TakinitEZ

Jerry, That's a good message for all of us. Thank you. What really hit home for me was your thought about golfing, something I really miss. -Chris

Ha! I agree. Just saying getting it connected to Washington somehow seems to be what it takes. -T

I think you're right on with that post Bonkers. It may take more that a big star, though. I think someone with ties in Washington, who is willing to speak out, will carry the weight needed. This happened with support for finally viewing migraine as a debilitating disease by Hillary Clinton and Cindy McCain. -T http://www.migraines.org/artist/pdfs/second-show.pdf http://www.migraineblog.org/migraine_blog/migraine_in_the_news/

Hopeful, There are a number of things that will help that are easily available to you. The first thing to consider are triggers. These are things to avoid that are known to trigger a cluster attack. Everyone is different, but typical triggers include meats preserved with nitrates - salami, ham, bacon, etc., another is alcohol - drinking or even smelling it, fuel type smells - petrol, fumes, exhaust. Make sure he avoids these and other triggers. Second, find a good abortive. Abortives are used at the first sign of an attack coming on. The most commonly effective abortives are caffeine and taurine - found in Red Bull and other energy drinks, Oxygen - this is very safe, and medications - Imitrex by injection or nasal spray is the most effective, Benadryl also works for some, and finally Exedrin with caffeiine can work for some. My favorites are Oxygen and Imitrex. Oxygen can be purchased relatively inexpensively. If you do not have a prescription, welders oxygen can be used. The key is to use a non rebreather mask at at least 15LPM. Finally, you need to consider preventives. These are intended to prevent the cluster attacks from occuring or at least reduce their verocity. There are no medications specific to CH, so many medications indicated for other illnesses are used. The most effective (for the most people) are verapamil and lithium. These require prescription. There are other medications that work for some. Another path of prevention is what this site is focused on - busting the cycle of cluster headaches through the use of alternative medicines. LSD, magic mushrooms, and natural substances containing the active ingredient in LSD (LSA) are used to break the cycle. Please read the posts in the "Clusterbuster Files" section to learn more. It is very important that your son see a headache specialist in order to get proper medical treatment. Many doctors, even neurologists may have never seen CH and can run down various paths of treatment for weeks or months before helping him. A headache specialist is more likely to get to the right diagnosis very quickly and therefore the right path of prevention. -T

Nitrates, booze and fast women. -T

Helps to scroll down I suppose! Donation made. -Chris

Indeed. I'm hopeful. -T

Hey Weatherman, Thanks for that info! I'm fairly certain that storm affected me. I'm also affected by air travel to the point that I don't. Same with significant altitude changes. -T

I was supposed to get setup for an ONS trial today, but after review of my cervical spine MRI, they decided to perform an epidural procedure first. Apparently my C5 is bulging and deflecting the spinal cord. This could account for my severe dizziness and balance issues. They were drawn to this based on numbness I've had in my finger tips. I wonder of this could account for the headaches as well. They aren't sure. Of course, the MRI was performed 4 months ago and nobody else was concerned about it. Get to the neurosurgeon and he doesn't like what he sees. Go figure. -T

Ally, Too bad you came up empty on that one. I still think there's something to it. Were there any major drops in pressure while you were monitoring? -T

Ha! Sometimes you just gotta release some steam. I kind of have a picture of the installer after you shut the door...jaw dropped. Nice.

We had a big storm in PA, lots of rain. I'm wondering if that had some impact on me because I had a terrible set of hits yesterday and bad shadows most of the day. I'm not usually bothered by the weather, but just odd that I felt better after it passed. -T

Hey Leslie, Sorry, wasn't clear about the celexa. It's also an SSRI, just saying it does work for anxiety, like a little magic pill. -T

Thanks Jimi. Wasn't the first time there and this one was very personal. I'm fairly thick-skinned, but I'm also in pain and tired and don't need the aggravation. Thanks a lot for your post here, means a lot. -Chris

BB, Thanks for your post. Generally I think that's true and there's a fair amount of latitude for that. We can't walk on eggshells, they'll definitely get broken. In this case, several people got the same feeling I got. There was no misunderstanding. I think it's best not carry on this thread here though, was merely venting. I'll probably delete this post because it sounds so negative and I'm really not like that. -T

Hey, There's some evidence that shows it works. I'm going to try it. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100917081311.htm Leslie, sorry to get off track here. How are you doing? -T

I was active on the ch site for a while and there are some really good people there with good ideas. Unfortunately I found there's a few bad seeds there that make it a fairly unpleasant place to interact. It takes a lot for me to walk away from something, especially something worth while, but I found that I and many others just didn't enjoy posting or contributing. After the last attack, I received a number of pms and emails from people who just don't post there anymore for that reason. It's a real shame when a few people can shut down communications like that. I haven't found that at all on this site, and it's a real testament to the strength of the members in keeping that shutdown and concentrating on helping people. I guess this is fairly common in dot com sites. I hope it's not tolerated here. Half of me was appreciative of the supportive messages that I received, but the other half of me was thinking, well why did you just stand by and let it happen if you felt so strongly about it? It's your site and you've let it boil down to the lowest common denominator (plus a few great standouts). Se la vie. Anyway, my reason for sharing this is to explain my increased participation here and appreciation for the tone and content of the forum. I know it's a related site, and some may crossover as I did. I mean no one any disrespect. I'm also venting a bit at my disappointment. Sorry to ramble on. Just had something to say. -T

How's she doing, Jerry? I hope better. -T

Found the spike mat procedure:

I take Citalopram (Celexa) for anxiety. Works a treat. -T oh, and I'm down for the torture mat as well

and I would only put such a post where I know you can all relate! -T

Dan, I would strongly avise you to get the absolute best spores that money can buy.

Ain't life just peachy some days... My thoughts: friggin ouch not again uuugggggrrrrrraaaa maybe if I get up noooooooo crap aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh o2 o2 o2 where's imitrex... shit upstairs mmrrrrrrrrraaaaa dizzy got it arm fast downstairs 02 ok ok ok aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr crap sonnofa mmmmmm [tap tap tap tap...left foot] shoooo, ok, ok better aaaaaaammmmmmm, not better [tap tap tap...] ok, better better better pffffffffff breath out deep breaths calm calm pretty wired... check cb.

I wonder if that is a factor of the quality of the cannabis, how much is taken, and how it is taken. Cannabis is proven to relieve pain. Many who use medical marijuana avoid smoking it and instead use vaporizers or liquid forms of the drug. From what I've read, this "healthier" approach to using marijuana helps reduce it's negative affects, including "pot headache". I wouldn't write it off without further exploration.

Read this: http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/06/19/18517.aspx http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march142010/hypension-mmj.php