Jimmy Martinez

Dear Friends, just wanted to update you on things with me. Believe me, I am thinking about all of you every day. Especially those who are struggling. I wanted to see if anyone has had any any success or somehow broken through to become consistently pain-free? I'm not ready to hit the shrooms but I won't rule it out. Here's what i have done just recently: * Doctor just put me on Verapamil. 80mg tablets 3 times a day. I haven't started yet but will any day now (insurance reasons). * Trying to get dissolvable Maxalt but fighting with insurance company to get more than 9 in a 30 day period. * Been gluten free now for about 4 days,. Also no sugar or dairy. Many are telling me that this could be a game changer. My doctor thinks it won't make a difference. * Trying to conserve the medication I have. was using Frovatriptan as a preventative but only worked 50% of the time. When i get an attack, I have had some Zomeg a friend of mind gave me. * Lately I have been getting more daytime attacks which is odd because I typically get the attacks 2 hours after I fall asleep. * Oxygen working a little better now that I have a higher flow regulator (max 15 LPM). If I catch an attack early I can knock it out, if caught late, the oxygen does;t work. * Have tried migraine excedrin a few times and it actually has worked. * I have also stopped drinking caffeine. * A friend of mine who gets migraines is telling me about Hemp Oil (CBD) which she says helps. * I've reached out to "Batch" to get more info on this vitamin D3 regimen which I am not taking correctly at this time according to CHfather. I will still try this regimen as I hear it has great success. * I've tried taking Benadryl at night and Melatonin/Magnesium but can't say it's helped much or that I have noticed any difference. I might be doing too many things and confusing myself but I feel like I have to try multiple things to get some impactful results. If anyone has had impactful success with anything, please share it with me. I have heard that "busting" works but I'm nervous about that. Thank you and here's to your health and success! Jimmy-

Hi Kay, just checking in on your husband? If he getting any relief? Have you looked into Verapamil? I'm thinking about him every day sending him prayers. Take care and please tell him that he can and will beat this! Aloha, Jimmy-

HI Kay, your husband can beat this or he can find much needed relief. Tell him that there are people just like me who "feel his pain" and who are praying for him. Hopefully your husband has access to good doctors where you are. The moderators who have chimed in are wonderful, smart, caring people who have great experience and knowledge to share. Winter never fails to turn to spring. There will be relief and happiness. Hang in there.

I'm bad with computer so it there is a "private message" option on this site, please let me know. Otherwise, thank you Spiny. I get the headaches usually at 1 or 2 in the morning so the caffeine would keep me up all night. But good to know for those rarer day time attacks. So sorry to hear you have been going through this. I hope they go away for you forever or for at least decades. I never had these headaches until about 5 years ago and they seem to come around for about a month every 18 months or so. I've never had them in a warm summer before. Only in the spring or fall. Therefore the "change in season" theory doesn't seem likely to me. I'm guessing this is a stress or an overactive mind or possibly some sort of muscle or tendon clenched or out of whack. I'm praying for my life literally.

Thank you CHfather. I am going to put your daughter in my prayers ever day. She will beat this, especially with you fighting with her. I have a 7 year old daughter myself. I'm so glad it's me with the headaches instead of her or my wife or anyone else in my family. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. I'll follow Batch's recommendations to the T. Thank you for the link. I'm reading things about cayenne pepper in the nostril being helpful. I'd put a cobra in my nose if it thought it would work. Take care

thank you Ryanegal and CHfather for your replies and help. I take it that CHfather is the father of child who suffers clusters. That is the most painful of all things I could imagine. Having your child go through this. I'm sorry if this is the case. I bet you wish it was you having the clusters instead of your loved one. Hopefully they are doing great and having a healthy, normal life without pain. I send you my prayers every day. Please know this. I pray for each and everyone in the world who suffers these headaches.

