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I've always used Peppermint Tea when I make my 'herbal tea', as we call it. The peppermint helps with the taste A LOT. I've also started adding honey and lemon, which helps with the taste (and from what I understand, the psilo to break down). After my first cup of 'herbal tea' two years ago, I can't smell peppermint tea without it triggering the taste of mushrooms (which I hate). The smell alone can give me a sickly feeling in my stomach, even though the shrooms themselves don't make me feel ill in any way. They say smell is one of our strongest senses of association, and it certainly plays a part here for me. Does anyone else experience a strong smell sensation? MG

I dont take the fish oil, Just D3 and Vik K part. I do use benadryl 50 mg at night. I imagine Batch gets pounded with questions and comments. The summary of his protocol is available as a pinned post. The fish oil can cause some reflux so taking it with some food may help.

Assuming CMS will cover oxygen, you will not have enough tanks to abort. My recommendation is industrial oxygen. It is my impression that an industrial HVAC supply house will allow you to purchase such tanks if honest and if you explain. You are not purchasing anything that requires an EPA 608 Universal Refrigerant License. And as stated, I have offered my business accounts numerous times, which should be active. I assume that everyone wants to see my inactive licenses? I was heavily involved with the RE Michael Executives 17 years ago, look that supplier up. Their executives formed a company and I was the lead HVAC Mechanic. From there, I became an Oil Heat Mechanic, Controls Engineer, and Refrigeration Mechanic and should have an account with Penco and United Refrigeration. I knew a few of the sales executives at Penco, dated one of their daughters, one was a close friend of the family. That account should be active. Yeah, before screwing my life to hell and back was deeply connected to politics and executives. Oh well. Such is life. In my world, it is called blacklisted, even family.

Hi Mark, My husband suffers from CHA's, and has the same symptoms, though the pain around his right eye radiates into his jaw and neck, even sometimes to the top of his head. He has used Bella Donna ear drops with some success, and uses peppermint oil for temporary pain relief to his jaw and neck. By temporary I mean several times a day. He also uses Magnesium for the CH, and was told to by a Neurologist about 5 yrs ago. He takes Calcium/Magnesium and zinc sold together as 1 tablet. The calcium helps the body absorb the Magnesium. This really had the headaches backing off, but you should research it and ask your doctor also. Keep posting your progress.

Hello All, I've started the D3 regimen (10,000 U + cofactors) for about three days now. I have been up every 2 hours at night with shadows for about a week. I am exhausted! I have been fighting with the O2 company to get it delivered to my house. Hopefully, that will happen next week. I had my D3 tested in January and it was 25.2 ng/ml so my Dr. told me to take D3 supplements and I was taking 2,000 a day. I doubt if my D3 levels are up to standard now. My CH remission cycle is about every 18-24 months and when in effect I have CH's for about 2-3 months. How long does it generally take for the regiment to start working? I just want to get some consistent sleep at night. In combination to the D3 regimen, I have been drinking ginger tea, using ice packs, and lavendar and peppermint oil, caffeine, and Gatorade to try to alleviate the symptoms, but sometimes they are effective and others they are not. When the pain becomes too bad, I just use a small dose of an Imitrex shot. I used to be on Verapermil, but my headaches because worse while on it so my Dr took me off of it. Also, I just finished taking a batch of prednisone last week and I was able to get a couple nights of sleep, but towards the end I had two severe headaches that lasted for hours. I don't know what that was all about. Any suggestions you all may be able to provide will be appreciated. Thanks, BrainFreeze

Burning cooking oil used to trigger me instantly but the strange thing is that it stopped being a trigger a couple years ago.

