Zac

Larry, What a wonderful offer, I really appreciate it. As I said, I'm going into the hospital tomorrow and I'm going to see how that goes; may I get in touch with you when I'm out?? Thank you so much. He's a very nice guy and fairly open-minded and is always willing to talk about this stuff with me; I've spoken with him briefly about busting just to gauge his reaction. He is concerned, as well, but understands the situation I'm in. I would definitely talk to him about it at greater length if I decided for sure I'm going to do it and I'm sure he would speak with you, as I'm sure you could offer some very unique perspectives on the matter. I'm also extremely lucky that my parents are quite open-minded. I have spoken to them a bunch about the possibility of busting, and if I did it, I'm fairly sure my mom would sit with me throughout. I know I shouldn't really trip or anything, and I don't honestly think I'd have much of a problem at all despite my concerns. But if anything did go wrong... no one is better in tune to the signs of me going a bit manic than her. To all else- as soon as I find some more about this genetic testing, I'll post a link in a new thread. I can also easily ask my psychiatrist for some information! Zac

Alley, I do read read read! I'm not blindly trusting my doctor to solve my CH, though like I said, I'm in good hands and I respect his opinion immensely. Every time I have an appointment, and frequently in-between, I send him new information I've found on my own. I'm actually going to have genetic testing done with my psychiatrist, too. Apparently he's recently started getting into it. I don't follow it all completely, but basically some people's bodies just process certain medications very differently which can be shown in the testing and, depending on that, can safely be on much higher (or lower) doses of medications than others. He gave me an example and the way he put it was one of his patients had it done and he found that his metabolism just chewed up Lithium and it was wearing off and causing him dips in stability (prescribed for Bipolar in this case), so he was able to fix the dose based on that. I know that's sort of a roundabout explanation and that's the next thing I need to do my own reading on; Pysch just brought it up during my most recent appointment and thought it was something to consider it since there's a chance I could give some of the medications I've already tried another shot if it comes out my body is a bit whacked. Jeebs, like I said, haven't ruled out anything and won't rule out anything... I'll do anything I think will help. It would be hard to separate the calcium and verap by that long right now since I take the verap 4x a day. I don't hear much about Neurontin over on the CHs.com board, either, though I've been through all of the more popular choices with little help. For a little while, the verap helped a lot. I was getting maybe 1-2 headaches a week which for me, is brilliant. It only lasted about 2 months though. This high cycle started while still on that high dose of verap so I don't think it's doing much for me anymore. I actually have very severe insomnia as well and have to take an extremely expensive sleep medication that my insurance just decided to stop paying for briefly, the shitheads. It took me about 3 weeks to sort it out, and for 3 weeks I was catching maybe 2 hours of sleep every 4 days. Lack of sleep is one of my number one triggers for attacks (i.e., lack of sleep the night before almost guarantees a rough day) and I was sleeping so little every day was a rough day and then it turned into a full-fledged high cycle. I was able to beat insurance back into covering it, but even once I got it back and was sleeping okay again the headaches didn't go away. And yes, I went up to 2400mg of Neurontin myself about a week ago but it hasn't helped as of yet... doc said he can go up to 3600 if needed. We'll see. As I said, this is my first DHE infusion so there's always a chance it will help. I just can't help but having very little faith that anything will help right now after really running through the gamut. Trying to keep my chin up, though...

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies and I'm sorry I haven't posted myself in quite some time on the thread. I'll keep everyone posted; I've ruled nothing out. O2 does not work for me, despite trying all the tips on the CHs.com oxygen info page. I realize that's sort of unusual, but it seems to be the case and it makes everything so much more difficult that it doesn't. I'm in the midst of the worst high cycle of my life and I'm actually being hospitalized Monday for a DHE infusion (my first time). Doc had been resistant to doing it up until this point during other high cycles because the DHE has never been successful in the ER as an abortive for me and he had also been concerned that even if it broke the cycle I still haven't found a preventative that's really working... or not for any extended period of time. The D3 Regimen is the next thing on my radar, but as doc recently put me on Neurontin and I'm still titrating up on that (as well as staying on my 720mg of verap for now), he wanted me to hold off on the D3 because otherwise he can't know for sure what's doing what. I've been on the Neurontin before to no avail, but it was with a neuro and not a HA specialist and they didn't put me on as high of a dose as my current doctor is willing to go, so there's certainly a chance that will help. The D3 regimen is the next plan of action as soon as he gives it the OK, depending on how the DHE infusion goes, or perhaps regardless. Fortunately, I have not quite gotten to the point where I've exhausted all other options, but I'm getting rather close. Also, Bonkers, not a bad idea at all about the seeds and bringing stuff to doc to look at. I'm new on here but not to the condition, I do have a definite diagnosis of CH, see a HA specialist, and I'm fairly certain if I bring in articles to him he'll at the very least read them; not sure how much he'll condone going this route, though. He said something our last appointment that made me a little skeptical he's as open to busting as others, but I'm sure he'd at least read them over for me and see if there's anything he can do to keep me safe. He frequently jokes how proud he is of himself when he tells me something I don't already know. ;D Same goes with my psychiatrist; though I'm stable now I still see him so I'm certain if it comes to the point where busting is my last option he would take a look as well. In addition, because I have had so little success with... pretty much anything up until this point (and there's been a lot of trial and error), I may ask my doc if he knows any pain management specialists who specifically have experience in neurology... not even necessarily because a doctor like that would be able to do anything super different for me, but just for a fresh set of eyes. While I am in very good hands right now it's just been a lot of suffering, still. So, I think I still have some options left in general but as I said, not a whole lot.

I also feared that is most likely the case; it's just so frustrating because I've all but run out of other options. I don't want anything to do to impact my mental health but the medications I'm on are all wreaking havoc in their own ways and I'm getting fed up with it. I am also unfortunately chronic, so... no rest for the weary. :/

Hey all, this is my first post but I've been skulking around here and relatively active on CH.com... at least asking questions. I've gotten to the point where I clearly need to be considering busting; I could give you my history but it's unnecessary. Like most of the people who got to this point, I've basically been through most of the standard and less standard meds (both preventative and abortive), O2 therapy (no help for me) etc. Despite this being my first post I want to waste no time trying to see if anyone has any input on my current situation. When I was 15, I was diagnosed with Bipolar II and on a heavy dose of some meds for some time. I eventually got on Lamictal, got stable, and have been slowly weaning off for the past year. (I just turned 21.) I should be entirely off the Lamictal shortly, have no mania, no depression (other than normal day-to-day things). I retain a small anxiety condition that necessitates occasional IR Xanax... but that's about it. I have already spoken to my Psychiatrist about it very briefly, and he of course can't condone it and was wary because of my history. I was merely wondering if anyone on here that has a history of psychiatric problems has busted and been fine (because of the sub-recreational dosing) or if there's anyone like me who was, in the past, treated for any psychiatric disorder but is no longer treated anymore. I know no one (including my doctors) could give me a guarantee that busting wouldn't cause some sort of relapse but I do feel in a different place now than I did then... other than the damn headaches.