Hi All, just wanted to see if the following daily vitamin cocktail comes close to Batch's recipe: 1 calcium 600mg 1 Omega3 360mg 1 Boron 3mg 1 Zinc 50mg 1 Magnesium 500mg 4 VitaminD3 totaling 20,000 IU 1 Vitamin A 10,000 IU I Vitamin K 100 mcg 1 Vitamin B (complex) unknown mg count because it's a complex vitamin I also thrown in a family multi-vitamin, vitamin C, and Vitamin B-12 with this cocktail but if I should just stick with "formula only". Please let me know. At night I take another 20,000 IU and 5mg of Melatonin I would be grateful to hear if this is "correct" or if I need to modify this vitamin regimen. Last night I tried "Frovatriptan" for the 1st time. Got me loopy but worked! I wish I didn't have to take any medications because they all seem like heavy stuff. Going to an herbalist next week and still want to explore a chiropractor. This stiffness and tightness in my neck may be causing a face muscle to mess which might be causing the clusters. I am praying every day as well! I am trying to exercise as well but I'm usually worn out lately because of the lack of sleep, pain-filled nights, and after effects of the medications. Thank you and here's to everyone's health and restful nights of deep uninterrupted sleep!

I saw this on-line and am now thinking a detox or cleansing would help. This is not me "speaking" below but someone from internet. Hi everyone, at this point it's been months since I've had a cluster headache, with the exception being a mild headache that appears whenever I think about headaches. Based on what I now know about cluster headaches I don't find that surprising at all and I consider myself to be cured. The important part of being cured is that I no longer wake up in the middle of the night with a stabbing pain behind my right eye, and I no longer walk around with a throbbing pain in the middle of the right side of my head. I suspect that the memory of the headache will be there for some time, with the effect that thinking about the headache I used to have will still trigger a mild form of what it used to be. In fact, writing this article right now is triggering a mild form of the old headache. But I feel I have valuable information to share and I hope that someone out there finds what I have to say useful. If so, then any little headache I put up with while I write this is worth it.Here's the background: More than 3 years ago, immediately following intense physical activity I felt something that first felt like a small pinprick behind my right eye. This pinprick immediately seemed to spread out and I had my first cluster headache. At the time I didn't know what a cluster headache was, but for me it meant a stabbing feeling behind my right eye. When this would happen my right eye would become dry and bloodshot. I would also have a lot of difficulty concentrating. The worst part of it all was the fear that something was seriously wrong, in addition to the obvious inconvenience of living with a constant headache.From that moment on, until a few months ago, I had a more or less constant headache behind my right eye. It wouldn't move around my head, it would only increase or decrease in intensity. Most of the time it was about a 2 out of 10 on the pain scale, but occasionally it would rise all the way up to an 8 or a 9. Unfortunately the worst pain would often be at night, when I would first become aware of the headache in my dreams and wake up to a terrible pain in my head.After I had had the headache for about 2 months, I saw a neurologist. One MRI and $4000 later, I still had no idea why I had a headache. All the neurologist could say to me was that it seemed to be some sort of migraine and I could expect normal life expectancy. I saw another doctor about it and the only help he offered was prescription pain killers. I knew there had to be another way so I continued to look around.I did a lot of research and read a fair number of books including Paul Bacho's "How to Get Permanent Relief from Chronic Tension Headaches" and Jay S. Cohen's "The Magnesium Solution for Migraine Headaches." I also made some accidental discoveries while working with massage therapists. Here is what I discovered:MAIN POINT: My cluster headaches were caused by chronic tightness in my right SCM muscle and in my right temporalis muscle.Many of the books and articles I read hinted at this fact, but what really sealed it for me was the realization that by pushing on two spots, one on the base of my skull and the other on my right temple, I could cause the headache to get MUCH worse immediately. If you have a chronic headache I highly recommend fishing around both of these areas and determining if there are any such spots on your own head. In the case of the base of my skull I have to reach up under my skull to find the spot, but it is there.Okay, so that was a major realization, but there still remained the question of how I could get those muscles to relax. Obviously massage helped but usually only temporarily. More research regarding this topic led me to a second realization:SECOND POINT: If someone has a chronic condition, it is for lifestyle reasons. Therefore if someone wants real long term relief that person must change their lifestyle.This realization was gradually made as I worked through other seemingly unrelated problems, such as chronic fatigue, heartburn/acid reflux and what one doctor I visited called "pre-MS" symptoms. I have made huge progress on all of these fronts, but since this article is about headaches I will save those