The last few weeks have been interesting for me and I just wanted to tell everyone what has been going on. I have been on Batches D3 for a long time now and I think I found my sweet spot towards the end of last month. I take everything on the list and had just upped the vitamin D 20,000 a day. I was down to 1 or 2 low level attacks a day. I had a doctors appointment on the 26th of July to go over my hip replacement and was told to stop taking the fish oil and vitamin K. 4 days later the clusters stopped.. Totally, no shadows, no pressure no nothing just pain free days. On August 5th I went in for the hip replacement crapping my pants that I was going to be hit non stop all day. To my surprise I did not have any clusters at all. I was told after surgery that I needed to stop the rest of the D3 vitamins because of blood clotting issues. I am allowed to take my Verapamil and they added a baby aspirin twice a day. On the 7th I had my first twinge of a cluster comin on so I grabbed my O2 and downed a 5hr energy drink, 10 minutes later it was gone. I was thinking maybe it was all in my mind and I would be fine.. Well every day since I have had 3 Clusters a day, low level pain and the longest one was only 30 minutes but they are coming back and getting stronger with every hit. The hip is doing fine other then the big bruise that feels like I was kicked in the thigh by a horse and I am limping around nicely. I was also told to stop smoking a week before the replacement and continue for 6 weeks after surgery. I was smoking 6 or 7 cigarillos a day and yesterday started back on that but only 1 a day so far. My question is this.. At what point do you think I can get back on the full vitamin D? I think this is what had me pain free for the few days around surgery, Do I take everything except the fish oil and K or do I take it all? Are the few clusters I am now getting due to the interrupted sleep and less stress of the surgery? I know nobody have a solid answer and no two people are the same but maybe someone has had a issue like this before. Any help, criticism or recommendations are welcome.

Hey Billyx, Thank you for the reply. The 14-day loading schedule should have elevated your 25(OH)D3 up by 170 nmol/L bringing your total 25(OH)D3 serum concentration up around 300 nmol/L (121 ng/mL). That's good and it should be more than sufficient to bring about a therapeutic response with a significant reduction in CH frequency or better yet, a complete cessation of CH. Accordingly, as you're still getting hit with CH, it's more than likely you're also experiencing an immune system response to allergens. These can be subclinical with no obvious or outward observable symptoms. Allergic reactions kick off a lot of histamine and histamine to a CHer is like Kryptonite to Superman, bad news. None of the prevents work during an allergic reaction and that includes vitamin D3. The best course of action I take when an allergic reaction is present, is to start what I call the "Full Monty" clutch of supplements with antihistamine properties on top of the basic anti-inflammatory regimen supplements. I take 3 grams/day each of Turmeric (Curcumin), Resveratrol, Quercetin and Omega-3 fish oil. I also take 8 grams/day vitamin C in divided doses. I buy the powdered bulk vitamin C in 1 Kg bags ( 3 cents/gram USD) and mix two level teaspoons (8 grams) in 8 oz of water and take sips throughout the day until it's all gone by bedtime. I also take 10 mg/day melatonin at bedtime. I stay on this concoction for at least a week after cessation of CH then taper the doses. It never hurts to keep taking at least 4 grams/day vitamin C all the time. Our bodies need vitamin C to synthesize collagen. We need collagen to help prevent brittle bones, maintain healthy cartilage and elastic skin. Besides being an antihistamine, vitamin C is also an excellent antioxidant, antiviral and antibacterial agent. Watch the following video of Linus Pauling giving a presentation on the use of vitamin C to prevent illness and disease. Pauling was 92 when he filmed this video. He had many critics of his suggested use of vitamin C in large quantities to prevent illnesses. Most of these critics came from the Big Pharmas. When he died at 93, he still had two more individual Nobel Prizes than any of his critics and he had outlived most of them. His first individual Nobel Prize was for Chemistry involving quantum mechanics, electron orbits and molecular shapes. (My degree was in Chemistry so quantum mechanics was a central theme throughout my studies.) Pauling's second individual Nobel Prize was for Peace. He stopped above ground nuclear warhead testing. He took 18 grams/day vitamin C. He also took 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

