alikhan

Thank you @Batch! You've always been helpful! About the Vit D3 regimen, I followed it last year before my cycle, and initially, my Vit-D3 were very low, around 10ng/mol, and in a months time, I was able to safely take it up to 80+. However, unfortunately, I still entered my cycle that year and had quite a bad experience managing it that year. It started around the end of December and stretched around the end of Feb this year. I thought I needed to raise my vit D higher so I continued loading and last I checked was 110ng/mol with no luck. That time around, when the cycle was at peak with intense attacks, oxygen didn't help much either. It wouldn't abort the attacks and as soon as I took the mask off the headache would rebound. Still, some great advice I borrowed from the regiment were GOMBS diet, multi-vits that I take every other day now, along with fish-oil and vit D, which was very low (around 10), when I first checked before the regimen. I just wish the regimen worked for me. I also have my thread here where I reported my conditions while I was on vit-d3-regimen, in case you wish to read about it. I would love to offer more information if it helps. Thank you again Batch. I am relieved to hear that oxygen helps in this headache too. And by the way, isn't migraine one-sided? Or is that knowledge obsolete? Because the symptoms of my headache are all like a migraine only that its bilateral.

With cluster headache now in control, I really want to take control of this secondary headache that disables me. The headache is a pulsating headache right at the base of the skull where the ligaments of the neck attach to the head. Exertion intensifies the pain. Extreme sensitivity to Light (LED light). Lasts for nearly 6 hours when uncontrolled. A few of my triggers are when I run/jog exercise after a weeks break, getting dehydrated rapidly, diesel smoke from vehicles on the road, greasy food, bright lights etc. No matter the trigger, all of these elements exacerbates the headache severely! If I take 2x200mg Advil (ibuprofen) right in time at the onset of the headache, and take a jug of water to ensure it isn't due to dehydration, I am able to control the headache. However, oftentimes like last night when I cannot access any medication in time, 15mins into the headache I take 2x200mg Advil with no effect and in desperation, I take 2 more 200mg Advil within an hour, with no effect on the headache, other than my stomach and chest burning from the ibuprofen. I have also tried Excedrin with no effect. The internet has different names for this same headache and no conclusive treatment, and it advises to simply keep away from what triggers the headache but that is poor advice in my opinion. I cannot lock myself away from the world outside just to keep myself away from this headache. This is exactly why I am here asking for help, for a different advice that can help me cope with this headache. Please help guys. Thank you so much! I've also been wondering, has anyone tried Oxygen for this headache?

That is true. I also feel traumatised during my cycles too, particularly after a few intense attacks, but one must also keep relationships healthy and when the beast is not around its good for a change in mood, until the attacks come super intense and then I regret it. I agree there really is some relation between the two.

Having suffered from Episodic cycles for the past 10 years. During my cycles I have noticed that whenever I have sex (ejaculate), I get more attacks per 24hrs for the next few days. To be particular, my attacks usually occur only once in the morning, but when I have sex the night before, I'll get a painful attack during my night's sleep, and then again in the morning, and the severity of pain is also relatively much higher than it was usually, before sex. So both frequency and intensity of the attacks increase for me and its not a single occurrence. I'm curious to know if anyone else has experienced this and if anyone knows why it is like that. Is it something related to the concentration of some libido hormones in the blood? I feel like I can better cope with the headache with the 'drive for sex' gets higher. Also, I'm busting today so wish me luck!

I wanted to ask a similar question. Every year I used to get my headaches right at the peak of Fall season. Particularly when trees have shed and when their leaves start to rustle with the dry and cold wind. I noticed that over the years my cycle was delayed by 2 weeks. So 8 years ago it was around November and this year it was in January just before Spring. However, for the first time that I can recall, my cycle started at the end of November And the headache is on the opposite side of my head. I assume it was triggered by a Nasal Spray that I used to relieve my stuffy nose for a good night sleep that turned into a nightmare. So is it normal? For the side of headache and season to change? Should I be expecting another cycle on the other side later in the peak of Fall season? It totally got me off-guard this year as I was planning to bust once before December, that's when I was expecting it. How long will this cycle last, considering other people that have episodic cycles start around this time of the year? Thanks guys.