topics for another day. Based on my experience, here are what I consider to be the most important things one can do physically in order to make healing possible. Some of what follows is redundant, as many of the items work together:1) Establish healthy sleep habits:I now go to bed by around 9pm and get up between 4:00am and 5:00am. One year ago I would have thought it would be impossible for me to function on such a schedule. I would never have thought I could actually get up that early. And even if I did get into bed by 9pm, I would never have fallen asleep. But I have been able to change that by:a) Giving up coffee and alcohol altogether. Not watching TV or using the internet after work.c) Eating dinner as early as possible.d) Drinking a tea of valerian, chamomile and catnip after dinner to help me feel sleepy.e) Going on an hour long walk after dinner every night.f) Reading in bed until I'm falling asleep.g) Using meridan therapy (see Gloria Arenson's book "Five Simple Steps to Emotional Healing") in bed if I can't sleep.h) Using a biobrite alarm clock (see biobrite.com) to take the sting out of waking up.I have found it very helpful to avoid looking at the time as much as possible in the evenings. And I no longer need the valerian blend tea now that I'm in healthy habits. Pretty much I come home from work, have dinner, go for my walk and go to bed. Making this change took some willpower and required giving up dancing, which was historically very important to me, but I decided that my health was the most important thing to me and that I was willing to do whatever it took to heal.2) No TV at all:Watching television is much more stressful than people who are used to it realize. In addition, the number of unhealthy images and ideas that are pumped into the head of someone who watches television for even a short amount of time is amazing. Finally, there is the issue of eye strain, which is a big deal for someone with chronic headaches.3) No processed food, especially no artificial sweeteners:Processed food is rarely, if ever, created with any thought as to the digestibility of the end product, meaning that the so-called food is going to strain your body without nourishing it. On top of that most processed food contains some form of MSG, which is generally terrible for someone with headaches. And artificial sweeteners all seem to poison the entire nervous system in some way or another. Finally, I recommend that you switch to an all organic diet, in whatever form you feel will work for you.4) Walk for an hour every day:A lot of getting rid of my headache came down to relaxing. My daily walks are very relaxing, and my girlfriend and I often don't even talk on them. We just walk and take them in. In addition, walking helps to circulate the lymph, which aids in detoxing the body. Which leads us to my next point.5) Systematically clean the various organs of your body:Two big components of this are Liver Flushing and colon cleansing. I do a liver flush, following Andreas Moritz 's book, "The Live and Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse" every 4 weeks or so, depending on my schedule. I also have colonic hydrotherapy at least twice a month and I do an enema of some sort every weekend. Liver cleansing is important because the liver oversees most of the detoxing in the body, while colon cleansing is important because many toxins are eliminated through the stool and many toxins build up in the colon. In addition, I use the Liver Flushes as landmarks in between which I am systematically cleaning myself in different ways. For instance one month I did a kidney cleanse while another month I did a parasite cleanse. Next month I will be doing a yeast cleanse.Okay, those are what I consider to be the top 5 things that someone can do for their health generally. I actually think that those 5 things will improve any chronic health problem, not just chronic headaches. As far as eliminating chronic headaches, I also recommend:1) Regular clinical massage:If you can find someone in your area who can work on your SCM muscle you will likely notice a large reduction in cluster or tension headaches.2) Chiropractic care:In my case my atlas bone was also misaligned. This was probably a result of years of tension from one side of my neck. My personal opinion of chiropractic care is that it can be very helpful but you need to make other lifestyle changes to help yourself hold the adjustments on a more long term basis.3) The 5 Tibetans daily exercises:I learned these exercises from the book, "Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth" by Peter Kelder. The exercises are all essentially spine lengthening and strengthening exercises and I think that if you have tight muscles in your neck that are contributing to your headache that these exercises will help you.All right, that's the end of my list. I've done a lot of other things like Iodine supplementation that have also been helpful but one of my goals in creating this list was to keep it short. There is also the huge topic regarding how all physical problems are really just manifestations of psychological and spiritual problems, but I am just learning about that myself at this point so I have omitted that for now. As you progress in your own healing I'm sure you will find your own way of taking care of yourself. Hopefully my experience will be of some value. If anyone has any questions or wants to know what my other experiences have been I'll be happy to share. Thanks and talk soon,- John