I have plenty of experience with SSDI and CH, as well as Migraine. 1) you will need comorbidity listed by SSDI 2) As of January 2022, it now takes 9 months to be assigned a disability evaluator. Yes, 9 months. Between appeals, and all the crap that you are up against if you are approved-a realistic time frame is five to six years. Before being a welfare collector, I had successful careers as an HVAC/R and Oil Heat Mechanic, Gas Fitter, Plumbing, and Electric. Before that, I gave up a dead-end career as a Lexus, and Mercedes Benz Factory Mechanic. I also had a career as a defense contractor. Once the two spinal reconstructions/fusions occurred, it was off to college to waste away 8 years for an MBA/MS and to make far less money. Then, by junior year the shitshow began, and so did disability. I spent 8 years misdiagnosed, and my new anesthesiologist is certain of a movement disorder, most likely progressive MS. If correct, all the fancy headache clinics screwed up royally. You can attempt, ATTEMPT, to expedite the process by congressional inquiry, and an attorney that knows what they are doing (Sharon Christie (RN and Attorney), and even then, you better hope for a ton of financial support. I'm sorry, twenty years ago was only easy for the quadriplegic dying of a terminal illness, not to be morbid. A close friend fought the VA for 6 years and SSDI for 6 or 7 years in the 90s, if not for him, I have to believe him, none of us would get it. He was the first to take on both administrations. I am one nut shy of $10 fruit cake, my spine is shot, and I had several, multiple, valid comorbidities to list in 2014. I went through the process of application, doctor review/visit, denial, appeal, and favorable decision in 6 months. I feel bad for saying that, but yes, I received my disability in 6 months, but I'm so fucked up that it only made sense. I did not see a judge, never went for an evaluation, any of those things. I can't help you there. I hate to tell you this if you try by headache, you will have a mountain to climb and will need to go before a judge. And it will take several years. I know for a fact that you do not need epileptic comorbidity or any other listing; however, if under 50, Disability is financially broke, you need as many other listings as possible. They do not want more on the rolls. My advice, congressional inquiry, a hotshot lawyer, to hell with most of your back pay, and patience. Oh, get used to abject poverty. The most that you will receive is $2,000 per month. After your advantage plan, and Medicare, it becomes $1,800. That is a 1 bedroom flat in my area. And you can't freelance. Oh, no lawyer takes on your case until you are denied. Most are denied because they don't understand how to provide paperwork/records. Get every record, a medical dictionary, and learn what to send, what not to send. I believe that I read 10,000 pages, but sent 3,500 pages (the stuff that did not incriminate me). I had every doctor write a detailed/succinct report as to why I could not work, and fill out an SSDI report of disability determination (ahead of time). If you think that they do this, you are a fool, and that is why you get canned. Their doctors can only assess what they have.

I suffer migraine and fibromyalgia. I make my own CBD hash oil from industrial hemp which is easily available online in the UK. If you google "BHO" you'll find lots of information online about how to make it. Ignore all the fancy equipment. You can use any metal or glass tube and collect it on a piece of baking parchament placed in a soup bowl. I take a small dab when I get home from work and another when I go to bed. I also mix the hash oil with propylene glycol so I can carry it around in a vape pen in case I get an attack of pain when I'm out and about. Just plop 4 grams of hash oil in 100ml of PG and heat and stir until it dissolves . I prefer CBD with as little THC as possible because I hate being stoned that's why I start from industrial hemp rather than weed. If you live in the states you'll probably have acess to high CBD/Low THC weed. We don't in the UK. Some strains to look for are AC/DC, Cannatonic, Sour Tsunami, Harlequin, Remedy, Charlotte's Web. When I first tried CBD I was on 7 pills a day. Now I don't take any.

