les genser

I have been repeatedly flattened by phrases such as "I have been taking verapamil as a preventative for three years" followed immediately by undeniable evidence that said drug prevents nothing. The operative question then becomes the obvious why take it? Humans are funny. Verapamil works by artificially aging your circulatory system to the tone of an eighty year old (which is probably insulting to lots of eighty year old people). The list of deleterious side effects is lengthy, which annoys me, but what really frosts my wienie is that it DOES NOTHING for cluster headache except exacerbate rebound. If you are one of those who believe it helped you, bless you, but you are wrong right along with the medical geniuses who prescribe this crap because it is accepted protocol (as established by the indentured temple prostitutes of big Pharm)and for no other reason. After all, why not trust the medical industry? Now that their multi-billion a year depression meds have been shown to be ineffective, their latest ploy is to INVENT "treatment resistant depression" and NEW ineffective drugs to take with the crap that already doesn't work for a condition that is COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. People here already know that detoxing from meds is necessary, and we have discussed how they change the quality and character of receptors in the brain. What is not commonly realized, however, is that by their own admission, brain researchers are basically the high tech version of kids poking a critter with a stick to see what it does. This is not a criticism; there is lots of exciting and excellent work happening. The drug pushers, however, in their sociopathic greed mode, don't care about facts, and knowledge or the lack of it when money is on the table. Given the recent mainstream interest in entheogenic drugs, I am horrified at the prospect of the pharmaceutical industry engineering the decriminalization and subsequent regulation of hallucinogens for their own benefit. God knows they own enough congressmen to do it. We will not get effective treatments for cluster, ptsd, depression, cancer palliatives, etc. ..... we will get Soma. NOTE: This righteously indignant rant dedicated to Bejeeber and CH Father who seem bored. Apologies to the shade of Aldous Huxley.

I read this, go over to a news site and whats the lead story? "Prescription psychedelics may be closer than you think". Lately, we have been getting carpet bombed with these things. Story is at Alternet.com.

Now you know why I can't render an opinion. My expertise with vitamins ends with the one in powdered toast. I am very curious as to the nature of the mechanisms involved in that D3 regimen, though.

I cannot render any opinion regarding the vitamin regimen. I can only point out that quantities of any substance in excess of what the body can immediately use (other than sugars which are converted to fat and stored) are excreted, so I don't think the megadose thing is strictly speaking useful. The mechanism by which O2 works is exceedingly simple. High oxygen concentrations act as instant vasoconstrictor, narrowing vessels and restricting peripheral capillary blood flow. Lots of CH pain is caused by swelling tissues (capillary flow) reacting to nerve activity (either hypo induced or triggered). This starts a loop in which blood vessels themselves swell up (edema) in order to push back against swollen tissues to maintain their flow, causing yet more pain. Are we having fun yet? The oxygen shorts out this loop. Thats why it works best when used before the whole carnival starts up. This, by the by, is the theory behind triptans, which are also fundamentally head vessel vasoconstrictors; the difference is that O2 clears your system in about thirty seconds with a relatively low probability of rebound. Triptans are nasty chemicals and the brain does not enjoy them, and they don't work globally (in the body) as oxygen does. My point about the hypothalamus was that no therapy that does not directly affect the hypo is going to stop night hits (from happening), which are directly mediated by the hypo. Aborting is a whole different thing.

An addendum, because once I start thinking about this stuff I can't seem to stop: There is a natural but annoying tendency among people in pain to jump at solutions and drop them just as quickly when they don't yield instant results. The operative question is of course, why don't these things work for me?. Part of the answer is in the actual physical structure of the brain. Psychiatric drugs (antidepressants, SSRI's, etc.) of the type routinely yet stupidly prescribed for cluster patients alter the actual number and character of receptor sites in the hypothalamus and other locations. The organism attempts to compensate for this, which is why removing those drugs is frequently such a problem. Compensatory behavior in the body in response to triptans, verapamil, etc. leads directly to rebound, which is one type of compensation everyone is familiar with. The residual damage done by (particularly) psych meds is a giant shit storm that is soon to break in the popular consciousness; simply doing some casual googling of the subject will frighten you, and thats good. My point is that most people who have been through the medical mill are carrying damaged hard drives that need time to heal and normalize. If you spent 30 years eating McCrap you would not expect to look like an underwear model after a week of dieting.