Thank you Bejeeber! Yes the chlorine is probably acting as a trigger. I appreciate all of your feedback and help. I will try out this "Frovatriptan" starting tonight and maybe it can help or hopefully END this cycle I am in. Do you have a belief as to why these headaches occur such a stress, weather changing, etc? I'm curious so hear what other sufferers think. If I had to guess I would say stress is the catalyst but who the heck knows. To your health and success always, Jimmy

Hi everyone, I hope you are all getting huge amounts of relief or NO headaches al all. I feel lucky because my headaches began about 5 years ago but I've been reading forums where people have been dealing with for 20 years plus. I wanted to give a quick update on my status and ask a few questions. * I thought Benadryl and the steroid shots I took were the "cure". I had 4 nights without headaches but now it's been 4 days/nights with headaches. This really sucks when I got 3 attacks in one day. So I think the Benadryl cure is out the window. * The headache specialist I went to recently prescribed "Frovatriptan" which I have not yet been able to receive/try because I am fighting with my insurance company to get it. Has anyone tried "Frovatriptan"? I am down to my last tablet of "Maxalt" right now which is scary. * My other neurologist gave me some free sample is "Treximet" which I took last night during an attack. It killed the pain but I am a zombie today. I took Benadryl last night as well so maybe the combo of Trexmiet and Benadryl F-ed me up. * Has anyone had any success seeing a chiropractor to stop the attacks? * I have been having a sore, tight, knotted neck during this recent 3 week attack. Anyone else experience this? I thought it was because of the horribly restless sleep I have been having but maybe there is a muscle or tendon that gets messed up as a result of the attacks. * Triggers for me: direct sunlight, swimming in swimming pools, hot days. Anyone else experience these triggers? * I've never gone through a full attack without having to pop some sort of medication. Meaning I've never had cluster headache run it's full course on it's own and end on it's own without getting rid of it with a pill or nasal mist. How long does typical headache last if you don't treat it in any way? I can only go about 30 minutes of pain before I give up and take medication. I'm tempted to let a headache run it's course without using medication but I don't know if I can last 60 minutes plus. * Oxygen: seems to lessen the pain for a little while but it has never killed or fully stopped an attack. I experienced using the canula AND the oxygen mask together. My tank only delivers 8 liters max. Oxygen feels cold and sometimes makes the pain worse. Maybe I am doing it wrong? * Vitamin D regimen: I am still doing this daily for the last 2 and half weeks but not the overloading. Only about 20,000 IU daily. Maybe I need to more? * Any tips, tricks, or fixes anyone has had success with? Thank you all very much and I send you prayers for decades and lifetimes of pain-free days and nights!

