ThatHurtsMyHead

Spiny, oh I just thought about our similar Lefty / Righty situation. I hadn't thought about it for years, but I also had somewhat of a forced R/L change. I'm a righty, but about the same time as my CH started (while in the Army). I was training to shoot left handed. Daily practice shooting both right, then switching to left. I got as good shooting left as I did right (pistol and riffle). Only bad thing about shooting an M16 lefty is getting hit in the face with hot brass... OUCH and not fun.... J

CHF, Yea Lariam is seriously bad stuff. I was part of the Army experimental study, I see they actually list in the wikipedia overview of lariam now. The complete BS sham of it all is they never took blood work, interviewed us.. Absolutely nothing. They made us take it and carted away the guys that went nuts... Had to stand in formation as they handed out our daily pills and each platoon LT had to watch each soldier swallow the pills and check our mouths afterward. Was degrading to say the least. I'm curious if your daughters CH started after or before the lariam? (and if she has vivid dreams also?) J

Sergical, Please share how much you dose with? Curious if you're preventative dosing with a threshold dose? /or under / over? Many of us find that a 'healthy' dose of MM works a little better than an under threshold dose. Are you taking any other meds that might be blocking the MM busting dose? J

Spiny, Vivid dreamer here - They start approx 1 week before the CH comes. I'm a Righty handed and Righty CH. My CH also started after both a head injury and having been given an experimental drug in the Army Lariam (which has a side effect of causing vivid dreams, oh yea and permanent psychosis (Lost one guy in our unit to the funny farm. He went completely nuts a few weeks after starting Lariam with the rest of us). OH SNAP - Just decided to go out and read any updates on lariam.. Looks like they've done a lot more research on it since I last looked. Absolutely positive my vivid dreams are directly linked to the Lariam. From Wikipedia: Neurologic and psychiatric Neuropsychiatric effects are reported with mefloquine use.[1] The FDA product guide states it can cause mental health problems, including anxiety, hallucinations, depression, unusual behavior, and suicidal ideations, among others.[8] Some have reported severe central nervous system events requiring hospitalization in about one in 10,000 people taking mefloquine for malaria prevention, with milder events (e.g., dizziness, headache, insomnia, and vivid dreams) in up to 25%.[9] When some measure of subjective severity is applied to the rating of adverse events, about 11-17% of travelers are incapacitated to some degree.[4] Psychiatric side effects can include anxiety, feelings of mistrust towards others (paranoia), seeing or hearing things that are not there (hallucinations), depression, restlessness, confusion, and behavior that is unusual.[10] These psychiatric problems may last for years after the patient stops taking the drug.[11] Mefloquine has been found to act as an agonist at 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors, which are the targets of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, and it has been suggested this may be partly responsible for the neuropsychiatric side effects.[12] Amazing the FDA ever approved it (and is still available for prescription!) after all the bad stuff that happened in my unit. J

Fabac, Someone mentioned it some time back but Daniel Radcliffe has CH. http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/08/20/daniel-radcliffe-blood-pressure-cluster-headaches_n_5691530.html Someone in the UK should drop in on him. Funny, wouldn't that be awesome to have him onboard with busting J

Anyone else notice they flashed the Cluster Busters website just past the middle of video!!! J

bigeddie, I'd highly recommend having a visit to a qualified doctor for a proper diagnosis. Many of us have self diagnosed before taking our findings to the doctor for "agreement" . I've read of many descriptions of the pain moving to elsewhere on the head like you describe. Here's a few of the most common symptoms: 1) Stabbing pain behind the eye or in the temple 2) Comes at the same time of year / Comes at the same time of day 3) Is normally on one side of the head and rarely shifts to the other side (but in rare occurrences it can). 4) Sinus stuffyness during the attack (with sinus drainage right after the attack) 5) Puffy / droopy eyelid on the side of the head with pain. 6) Makes one feel like they have to move / rock / bang head on wall / floor etc. (not lay down and be still like a migraine). Hope this helps - Please describe your history with the pain? Others will chime in with information, but the more you can provide will help everyone understand your particular situation. J

I certainly don't know, but reading that one of the main side effects is headache (due to blood vessel dilation). I wouldn't think it much use to us. It's a common street drug, so would think someone out there has tried it. J

It's definitely made an enormous positive impact on my life. Not only practically eliminating my CH, but also helping how I "feel" every day. My "normal" (prior to busting) type 'A' personality has been muted somewhat. I can relax in situations I never would have felt comfortable before. That alone has significantly increased my life satisfaction. J