Night or sleep hits are completely mediated by the hypothalamus; this is largely why usually reliable aborting methods fall short and boomerang drugs like triptans do more mischief. Inscribe this on stone for yourself: Nothing that does not directly act to alter the cycle of the hypo has a pissant's chance of relieving your headache when it starts like this, and it truly does not matter whether you do this or that differently, it will come back because you haven't touched the cause. Clusters start two ways, outside in and inside out. Outside in is the progression of "shadows", or fibromyalgia-type pain in peripheral areas (neck, shoulder, jaw, etc) which escalates into a full attack, involving the hypothalamus eventually. These are the ones we can abort, and they commonly occur day/evening. Then there are the inside out variety which originate in the hypothalamus. These can occur during the daytime; the came out of nowhere hits perhaps preceded by a hot flash that kip up to holy shit land in minutes. These are the notorious night hits. They come on schedule like a Satanic Amtrak. Whatever your pattern is, will be reliable. Mine was two hours, almost to the minute. Fight it off, back to sleep.. two hours. And so on. Everyone has there own version of this. My own personal but informed bias is that melatonin is ineffective; it affects sleep patterns but that is not the problem. Altering your pH, ditto. For night hits, alter your hypothalamus. Step one: Don't piss it off; watch the rebound causing drugs. Step two: Busting encourages your hypo to reset itself by rearranging the quality and quantity of its receptors. Licorice root in a different way (it is a SSRI) achieves the same thing. Dynamic equilibrium, balance in the HPA axis, no headache. Especially the inside out hits. Many people have related to me that the licorice root was particularly good at stopping the night hits; I know that was true in my case it totally shut them down and I had lived in fear of them seemingly forever. Use it with the skullcap tincture and you will sleep well.

Quelle surprise. I am not sophisticated enough with computers to do this, but if you go to Alternet.org they have reprinted an article from I think Mother Jones that is all about how literally wonderful psyolocibin is, based on that recently completed study at Hopkins. Its nothing we don't all know, but its interesting and edifying to see it discussed in mass distribution print. Or semi-mass distribution, since only goddamn hippies read Mother Jones anyway.

Expert Mycologists can be fooled; positive ID of mushrooms most frequently involves spore prints and meticulous physical examination. Mushroom poisoning is insidious. For example, Amanita Palloides (death cap) kind of resembles other species when small. Ingestion will make you (flu-like) sick for a day or two and then you feel better. Four days later, the toxins are disassembling your liver and by the time you notice it it is too late. Untreated it is fatal the vast majority of the time. (Ergo the name). Doctors in the US are largely helpless since they can't employ the only known effective remedy to Amanita poisoning, which is tincture of Milk Thistle. It reduces mortality when used to less than half. Anyone dealing with mushrooms would be wise to remember this remedy. It is also extremely useful in hepatitis (all), cirrhosis, etc. as it actively encourages regrowth of destroyed liver tissue. This is my favorite example of Doctors handcuffed by an ineffective and repressive establishment. Its not like its experimental; the research is extensive and this herb is in clinical use in more enlightened places like Germany.

A brief addendum re: dosing. There is a differentiation made when discussing hallucinogens between psychotropic effects and psychedelic effects and it is completely dosage dependent. Think of it as identical to having one cocktail and getting a buzz as opposed to having five and getting stupid drunk. For those unfamiliar, do not be afraid of psychotropic effects. Most people will just experience minor changes in color perception and things seem unusually funny. By no means does this level of dosing interfere with cognitive function or your usual self-preservation mechanisms; while you should absolutely not attempt tasks you would not do while drinking (unless you are Doc Ellis), you will not attempt to fly. It is really quite pleasant. My purpose in bringing this up is to extend the point made by Jerry above: Home chemistry being what it is, you will only be assured you have an adequate level of LSA if you actually feel it, but working up to that level requires experimentation. Your description of night sweats indicates to me heavy hypothalamic disturbance. If it were me, I would try busting early in the day, 8 to 12 hours after I would start licorice root and skullcap (which eliminate night hits for many people and may seriously cut down post-bust hits; I can't try this myself as I am PF); and I would hunker down optimistically with some abortives and see what happens. Verapamil is worthless and it will hurt you. In my opinion, melatonin is as useful as HeadOn. Also, not just my opinion, most physiologists are highly amused by the concept of "mega-doses" of literally anything, and inadvertent damage can be done so be careful. Good luck.

