some go higher still. The key thing is to get above a threshold level of the ingredients in the seeds, which is LSA, and I believe that 35 good seeds will do that for people who are episodic, but more is of course more certain to do that. Point of this being that you would want to buy at least 150 seeds to have enough for three "standard" doses, and 200 or more would be better. Preparation is simple. (Drinking the preparation is unlawful.) You grind 'em up in a mortar and pestle and soak them in a couple of ounces room-temp tap water or bottled water for an hour or two, then drink. There are variations on the preparation and consumption, in part because many people find the taste horrible, but those basics will extract all the LSA. Many people "float test" them first, to be sure the seeds they are using are viable. Simple test that takes a couple of minutes at most. We can tell you about that when you get there. Not entirely sure what you're asking here. Most people wouldn't recommend taking them at the same time, but otherwise there are no incompatibilities in terms of busting. RC seeds are an excellent busting agent. If you go this route, let us know and we'll be sure you do it right. Five-day wait between doses is required, just as it is for paper and psilo.

didgens, I hope this method will work for your son and for anyone with CH, or even for the 4 out of 5 that Dr. Shevel is reporting. In the meantime . . . It is a little disconcerting that nasal imitrex didn't help him at all. I've read back through your posts, and I'm perplexed . . . Does he have oxygen? Is he trying energy drinks and/or melatonin? Is he doing the D3 regimen, or licorice root? You talk about planting RC, and you ask about busting advice, but I don't see it indicated that he has actually tried busting. For that matter, why not step up to injectable imitrex, which seems to work for practically everyone and seems less objectionable in your son's case because he has so few attacks to abort? Or another medical pharmaceutical treatment -- verap, pred, etc? I'm not proposing any of these things instead of the surgery. That's up to him and you. Like I say, just talking about things you/he might consider while he's suffering right now. I can see why, with so few attacks per cycle, he might not have acquired oxygen (though it seems like a good idea now, as the frequency of his attacks has increased) or tried busting. Energy drinks are a quick and easy go-to for aborting (if they work for him), and supplementing with melatonin is easy enough to try. Licorice root (which you mentioned in a post or two) could perhaps be an effective short-term abortive/preventive, and the D3 regimen could be an ongoing thing for him and perhaps prevent or reduce the severity of future attacks (as preventive busting might also do). (It's rare for people with just CH to experience auras -- very few do; it's mostly a characteristic of migraine. But that might not be what your son was describing . . . or, he might be one of the few.) Â

DT, you can also use easy-and-legal-to-buy, easy-to-process, inexpensive, usually-non-psychedelic rivea corymbosa seeds if you can't get shrooms or paper. RC seeds work for most people, and for some, they work even better than the other two substances. If this is a route you might want to go, feel free to ask.

yes.

Welcome, newGuy. Sorry you have to be here. Hopefully you know that the most important first step is to get oxygen. http://clusterbusters.com/?page_id=77  Maybe the second thing, since it's simple, cheap, and often effective, is to give the D3 regimen a try. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804   Busting is, of course, very highly recommended (see the various numbered files at the top of the "ClusterBuster Files" section of this board).  You won't find a better resource than the good, experienced, generous, caring folks here -- so ask questions. (Maybe start a new thread, if you think you'll be around for a while.)

The obvious question, kika -- Are your seeds fresh? Even if they are, maybe you should order some from a different vendor, since batches vary. Are you float-testing them? If you're not getting any undesirable psychedelic effects from 50, maybe take a substantial jump (to 65 or 70 or even more) to make up for possible low LSA content in this batch? Are you crushing them the same way this year as in the past (I'm among those who think that they shouldn't be ground in anything potentially heat-producing, like an electric coffee grinder)?

Monster Hitman Sniper and 5 Hour Energy both have a lot of caffeine (200 mg). You can see a whole list here: http://www.energyfiend.com/the-caffeine-database I haven't found one that lists both caffeine and taurine. I guess you could go with the highest-caf ones and then look up the taurine separately.

At this site, you can find a lot of recent (and older) reports about CH research. I think this link will work to take you to the CH-related part of the site, although maybe you have to be a subscriber (free). http://www.docguide.com/search/apachesolr_search/cluster+headache?hash=79f19e18&eid=33488&alrhash=31fc8c-8911591a98c20cef4b6879f9491a0f46 If not, maybe you can get in from here: http://www.docguide.com/neurology/popular/popularnew and then type cluster headache into the search bar.

dt, answering your core question as soon as possible, as you asked: SPUT is a method for aborting CH attacks; the bigger dose (followed by another one in five days, as you say) is to end a cycle (and then later as a preventive to keep cycles from returning). Typical dose is 1 - 1.5 grams dried, but some people who are more comfortable with the effects will go higher, aiming for a quicker knockout of the cycle. Others will have advice for you about preparation and other issues. I just wanted to get you the basics, which is all I know. Ask more and the great, knowledgeable people here will answer.

 Well, he's probably going to be really happy when he gets that mask!! Just to be certain -- often when cannula are delivered, the oxygen mechanism that comes with them is a concentrator, which is a machine that makes O2 from room air. That's not a good way to get O2. Does your dad have a tank of oxygen, not a concentrator?  That's a fairly low dose compared to what many people with CH take (as much as 20 to even 30mg). He might want to try going up a bit. (Or not -- even 6mg is a high dosage compared to what's typically recommended in the medical world. However, he's just taking it during his cycle, so I suspect there are no substantial risks.)  I think most people would agree that if he seems to be getting near the end of his cycle and he's controlling the pain well enough with what he's using, then maybe detoxing and busting is not the best course. But I think he should surely consider preventive busting between cycles from now on -- and he should probably get on the D3 regimen and just make it part of his life. Bet his doctor would even agree with that (though I guess most doctors think -- wrongly, in my opinion -- that 10,000IU/day of D3 is a lot).

Wonderful to hear this! Bacon often has MSG (monosodium glutamate) in it. You're not the first person to find bacon to be a trigger (some people think it might be the nitrites). Keep an eye out for (avoid) foods with MSG.

SJ, are you going to get the non-rebreather mask from his O2 supplier? He should definitely have that right away. What is he using now -- those things you stick in your nose (cannula)? They will barely help. Most people here who use the O2ptimask says it's twice as good as a standard non-rebreather, but it'll cost something and take some time to get that. You can order it here: www.clusterheadaches.com/khxc. Higher flow rate is a good thing. But you will probably have to order that regulator on your own. When you're seriously thinking about doing that, check here for some guidance -- different kinds of tanks require different kinds of regulators, so you want to be sure to order the right kind. As Jeebs said, it's generally believed that Depakote will block busting, so he'll have to be off that for about five days before he drinks any special tea. At his advanced age (I'm a lot older than him, so I can say that) he might also be taking other meds that will block busting. Read this: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290130731 If he's afraid of tripping from shrooms, you might use rivea corymbosa seeds, which work very well but have no trip effects. Let us know and we'll give you some ordering advice. Meanwhile, is he downing an energy drink/energy shot at the first sign of an attack (or at least a strong cup of coffee)? Works very well for some people. And what about melatonin at night? Start with 6-9mg. and work up from there. And of course the D3 regimen, which has helped so many people: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1314134804 Please keep checking with us as you/he proceed in any direction. PF wishes to him. Lucky he's got you!!!!