jon019

.....^^^^^^^^^this is very good advice....i wish it wasn't so but i've lost count of how many times i've seen that hyperventilation is THE way to use O2. it MAY be the best (probably but not universally)... but it sure as hell aint the ONLY. i personally can't hyperventilate, but thru hard earned experience found that very slow deep in/out was extremely effective. may not get the max O2 in circulation in the minimal time, but it worked...it DID calm me the f down, and eliminated the adrenaline, overheating, agitation, anger, spastic movement, stress hormone reaction that are the hallmarks of a killer hit. mixed in, or after, i progressed to a very similar technique as described by Freud. my fear is the seemingly never ending reports from newer clusterheads that "oxygen doesn't work for me". well....maybe....and maybe it's just a particular technique that doesn't..... and you.need.to.keep.trying the various methods. ....there...rant over (afterall, aint that part of what CB is for?)...this ones a pet peeve...oxygen made all the difference in giving me a life....

Hi Tamari...welcome... ...your best bet is to hit the oxygen at the first sign of a hit. i understand a desire to conserve O2...but in the end it aint worth it! ...some have found an energy drink/caffeine immediately before the O2 makes it more effective...for me sometimes it was all i needed.. ....staying on the oxygen for 5+ mins after a hit abort may help with the shadows. others find that ginger, caffeine, or regular pain relievers like aleve help with shadows (i'm sure you know these meds no help with an regular hit)....for me, nothing ever worked on shadows, i had to learn to just deal with it ....you should experiment with various types of O2 breathing, hyperventilation/slow breathe/breathe and hold...or a combo... all work for different folks. there is no right way.... best jonathan

Hi K...welcome... ...agreeing with Denny....these dramatic symptoms are highly unusual. LOTSA folks have unpleasant/alarming reactions to the hammer that is suma (esp the dang 6mg stat)... but that is typically much more transitory. talk to your pharmacist...make sure they have time to listen/digest even if that means an appointment. those behind the counter are frequently overwhelmed. i'd try to find one connected with a health org or a large corporation....those have specialized pharms in supervisory positions they can refer you to..... or consult themselves. good luck...keep poking around....this sounds concerning and well worth pursuing... best jonathan

....bwaaa...CCR stuck in "Lodi" again always been one of my favorite Credence songs. for many years i never knew what the heck he was saying..." stuck in low-drive, lo SOMETHING"...and what's an "a-gin?". visiting my brother in CA one summer, we actually drove thru Lodi, and he asked me..."you see what he was talking about?". i said who? he looked at me like the younger brother moron i am and said "FOGERTY!" ....THAT'S when i got it..."oh yeah, i get it now".....

....dang it DD...sorry to hear this...prayers, vibes, good thoughts on the way. freakin scary now but look on down the road and be grateful it was found now and you avoided the coulda-shoulda-wouldas. been 11 yrs here for same damn thing...the scare goes away when you realize you're ok....and you will be! best jonathan

.....my Grandpa was a carpenter (barns!).... he wore bib overalls and slip on boots, smoked Parodi cigars imported from Italy...... they looked like turds and smelled worse.....but i sure remember him and them. it was said of him in our tiny town "if Steve put it up aint never coming down" cuz he believed if one nail was good...5 were betta! JP just a magnificent story teller....

..."the saddest funny songs and the funniest sad songs"...and the charm of a favorite uncle who slipped you $5 for a 6-pack of cheap beer when you were 17... .....that's cool, aint no accounting for taste....i am just forever grateful for the Brit musicians like them, and too many others to name, who saved "the blues" for us Yanks...

...."How Blue Can You Get?" gets me every time...reminds of Prine for funny great music... ...2005 Texas tour...favor for the fans. Mick does country wonderfully, even tho a bit of a put-on...."Girl With Faraway Eyes" a fav. i thot so too....glad to hear the regard for Ronnie on steel from someone who would know....

.....i'd pick B.B. ....but speaking of "kings", THE version belongs to Waylon, with a boy howdy delight that is this:

...just note that chronic does not necessarily mean constant or increased number of hits. my experience: 23 yrs ECH (5-8 wks on/off), then 12+ CCH with high and low cycles within that. hit times were unpredictable with 0-3/dy. intensity less, aborts (mainly O2/energy drinks) worked better. still "twilight zone" but different episode. use the same tools you are learning....be willing to adjust. ...to answer your original question. there were several of the past few yrs where the shadow was near constant, because a hit is rare i actually got almost used to it....no choice as caffeine/O2/ginger no help). i'd zoot a zomig ns every once in a while when it got tiring....

...oh wow....YES! i've run into that problem with other scripts....the droids working in insurance offices are all about the coding now... ....one other note. the word "intractable" can be powerful as if it makes CH more "real". when my neuro used that word (in a delightfully harsh and offended letter) for a previously denied triptan script, i all of a sudden got 18/mo approved....(no, i never used that much, but knowing i could get that many was a mental assist)....