This is slightly off topic, but instructive. I was reading one of those complimentary large format 'alternative health' magazines I picked up at an organic market downstate the other day, and there was an article about herbal first aid for parents, being summer and all. The article was written by a woman (obviously a heavy advertiser in this rag) who was something called a "sound" and "color puncture" (???) therapist. (Note: this mag is published in the same county as one of the premier schools of herbal medicine in the country, Tai Sophia Institute. They couldn't find a real herbalist?). It was concerned with cuts, scrapes, insect stings, poison ivy, that sort of thing. I wound up flinging it in disgust and ranting to my wife that no wonder people question the efficacy of plant remedies when morons are allowed to print nonsense. She recommended arcane plants and things like seaweed, which no one is likely to carry around. The truth is that the solution to simple summer medical problems is usually right at your feet. In the interest of restoring some integrity to my calling, I present just three common weeds which I guarantee to perform wonderful things. (Please google pictures of these plants so you make sure you've got the right stuff). 1. For cuts, scrapes, mosquito bites, bee or wasp stings: Plantago Major; plantain.: Not the banana thing. A ubiquitous weed found almost anywhere in the world Europeans have been (it is naturalized here; it is known as the 'white mans' footprint'), it is found wherever people are, and not where they aren't. One of the finest medicinal plants in existence, the first herb I ever learned and still one of the most useful, internally and externally. It will stop bleeding and absolutely eliminate the itch and pain of stings. It will suck toxins, splinters and debris from wounds.Simply take a leaf (make sure no chemicals have been sprayed, if its from a lawn) and chew it up a bit to crush and release the ingredients, then slap it on the wound or bite and hold it there for a few minutes. Ta da. 2. Achillea Millefolia, Yarrow. Named for Achilles, who healed his warriors' wounds with it. The feathery, fernlike leaves and flowers (the wild white kind, not the pink ornamental garden variety) when crushed, will stop even relatively serious bleeding almost instantly. (Internally, the tincture is a wonderful fever reducer moving heat from the core to the surface. The plant habitually grows in hot, dry soils. Coincidence?) 3. Impatiens capensis, Jewelweed. Called spotted touch-me-not, this is the premier poison ivy remedy, often found growing right near it. It prefers damp, wet areas. The sap from the hollow stems and the crushed leaves neutralize the toxins in PI. You can take the juice and freeze it in ice cubes to use when the plant is not available. Stops spread of rash, and use with plantain as well to remove itch. Thats just a couple that actually work, and I use these on a regular basis. OK, I feel redeemed. But I thoroughly understand the attitude of folks who are skeptical of herbal medicine given the profusion of snake oil salesmen (and women) out there. Hope everyone is well.