Hi friends, thank you so much for your replies and help. I am with you all as we fight this nasty beast together. "CHfather" : oxygenated water is something my wife raves about. It's basically alkaline water infused with oxygen. I haven't seen a difference drinking this water in terms of my headaches but I guess there is no harm is drinking tons of water every day. I have an update on some relief I have been experiencing lately. I decided to go see an ear/nose/throat doctor because it seems that my left nostril always gets clogged just prior to and during my attacks. Then once the headaches subsides (always because I took a maxalt pill) the nostril clears and I can breath normally. The ENT doctor doesn't believe there is a correlation between my nose getting clogged and the headaches only that the clogging is a RESULT of the headaches. But he gave me a steroid shot in my nose (long needle) as well as a shot in my butt of some other steroid or decongestant. I then went and got "flo-nase" and Benadryl which I have been taking for the last 2 nights. And there have been NO headaches. I am groggy in the morning (I take the Benadryl in the evening before bed, 2 gel caps) but it's a small price to pay to not have a cluster attack. I don't know if this is the "solution" to stopping the headaches but I will update everyone on how it goes. I am still doing the Vitamin-D regimen and taking the Melatonin. So my guess is that the headaches are allergy/pollen/nasal related. I am also going to see an allergist next week. For those of you who are experiencing pain right now, I know exactly how you feel and I am praying with all of my heart that you get immediate and permanent relief. if there is one upside to these headaches, it has made me profoundly appreciate a day/night without a pain (98% of the attacks are always occur during my sleep) and I also profoundly appreciate a full night's sleep. where there is a will, there is a way!

Thank you Dallas Denny, Spiny, and Bejeeber for your warm welcomes and all of the great information you shared with me. I wanted to update you on things with me. I've been on the warpath with this cluster thing, determined to beat it and get relief. I saw my general doctor today and he thinks I am suffering from anxiety and he prescribed "Ativan". I then went to a prominent headache specialist here in Los Angeles who my neurologist actually recommended. My neurologist is the one who prescribed "Rizatriptan" (which is the generic version of Maxalt) and he recently prescribed me "Topomax". So the headache specialist is very familiar with clusters and he says to drop the current medications I have and instead take "frovatriptan" 2 hours before I go to bed. He also said that the oxygen I am taking needs to be administered via an oxygen mask (I am currently using a "Cannula"). He thinks this medication can be very effective. He thought the topomax was too heavy of a drug. I asked him about the Vitamin D regimen and the oxygenated water and he didn't think those were game changers. I tried the topomax last night for the first time and it did cut the pain by 50% but it left me with a serious hangover. Tomorrow I see an acupuncturist and next week I see an allergist. I'm trying everything! I hope you all are having pain-free days and nights and please know I am praying for you like you were my own family members. I feel like there will be a cure or a significant breakthrough in our lifetimes. I want to share my Buddhist chant with you. It's "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" which means "devotion to the mystic law of cause and effect through sound/vibration". I'm not trying to push my religion on anyone but chanting "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" has worked for me much of my life. It's my "karma" that I have these headaches. That means I made some negative causes at one point in my life and the effects of those causes have manifested in these headaches. But I can create positive causes which can create positive effects which will hopefully somehow put my life in rhythm so that I can become cluster free forever. I will be chanting for you all every day I promise you this. Thank you again for your support and please know you have mine! We can beat this!

Hi everyone, my name is jimmy and I live in Los Angeles. I've experienced CH about 3 times over a 4 year period. I've been to a neurologist and he is currently giving me "maxalt" which my insurance company will only 9 tablets a month. I have oxygen at home and am also taking magnesium, melatonin, and capsicum nasal spray. I've upped my water intake as well. It's been over a year since my last attacks. I thought I was out of the woods! About a week ago they started. Luckily not as strong as in the past but painful enough for me to use the F word begging for God to be merciful and stop the pain. Then the headaches stopped for 3 beautiful heavenly days. Today was a warm day and I was out walking. The left eye ball started to throb and within 5 minutes I was begging for mercy. I got into the car and popped an Advil. With 9 minutes I was getting relief. But those 9 minutes were so bad I felt dying would be a good thing. My heart goes out to all of you especially those who suffer for long periods of time or who have been suffering for many years. Please know I will pray for your relief and for the headaches to disappear and never ever return. If anyone has any tips, suggestions, remedies, or potions that prevent, reduce, or stop the headaches please point me in the right direction. My wife is pregnant and we are expecting in November and I am praying with my entire heart not to be in pain when my baby is born. Whatever websites, forum boards, or information anyone can share that can lead to a reduction in pain, I would be eternally grateful. if I were to guess, my attacks are due to a combination of diet, weather, and stress. Perhaps an overactive mind!