Thank you for the quick reply Batch, To the question about Rx Medication, no, I don't take any other medications, only the supplements. About Riboflavin, I'll see if I can take more of that but I remember researching why my pee color had turned neon yellow with the multi-vitamins, I found that it is because of excess riboflavin? so should I irrespectively load up more riboflavin? I also try to take a glass of milk with curcumin in it at night before bed, often as well as in meals. Also, it is oranges season so will try to eat more for Vit-C.

Thank you Batch, for personally responding, Commenting back on my original post, coincidently it was a viral infection in one eye combined with flu that caused the stuffy nose. But I'm now confirmed into my cycle and I'm in serious pain. I never checked my vitD levels before, assuming I had loaded the right schedule based on the formula that targetted 80ng/ml, but suffering for the past few days, and assuming my levels may be low, I continued loading and gave my sample for tests but my samples were twice misplaced (bad luck there), until today that I got my results and they are just as I expected, based on the loading-schedule I have been following. Below are the latest results while I suffered a serious attack this morning. For which I ran to emergency to abort it with oxygen. The days before, oxygen didn't help and I was given a shot of Tramadol that made me retch my guts out, and I'm still feeling dizzy 2 days later. VitD = 110.4 ng/ml PTH = 34.5 pg/ml Calc = 9.2 mg/dl I live in Pakistan and I had trouble gathering all the exact specifics of the regimen but I still managed to get much of the regimen except for Vit K2, which is not available. Otherwise, I keep a healthy diet irrespectively, daily take greens, vegetables and fruits like pomegranates apples and oranges, dates with dry fruits (walnuts). I'm wondering whether my missing on a small percentage of something in the regimen may be causing the attacks to still occur despite such high vitD levels? Also pointing back to a point in my original post, I believe my vitD levels may have been above 80 while I still suffered from common headaches like 'tension headache', throbbing in the back of my neck. I got a very good job offer a few days back but I haven't been able to celebrate. Please help... Here are particulars of the regimen I am taking, vitD 10,000 - 15,000 iUs per day. (5000 capsules) multivitamin - once or sometimes twice per day, depending on my diet for that day Fish oil - two capsules per day Magnesium - once at night before bed Cannot source vitK2 here, only K1 (could this be the deficiency compromising the regimen?)

Hello friends, This is the first time I've loaded Vit D levels which was initially 11ng/mL. I also finally realized why I had so much body aches which immediately vanished in just a few days. I just wanted to ask 2 questions: 1 - While on this regimen, Do patients still get visual/other symptoms of cluster headaches but only without the pain? I have episodic cycles and around this time of the year, I am now on maintenance dose and for the past 2 days I have a red eye and the nasal area bubbling like it used to when I'd suffer an attack, yet with no pain. So is that expected with this regimen? 2 - Does this regimen also help eliminate all other types of headaches? I don't have migraines but this severe pulsating headache on both sides in the back of my head that happen from changes in sleep pattern, hypoglycemia, etc. So are they eliminated too? Just want to make sure the regimen is working. Thank you