Hi. Licorice root, although it will work as a quasi-abortive, is best used at a regular 3x daily regimen for prophylaxis. This has seemed to completely block sleep hits for most people who have tried it. (Honestly, if it did nothing else I would be happy. Night hits suck tailpipe). I am a little concerned, though;- I assume by injections you are referring to Imitrex or other triptans. They work primarily as vasoconstrictors slightly downstream from the HPA axis; licorice root raises blood pressure;,, more pressure + narrowed plumbing= headache. That is my principal difficulty with them. That and the fact(s) that they don't work and they suck money from your wallet like crack. (Not a problem for you, I presume. We live in the third world).If the doctor wants to stop them, good on him/her; they are as useful as a hedgehog in a balloon store. Also, be aware that just as with any medicinal substance, there is a point at which too much is too much, and licorice is an exceptionally powerful herb, so here is what I would do: 1. Read the thread again. Dose 3X daily, as preventative. 2. Use with Skullcap tincture. My respect for this little swamp weed is immense. It will restore destroyed nervous systems, at ordinary levels it will not make you drowsy, yet its sedative and calming powers are amazing. Used with the licorice (3x daily, same dosage amt.) it reduces secondary neuralgias (shadows) and if your system is clean it just stops them. Get a preparation made from fresh plant if you can; they are much more potent. 3. As an emergency abortive,either or both tinctures may be used in this fashion: Five drops under the tongue, or as we say in order to be obtuse, sublingually. Wait thirty minutes, repeat if needed until relief is obtained, but always wait thirty minutes between applications. That is the safe way to do it. 4. If it stops the night hits for your son, you may assume its working. The cleaner he gets, the better it will work and he won't have to think about aborting full on hits. 5. If either one of these applies: stop alcohol use. stop tobacco use. I know, but I am not a Mormon missionary... you will not believe the difference this makes. Read the nicotine research. I am still having trouble myself, but if I don't smoke, I don't get shadows. It is really that simple. I hope this is useful, and I am glad he is making progress.

What he said. Thanks, Jerry. Just to be clear though: DO NOT do them at the same time. What a SSRI does, of course, is keep more serotonin in circulation before it is recycled. Licorice will amplify the effect of other drugs acting in the same areas, like steroids. So I suspect that one gram might seem like ten. Or, it could be like an interference pattern and cancel out. I really don't know. It would be interesting to find out, but I am NOT looking for volunteers. If you separate by 8 hours you're good. Neither substance sticks around.

Michael; It may not seem like the best time to consider how fortunate you are; but your father would clearly take your pain from you if he could, with full awareness of what he was asking for. Not everybody gets that. Be present. Be aware. When the experience has washed over you, you will remain. And remember what that little green smartass lizard said: "Luminous beings are we; not this crude matter." Good luck.

In a word, no. Gabapentin (neurontin) is an antiseizure med which works by 'decreasing abnormal electrical energy' in the brain; but it is not selective, as you might imagine, and it turns everything down. You become a zombie sock puppet. A potentially suicidal sock puppet. It has a couple of other uses, but CH is NOT one of them. It also comes with a list of serious side effects longer than your arm. Do not think of having your daughter take that shit. I will say this again, though I realize it will anger some people: No pharmaceutical drug in current use is a reliable, effective and safe treatment for cluster headache. No drug exists which targets known causative pathways or secondary neuralgias specifically for the amelioration of cluster. Everything prescribed for cluster is a hand me down of stuff that didn't work all that well for what it was really intended for. By reliable and effective I mean something that works 80% of the time, every time. Virtually every med out there barely clears the statistical placebo level. By safe I mean a substance that will not disrupt normal functions, not cause organ damage and not destroy quality of life for what minimal return they provide. Here's the angry making part: Your doctor and his/her prescription pad is categorically NOT going to help relieve or (gasp) cure your cluster headaches. I don't mean to be flip, but if that were not the case none of us would need to be here. End of rant. Now, specifically, Booj's mom: 1. If she is spiking hits that much after two doses it is likely her serotonin levels are not normalized and/or her receptors need some restoration. 2. I am going to assume she was detoxed prior to busting, but it begs the question was it sufficient? Has she been on any pharmaceuticals, particularly long-term ones? 3. If psylocin is causing disruption, perhaps a gentler option is called for. Have you read the licorice root thread? I have been pain free for nearly six months (after just shy of forty years) using nothing else. Licorice root & skullcap tinctures are little short of miraculous restoratives for frayed out nervous systems. Whether or not they stop the headaches, they would be of much use. Unlike psychedelics, licorice will actually balance serotonin levels as it is a highly efficient reuptake inhibitor. And unlike drugs which do the same thing, there is no tolerance, no withdrawal, and no serotonin syndrome when you stop taking it. And its cheap. And its legal. I would also like to offer the thought that at this place, at least, "alternative" is frequently synonymous with 'useful', 'practical' and 'effective'. I hope she is doing better.

