retrovertigo

Thanks. I will take your word for it. The O2 is precious to me.

Hey there, male 56, 40 years episodic. Long journey with some horrific moments, but far from the worst stories people here could tell. My last cycle was 2 years ago. Oxygen and timely use of mild psychedelics have made the last couple cycles completely bearable with none of the all night brain burner sessions. But there is one way it’s still getting me. That’s going to bed knowing I am going to be awakened at REM onset with CH. I feel relatively confident that I can get to the oxygen bottle in time to shut it down. I am also pretty confident about how long I have to hit the O2 to not get another one and be able to sleep the rest of the night. I have been re-hit at the peak of the cycle, but for most of the period one oxygen session per night would get at least one REM cycle of sleep. The question is: Do I have to wait for the headache I know is coming to start the oxygen that seems to ward off future attacks as well? Has anyone tried using O2 before the onset? Is there a downside other than possibly wasting supply of this gas that is suddenly more precious than food?

I'm going through it right now. Sometimes my major attacks shut off like flipping a lightswitch. That seemed the norm when I was young. Now it seems like they more frequently just wittle down to a shadow that leaves every part of my head painfully sensitive to touch. Hi. I'm Ted. 50 years old. 35 of them as a CH sufferer. I only come here when I am in cycle. I know what you are going through. I am very fortunate to have long remissions between my cycles. Almost 2 years since the last one. Imitrex was the worst thing that happened in my attempts to manage the condition.

Meant to put this on general board. Gotta love the brain fog.

Also found a fully engorged deer tick in my nether regions at the same time i realized i had gotten so many mossie bites, but there has been no rash. I had some joint pain but it didn't persist ( more like WNV than lyme.) i am one of the few people who has had the human lyme vaccine, so i am essentially a human guinea pig. I refuse to be afraid of the great outdoors. Mountain biking is my passion.

Does anyone have any idea whether bug bites or west nile could trigger a cycle? I was ravaged by mossies a week ago. Two days later i had what felt like a CH with some subtle differences. I had some nausea prior to the HA and it was slightly more on top of my head tho still only right side. It was also stronger than usual for the start of a cycle ( mine tend to ramp up) but my right eye was less shut and teared than normal for that strong of a HA. It also didn't follow up normally. I thought i dodged a bullet and that it was just a mild case of West Nile. But now several days later I am having my very typical early cycle HA followed by the next day impending doom shadow. Going to bust asap but its tough to fit in with work/family/cycle prep/fear of getting hit whole busting. :-/

I've been using a paper product that, once i was confident with it's purity, I hoarded a bunch away. I have been doing about 2/3 to 3/4 of a square each time. They have been "significant" experiences.i have been busting once every three months. The last time i read up on the process that was given as the time frame that the benefits lasted. The last time i did it was 1.5 months ago (5/29/14). The only real trigger i've had lately is some disrupted sleep with the hot,humid weather. Two years since is really only about 4 months longer than i've been running, but every PF day is a blessing.

Sorry if this has been discussed. I generally only come here when I'm in cycle, hope thats not too selfish. I have been busting every 3 months for the last year in an attempt to avoid going into cycle again. My cycles average about 20 months apart for the last 10-15 years. Prior to that they were more frequent but less severe. I am now at 25 months since my last cycle. So i think the busting has helped. But i got hit pretty good last night. Usually i will get a couple 2's and a 4 as the cycle ramps up but this time the first one was a 5 or 6. I did my last prevent bust about a month ago. Any advice on the best next step? Doc would want me to start verap and use the trex. I dont feel that those have helped in previous cycles. Anything they do in the short term gets paid back in full in the end. Would busting now have shot at terminating the cycle? I have successfully cutoff cycles that were in a long wind down phase, but i have never attempted to shut it off near the onset. I would really love to avoid the typical six weeks of hell.

My doc got me to try elavil during my last cycle. I took half a pill(can,t remember how many mg). It made me feel so awful I would not take another dose. For about 28 hours I could not keep a thought together long enough to complete a sentence. I have on many occasion said I would do anything to avoid a cluster. I will never take elavil again. To me it was pure poisin. I dosed about 10 days later ( when my cycle had moderated to the point where I was relatively confident I wouldn't get hit) and it was not a good experience. Very dark and gloomy. I had never experienced that before. Elavil might have had an effect or maybe because it had been the worst cycle I've ever had(largely due to sleep deprivation )