.... ...i open the youtube link...play the "song", go up to the address bar and highlight the address, copy, then paste here. a black bar pops up asking if i just want to post a link only....i do not click this, though i wonder if i'm using up my upload allotment this way. oddly, sometimes the opening ads play, sometimes not. unsure how that happens tho it might be by watching whole way thru before the copy/paste...

...this was great.... loved the lyrics ("explicit" per youtube, mature in my ears) and the music gave me a Marshall Tucker vibe..... ...post away...nice list...

...this is otherworldly in straight frame of mind....i always figured it would be awesome in an "altered reality"....

...i'd forgotten about this dude...saw it yrs ago....and howled with laughter. forget that "tap firmly" shit....i've done everything he showed thousands of times (he's seen hits is all).... at high speed and full force. it....ahhhh....ummm... does NOT work....bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ....and dang it Brian....ya got me searching for that country song!

Boo-ya!!!

....aint no maybe about it....any physician can prescribe. all 7 or 8 PCP i had before a neuro were fully willing after LISTENING to me, and checking standard medical reference guides ...which list O2 as the #1 CH killer sans triptans. you got jackpot with an CH knowledgeable OB and i'm liking (tho surprised) the caffeine acceptance. an energy drink (2 oz 5-hr energy type) with minimum 120 mg caffeine and 1000 mg taurine downed quickly at first sign of a hit improved oxygen effectiveness greatly for me. some find just the caffeine sufficient....be sure to check with OB for acceptable levels of caffeine and certainly if taurine is ok during pregnancy.... ...see this link for guidance on script writing plus other good stuff... High-Flow Oxygen Therapy for Cluster Headaches | Treatments - Clusterbusters

....this is unfortunately obscure to far too many folks younger than many of us.... a full side (another obscurity) with Duane and Boz plus God's studio band, cranked at midnight, in a dark room, when i'm feeling thrashed.... improves my whole outlook on life. it starts out slow and mournful, but golly, then it just.kicks.ass! ...thanks for the intro to Lorn xB

....nope...impossible to say enough.....OXYGEN should be highlighted in every CH forum. may not work for all, but is among the rarest of the effectives: works bestest for the mostest! i am sad when a fellow clusterhead has exhausted, w/o success, all the critical variations of use (flow, mask/valve/tube, technique or timing)....SADDER STILL when they don't or won't exhaust every attempt due to lack of information, misinformation, bad luck, unavailability, frustration, or just frigging despair... ....starting in 1985 and on, there was nothing comparable for me. i KNOW O2 saved my sanity, pretty sure it probably saved my life. have seen SO MANY reports of same, with the tears of gratitude nearly leaking from the text, that i will never not be a fervent supporter... ....the success rate now only recently rivalled by the D3 regimen and busting.....COMBINE the 3 and you really got somethin'....

...hmmm...thinking partial for blood flow diversion. i had access to a walk-in -20 F cold storage... and it always pissed me off that it never stopped a hit, just cooled off the hot flash that always came along....

OXYGEN!!!...your best bet non-medication (traditional or alternative) hit killer. no side effects, no baby harm or medication pass thru, quick, easy, relatively cheap in my experience...tho i would have freely gone into debt for the sanity, perhaps life, saving benefit. when insurance didn't pay for me i made a self pay deal with the O2 shop. welding O2 will bypass all the hassle.... except for the logistics. is too bad, but it won't change cycle length. proper flow, mask, and technique all critical.

...yeah...it was a worry, but after a number of real bad hits early on....and even w/o a diagnosis...there didn't seem to be residual physical damage so i started worrying/concentrating on the mental health aspects. hard work...nothing physical to grab on to...i constantly wonder how folks maintain in the face of CH. my admiration for the perseverance of clusterheads is endlessly deep... ....what became near incomprehensible for me was "how is it even possible to SURVIVE a pain so incredible it defies description?". there were 10's (thankfully very rare) where it hurt so bad i actually forgot to breathe......yet here i am....

.....fixed it for you...

...is ever thus the ongoing frustration across multiple healthcare systems....my insurance would cover triptans at $600/script/mo, yet deny the oxygen that would have eliminated 90% of that cost......

...intriguing indeed....thought about it a lot as the hits were inevitable and predictable damn near to the minute. excuse me mr. beast, i don't have time to screw around with you right now...but perhaps we could reschedule? ....played around with energy drink/caffeine and verapamil dose timing and seemed could shift timing a little bit....never enough to make it a worthwhile effort... ....brief flirtation with "stress mgmt" as stress was a prevent for me. nevermind the insanity it takes to actually even consider finding stressful situations as a "therapy"....sheesh....silly me, the job was stressful enough... ....there were a few occasions over the yrs where a beer and its consequences were intentional...whether is was simply because i could not, at the moment, handle the dread of an upcoming hit.....or getting it over with as there would be a "free" time post. alas, the next hit became unpredictable....