Facts must never be allowed to interfere with the opinions of the ignorant. I am reminded that in the early days of psychedelic research, it was all academics, philosophers and scientists doing the advocating until they were stopped by the righteous. Fear and mistrust will quite literally prevent people from even hearing arguments for drug reform, regardless of the credentials of the presenter. Oh, and I apologize for being dickish about Stephen J Gould back in January. I'm actually a big fan.

Its not being a cry baby at all, its being smart because ignoring those shadows will prolong your cycle if you are episodic and deepen your pattern if you are chronic. Standard antiinflammatories will not do much. Picture it this way: It is the nerve itself that is firing mistakenly, and drugs act not on the nerve but on the tissues the nerve affects, so the real problem is never addressed. For what its worth, in my opinion corticosteroids are virtually never worth taking. Too much collateral damage; they date rape the most sensitive electrical/chemical interfaces in the body and cause permanent tissue change. And, as I mentioned, it won't stop it from coming back. The key is recognizing that the 'outside in' triggering of the trigeminal and or associated nerves which pass through the hypothalamic region is A) what causes majority of attacks later in episodic period and what causes majority of daytime hits in chronics and C) it must be treated seriously and concurrently and not as a separate syndrome. It is best addressed in two ways: First, most important and most difficult is remove whatever is triggering the nerve. This may be physical, like nicotine or alcohol, or emotional/energetic, or some combination. I don't mean to sound facile in the least, but this is the absolute only "cure" there is. Everything else is palliation. The good news is that although the tissues are exhausted, there is no 'scarring'. Try to stick to mostly mechanical, low metabolic load aborting methods with the intent of shorting out the nerve path. Stuff like ice packs, oxygen, caffeine; whatever works for you that has antiinflammatory effects. Self-administered acupressure, stretches. Do not neglect muscle involvement. Chronic pain, like ripples in a pond, affects adjacent muscle groups and the bound energy in turn triggers more pain. Acupuncture and massage can be very effective in breaking that part of the cycle. In the large subset of CH people that are affected by neurogenic pain, it is at least half of the problem in that it is not stoppable by way of the hypothalamus, i.e. busting. There are also effective herbal and nutritional things you can do to support regeneration of nerve tissue. You are being wise in not ignoring this.

Its not really urban legend. Germany had no source of morphine available during the big one, so Scientists there in a huge and frantic push synthesized methadone, naming it 'adolphine' after fearless leader and Drug Addict #1. After the war, methadone was war booty like all their rocket scientists. The name would not have gone over well had they left it alone. The doctor will most certainly titrate the methadone down, very,very slowly. Methadone withdrawal is brutal. Not giving anything additional for the headaches is merely honesty on his part; nothing will work. I would be willing to wager a large part of my completely nonexistent wealth that nicotine and alcohol removal will make a huge difference, and the sooner you do it the better. No cheating; for complicated metabolic reasons its worse. If the doctor OKs it, use the licorice root regularly and liberally as it will certainly relieve anxiety and depression. I really feel you will be pleasantly surprised, but not half as much as Mike.

Hey... I just noticed- when did I get to be a full member, and where is my key to the bathroom??

I am in Western Maryland 29 miles from WV; if that is helpful. I am, however, going to be away for a week starting Sunday.