I'm rocking as I read the board this morning. ;D ;D ;D J

All, I too was off the board last week for family visits in NC. Missed chatting with everyone immensely. Light and Love to everyone! J

Fabac, Get the hubby and yourself down here to FL and we'll dive the muddy soup called the Gulf of Mexico!! It's stone crab season. I actually enjoy the shadows swimming over me as I'm rooting around in the rocks (in the bay). It takes some getting use to. (hammer heads and bull sharks in the bay). Some people can't do it and get too creeped out because of the 3 foot visibility and repeated shadows going over you. ha ha. perfectly safe as long as you stay on the bottom J

Monster Energy Drinks in the blue can!!! (Low Carb Don't drink any the day of dosing though. I found they kill the dose. (most likely the high Vitamin . J

didgens, Clearly remember those dives because of the CH coming on. Was at about 85 FSW (Feet Sea Water) at depth. So equates to approx 56 PSI at depth. Gasses expand exponentially the last 20 feet or so before breaking the surface. That's right when my CH started coming on, the last 10 feet or so from the surface. It was likely, similar to experiencing a serious variation of barometric pressure for a non diver. J

Rudy, Looks like you're getting some great advice above. Regarding your question about triggers: For me - In order of most painful down: 1) Alcohol 2) Chocolate 3) Fermented Cheese (blue, swiss etc - cheese whiz is ok) 4) Barbecue Sauce (msg?) 5) Sugar 6) Bleached White Flower (whole grain is ok) I eliminate the above items from my diet when in cycle (and drop weight entirely too fast for it to be healthy, but not much choice to keep the attacks down). Regarding your question on drug testing. It's my understanding from prior research that LSD is out of your system in approx 48 hours, and is not included in standard drug testing. For MM, it also isn't included in standard drug tests, but stays in the body for approx 7 days at detectable levels. Those of us that are subject to drug testing try to plan our dose around a window that reduces the possibility of being tested within a few days of dosing. Hope this helps, J

didgens, Diving when the CH beast is here is a serious no, no. Found that out by experience. Twice went down PF, as I approached the surface CH attack started coming on. By the time I hit the boat, a full on K8+. No diving for me when CH is here. (That said though, preventative dosing lets me stay PF and dive anytime I want! J

gartozi, O2 can and does help several other headache conditions. I SCUBA dive mixed gasses, and it's pretty normal for divers that get a headache to hit a high concentration O2 mix for relief. Now if you can get a script from the ole doc would be another question though. J

Couldn't pass that one up could you Jeebs? [smiley=grin.gif] [smiley=grin.gif]

Wow interesting commonality the rocking is to some of us. I sometimes rock to music while I'm working, but oddly my rocking is normally to some unheard rhythm (out of sync to music I'm listening to). I too rocked as early as I can remember. J

Phreon, ++ Jeebs post (just don't believe anything he says about his flying dog Sorry to hear you hit the lottery on that neurologist. Someone had to graduate at the bottom of his class I guess. Many of us here experiment off and on with other chemicals that might help our CH, and communicate the results so others can see if they can duplicate successes. That said, you might want to start with the LSA seeds (HBWR, RC) for more immediate relief. Sounds like you already have some experience with them. J

Didgens, Good to keep browsing ideas. I doubt it's chemicals in the water that triggers our CH (but would be good to get them out of our drinking supply though!) . I've lived in places far and wide with all types of water supplies, CH came and went just the same. (well water, etc) J

Mom, I'm curious to read more about when you took it and how much to get ?? PF time? J

HB, Sorry, you're having such a bad go of it. There's light at the end of the tunnel... Promise! Please be VERY careful with that dose of Verapamil. That stuff can be very damaging to your heart. It gave me Premature Ventricle Contractions (PVC's) that took about 3 years to go away. That dose looks VERY high for a healthy heart. Make sure you have a VERY close watch on your blood pressure, and heart rate. Serious medical issues can occur by lowering the heart rate too much. J

TX, A day after 2mg of benzo, you should be fine (IMHO) to bust. That's a pretty small amount and not taken 'with' your dose of seeds. As DM mentioned above, I think the negative affects of benzos on our busting is more closely related to taking the benzo 'with' our dose, or someone that's on a regular benzo schedule. J

TxBust, In my experience it significantly reduces the affects of MM (and possibly the bust). I think there are some reports that the benzo class of drugs "can" affect the bust, but not for everyone. Some have been able to dose along with taking a light benzo dose successfully. Know I didn't give a straight answer, sorry. I'm sure others will chime in shortly. J