Okay so its been some time since I posted here, I feel I owe the forum a detailed response. I mentioned earlier that I have episodic CHs and occur in Fall season for the last 4-5 years. I tried Oxygen for the first time and it helped miraculously. I am glad I live near a hospital and there aren't much for-home/portable options available in Pakistan. At first doctors told me I was insane to inhale oxygen at 15 Lpm, they said it'll damage my lungs lol. Also, the hospital had no idea what a mask with a bag meant so I improvised this (attachment - upto 50% off). Used the bottle nozzle as a mouth piece and inserted the pipe of the centralized oxygen supply in the emergency in the other end. Anyways, when I'd get hit I'd run to the near emergency and in around 30 mins I'd get better. I once got a rebound around 15-20 mins later and that was probably because I did not fully eject the attack. Another time, the rebound occurred exactly 12 hours later. PREVIOUSLY: when the season occurred. At the first signs I would start taking Flunarizine, a 'selective-calcium channel blocker', like Varapamil but 'selective'. It is a prophylactic drug so it would take around 15 days to set in the blood, so from the first signs the headache intensity and frequency increased for 7 days and then subsided by 15-20th day and then I'd continue taking Flunarizine for two months and then tapper the dose with a day's gap to avoid rebounds. PLACEBO: An interesting placebo happened to me this time, when I'd wake up around 8am and have a shadow of the headache lingering. I'd rush to take 'Advil', an NSAID ibuprofen. But with it, i'd rush to take some food to avoid stomach upset. In the next 15 mins the headache would instantly abort. It happened three days and I thought Advil was the cure. I then went out of town for a weekend trip with some friends when tragically the headache occurred one morning and I took 400mg of Advil that had absolutely no effect. I ruined the trip for everyone, we went to the hospital in the are that only had small cylinders with 5 Lpm flow that had zero effect on the headache. They then injected me with Tramadol that reduced the agony by only 50%. The headaches I got this season were freaking longgg, like ~8 hrs. I then realized that it wasn't the Advil that helped but some sort of Placebo, and it had something to do with the 'food', which I remember was rice with some chicken and water. But it relates to what some suggested as energy drinks. Mushrooms: While I was under the Placebo effect I was overjoyed and excited, and with a clear head I decided to take the 2gm out of the total 4gm mushrooms I had powdered. Again, I had never had a cigarette in my life, nor any forms of alcohol or things of the sort, so I was completely unaware of the hysteria and laughing that I was about to go through. It was fun but I never realized it would come with so much paranoia. My parents/family weren't happy with this decision so I took it secretly and so I had to hide from them and feel sort of bad all the time I was under the influence. But that's a different story. Following that trip, which was a strong trip I'd say, quite potent because I experienced visual hallucinations; My headache unfortunately occurred again the next few days, probably with slightly lower intensity and shorter duration. Which brings me to a question whether the 'BREAKING THE CYCLE' mean instantly and immediately stopping recurrences or slowly subsiding it? Since I was following the guidance on the forum here, Thanks to you guys <3, after 10 days I convinced my family I needed to do this, it was sad because I had promised them it would treat the cycle 100%, but anyways, I ate the remaining 2gm of the mushrooms. By this time in the cycle (in 10 days after the first dose), the frequency, intensity and duration all had subsided, and the second dose was to prevent it from going back (assuming the subsiding had occurred from the first dose). Following the second dose, in the next few days the headache had subsided, but nothing immediate or instant because even after the 2nd dose, I would get shadows in the morning, which I sometimes aborted with energy drinks (to which I also grew an addiction to). I have so many questions here, and the important question of whether I should take mushrooms before the Fall season this year and whether it was mushrooms that subsided the headache. And the question of 'breaking cycle', is it immediate or slow decline? The subsiding was like the one I used to get in the previous years when I'd take prophylactic (Flunarizine). Another question I have is, does it stop migraines from occurring? Not chronic but triggered migraines. Would love to hear your take on this and your suggestions for the future ahead. Thank you guys, I can't be more grateful to all of you. Thank you and God bless!

Hey clusterheads! Been a CH for years now. Aged nearly 30 and my episodes have returned after a years break. Yet this is the first time I'm trying psilicybin mushrooms for the first time to try to end the cycle. So I'm having a CH every morning around 8am that wakes me up from sleep. Today I got dried mushrooms, grinded them and into capsules of around 300mgs. Now I fear the headache may return early in the morning again. And having capsules ready, and having seen the information on the website, I have a few questions that I think the page should clarify for all new users. The page says "When attempting to break a cycle they noticed that dosing with mushrooms would stop an attack in its tracks. A little experimentation showed that using a very small dose would not trigger the shutting-door effect, and could be repeated as attacks occurred." In the first sentence, what does "in its tracks" mean? Suppose if a CH attack wakes me up, and if the pain is nearly over 50%, would a capsule or two cure that headache? This is a question this page doesn't explain well, as in, when is a good time to take the capsules within the attack episodes after they occur? To properly abort the cycle. And the question if mushrooms will stop an already started headache? Tonight while I was making capsules I ATE around 400mg of mushrooms and its my first time trying mushrooms and the fact that I have never been high in my life ever, no alcohol or cigarettes or anything else. So my question is if I did the right thing to take 400mg in hope that tomorrow the CH doesn't repeat itself? And I hope taking shooms at night for the first time ever isn't a bad idea, I guess I'll know in a while. Last question, if the attacks do recur in my case, is it wise to take mushrooms before going to sleep? Thanks a million people!