Hi folks. Ron, all will be well. I thought about what I wanted to ask and you have already provided the answers,mostly. If it was me, this is what I would do. I am going to assume that the dolophine (you know who its named for, right?) is going to be removed. As the drug is titrated down, I would stop nicotine and alcohol intake. Totally. It is so worth it. Read those nicotine posts; it really does have a sneaky delayed effect on the neuralgias that I did not want to accept, after 48 hours I proved it to my own satisfaction. It is hard, but the results were astonishing. The good news (for me) is that methadone as an opioid analgesic will not half life down like some other shit so I can start remediating right away. You, I mean I, am in SoCal. Herbalists have to be dropping from trees. I can perhaps give you some names from other parts of the state. I cannot overstress the value of Skullcap in this situation, as a nervine specifically indicated in circumstances of withdrawal (from the nicotine, primarily as I assume the methadone will be titrated slowly). The best tinctures, and by far the most effective, are made from the whole (aerial) fresh plant. I would take it liberally and as often as needful. Some authorities will give it in five drop increments every fifteen minutes until relief is obtained. I would concentrate on mechanical aborting methods. Ice; cold showers to rapidly reduce overheating, immersion in cold water (outstanding fast relief if available). I would avoid energy drinks and excessive caffeine intake. I would guess that within 48 hours of removing nicotine and alcohol I would be feeling much better. I would absolutely be doing this before the methadone is lowered; one withdrawal at a time, thank you. As I said to someone else here, if you can do it for just 48 hours the improvement should be enough incentive to do it another 48. Anyway, that is exactly what I would do. Now. If you are an episodic, not inclined to associated neuralgias, then busting works great and you walk away. For those of us in the other camp, the neurogenic stuff is I think 70% of the problem. This is where rebound happens; it would be so nice if maybe there was an announcer at the beginning (this episode of skull-f-ing abominable agony brought to you by those five cigarettes you had this morning!). This is my problem with many pharmaceuticals; they are like boomerangs that totally miss their target on the way in but smack you right in the head on the way out. There is no easy or really scientific way to approach this, but I do know that if you remove the triggers the pain stops. From what I can determine, strangely enough, licorice root does not seem to interact badly with analgesics, so you would have to ask the pain doc but I don't think you would be precluded from using it as well. Remember, 48 hours. You can tolerate anything for 48 hours. Alright, maybe not Jersey Shore, but almost anything. In the interest of full disclosure, I lifted the kitten joke from Jon Stewart. The idea of looking at kittens as an antidote to being driven batshit crazy is so funny to me now that just the thought of the kitten joke has become sort of a humor mantra to me. If I wasn't a vegetarian, I probably would prefer them batter dipped.

Guys, I am so sorry for your respective situations. It is so embedded in cell memory that I feel the fear of the pain in the depth of my gut. I am going to consider this for a while, but a few observations: 1. Ron, the busting (or the licorice) has to work to disengage the hypothalamus; its like sticking a key in a lock. But that is only (maybe less than) half the picture. The associated neuralgias, for lack of a more accurately descriptive term, are if anything the bigger problem, and I believe the cause of the much greater proportion of cluster pain than anything else. A telltale clue is that oxygen will not affect these, as they are nerve induction.These are the things that when triggered (question #1: what triggers them?) can go off for hours and hours, fade, come back, never really leave, and set off other things. They are damn near impossible to get rid off, and they are, and this sucks, absolutely impermeable to drugs even past the point of unconsciousness. Most drugs prescribed for cluster, in addition to being ineffective, actually materially contribute to intensifying and continuing the syndrome.These unpleasant but undeniable facts leads to the inevitable conclusion that the only solution is to identify and remove the triggers. This is a very tangled problem as triggers may be purely physical (cigarette smoke, alcohol, etc. ), purely emotional (chronic stress) or most likely a combination of factors. Also, as I have said only half jokingly, it is easier to listen to your body when it isn't trying to kill you. One thing which should be cause for some encouragement: It is extremely rare that any pathological condition underlies cluster. On most levels, there is literally nothing wrong. Interrupting the triggers leads to remission. You know better than I how difficult methadone withdrawal is. The doctor will not prescribe more; a blessing in disguise since it will not work anyway and it would increase the difficulty of withdrawal. I am truly sorry I cannot be of more help here. I am going to think about it today and get back later. Have to go to work. Yury: Licorice root will not work as an emergency abortive. It will aggravate symptoms caused by removal of verapamil. I am completely confused as to whether you are taking (as well) rilamig (triptan), axert (triptan), clonazepam. None of these should be present. Abort using ice, isometrics, acupressure, caffeine, screaming if it helps. No cigarettes, no alcohol. It will not be pretty. It may help to remember that none of the things you have been taking have done your headaches any good. Stopping them now is the most positive step you can take. OK really late now. Back later.

I am really going to need kittens. Another F-ing idiot prescribing an antiseizure med that "has been studied" (drug co. phraseology) for MIGRAINE. Let me tell you a story. Your car isn't working right so you take it to a professional who tells you that the problem is in this little black box that the car won't work without. So you say fine, what exactly is wrong with it. The professional says I don't know. You say well, how exactly does it work. The professional says I don't know. So you say if you don't know how it works and you don't know what is wrong how do you propose to fix it. And the professional says no problem. We're gonna pour some stuff in this end and then send you out to drive around for awhile and see what happens. If it doesn't work, well, we've got lots more stuff lying around. Would you let them? It amazes me; no make that it positively stupefies me that people who would never let someone treat their car in such a fashion allow doctors to do it to their f-ing BODIES (you only get one) every goddamn day. I am not in the least surprised you went from episodic to chronic. Heres just one of many tidbits for you: You know your hypothalamus, that little indispensable electrical incandescent jewel of tissue that we have some problems with? Well, one of its many functions is to regulate body temperature. When it can't do it properly, or is faultily triggered, guess what? Cluster headache for 500, Alex. But the zonegran can seriously impede your ability to eliminate excess body heat, reducing your ability to sweat. Put that in your feedback loops, trace it back and.. oops. Oh, and the drug company says you might also think about killing yourself. And there is a special place in my heart for verapamil. It works by turning blood vessels limp like overcooked spaghetti, losing tone and allowing blood volume to pool. Your blood vessels recognize this limp state; its called approaching death and they try desperately to regain the tonic state and naturally they overdo it, until you take your next dose. Verapamil also is a tolerance drug, meaning you need heavier doses to achieve the same effect over time. 'Tolerance drug' is synonymous for crap your body doesn't want in it as its working overtime to negate the effects. You cannot name a drug which exhibits this effect that is a beneficial long-term partner in a human body. In fact, this particular quality is a giant red flag. Think heroin, opiates, barbiturates, alcohol. All tolerance drugs. It would be merely comical if it were not for the fact that it cures cluster headache like bloodletting cures strep throat. It doesn't work and is prescribed based on a faulty understanding of the etiology of the condition. I am sick of going on about this shit. It is counterproductive poison that has no business in the body of a cluster patient. Your doctor seems like a member of the bigger hammer club. And a triptan as well? holy shit. He's a regular Doctor Robert. I presume you are not happy with the direction your illness is heading. You should be more afraid of the consequences of remaining on verapamil than the prospect of stopping it. You are a walking chemical cocktail and you need to get clean before you even think about licorice root which will interact unpredictably but unpleasantly with all of your meds. I assume you've seen Scanners?

Nimotop is a calcium channel blocker that they are essentially looking for applications for; basically an unsuccessful drug like most everything else they push on us. It is, like Verapamil, a stupid drug to give cluster patients. Prescribing it for cluster is totally off label. Again you mention Rilamig; are you taking that and clonazepam? they are completely different substances. You are an unhappy textbook example of a body desperately trying to regain equilibrium in the wake of extended chemical assault. Just to be sure... to repeat, do not take licorice root at all until you are clear of poisons; the interaction is horrible. For the clonazepam if you are indeed taking it thats basically two weeks.

Yury, the medication you named in your earlier post was Rilamig (Frovatriptan). Clonazepam is no better.

The drug you were given is a triptan which is not marketed in the US at all which scares me since the FDA allows the sale of pretty much anything. Here in the US, triptans are a bad and expensive joke the drug A holes have been perpetrating for years. They were never intended or designed to treat cluster. They rarely work as advertised. They are ridiculously expensive. And here's the funny part: For your money, you get a drug which may or may not relieve some of your pain, but what it invariably does is nudge the pendulum harder so your next attack is worse due to rebound, making you take more of the useless expensive crap, starting the whole ride up again. All it really does is put your money in people's pockets whose heads do not hurt. You want to ride that train, be my guest. Most people do, mostly out of ignorance. The more you learn about the pharmaceutical industry and its hundred or so year ride to the top of the pops, the more frightened and disgusted you will get. 48 Hours should do for most of the rebound hits to clear your system; I would be very surprised if you don't start feeling better.