As Pixie says, getting a diagnose first is absolute key. Depending on your access to a real specialist who really knows his stuff the best thing as with many other diseases is to be as good informed as possible to not get sent away with an unsatisfying answer. This is an obscure disease however with plenty good (and many of them harmless) options to ease the burden - if she has CH. Please correct me if this is a bad advice but from my personal experience and many others reporting similar, a diet change can already show some improvement. In case you need to wait too long for an appointment you might consider giving this a try already and see what happens. There should be limited risk as you just avoid what isn't good for most "normal" people anyways when consumed constantly. Some weeks ago I have removed a lot of things from my diet and feel overall way better and only have a single, very mild attack each morning at 7am coming from 3-8 attacks per night (I am now working on getting rid of the remaining attack as well of course) What I did: - no sugar, no meat, no cow diary products, no wheat, no alcohol, no glutamate, very reduced coffee consumption, no food with high histamine or purine levels.Smoking is very bad as well obviously, I can't stop though yet. Only eat self prepared food, so you know what's in it. Most of these things raise your PH level and / or are high in purine. There is clear evidence that many if not all of us have an imbalanced PH level (constantly too acidic) You will ask what's left to eat - there is plenty left actually to keep your calorie count positive and get all vital nutritions. - Most vegetables (avoid histamine rich ones like tomatoes), also check if your wife has pollen allergies. Some veggies share the same allergen as certain pollen so there is a chance for a cross allergy. ( example = Arlen pollen allergic person may be allergic to potatoes and carrots as well). Being allergic does not necessarily mean you have to have clear symptoms like hey fever / itchy eyes etc !! - Butter and goat cheese - Most berries (very rich in antioxidants), be careful with strawberries - many fruits but be careful with some like bananas or citrus - self baked bread, takes literally 5 minutes to prepare .Gluten free wheat, no yeast, baking powder, joghurt lactose free, some seeds, salt, water. Mix and bake for 40 minutes, done. -Fish (only salt water like Pacific salmon) - eggs are technically not great when it comes to purine but I seem to tolerate them - all native / cold pressed oils are very good and many like coconut oil have great anti inflammatory effects and provide with omega 3 fats and good calories. Hemp oil, olive oil, coconut etc, do some reading maybe. Now this is a pretty tough switch both from an organising perspective as well as a mental one (sugar withdrawal...) But it's doable. No cheating, or you can't assess if it helps. Took me a week or 2 until I saw the benefits but they are undeniable and I don't crave anything anymore. To be clear, I don't think this is neither cause nor cure for CH but it may drastically help. I am convinced though there is a link, there is more and more clear scientific evidence showing up the recent years that your gut is actually the root cause triggering off many bad things that have originally been thought of originating somewhere else. Parkinson, Alzheimer's, MS, even depression and many forms of cancer you name it are tracked back to an damaged gut system. Even if your Wife doesn't have CH, I recommend read up leaky gut syndrome or one of the pre stage causes namley Candida overgrowth. (Hello again sugary diet...) Again, this maybe isn't a good idea to do without a doctor monitoring if there are other conditions like diabetes or else but you can sure assess this on your own. I just type all of this because even if it's not CH, being more carefully on what we eat should only benefit us on many levels. (If not done too extreme of course Let us know what you think

how do i contact xxx? yes correct im also taking the fish oil, magnesium, k1 k2 with the d3 and a multivitamin and calcium and the b vitamins. i did read somewhere that high vitamin d is not a problem if the calcium is normal but i could be wrong thanks for the reply mate, apreciate it

I find that getting my Omega 3's from flax oil doesn't bring any burping issues. What this means though is that I'm not buying into the assertions I've seen from the very vocal (and sometimes hysterical IMO) Dr. Mercola that animal source Omega 3's are the way to go. As loathe as I am as a vegetarian about advising anyone regarding chowing down on animules, there is this claim from Dr. Mercola about Krill oil and fishy burps avoidance: "...it is now best to obtain the important omega-3 fats with DHA and EPA fatty acids from a high quality krill oil. In addition to being very high in omega-3, krill also contains almost 50 times more antioxidants than fish oil, which prevents the highly perishable omega-3 fats from oxidizing before you are able to integrate them into your cellular tissue. Additionally, the omega-3 in krill is attached to phospholipids that increase its absorption. This means you need less of it, and it will not cause belching or burping like many fish oil products."

I understand and have crap days, but I refuse anything new and without substantial backing. And on that note, I refuse all abortive medications. I'm trying to avoid taking any medication unless it is to prevent me from going mental. My parents are in their 70s and have impeccable health because they refuse medications unless essential, and then only on the shortest duration as possible. That is the philosophy I am taking, and the results are impressive. I use nutraceutical approaches (not herbal medicine and snake oil) to treat my issues as much as possible, to each its own. Good luck in finding relief. Sometimes it is a process and sometimes it is a vicious circle.

I find this interesting, appreciate the insight, and this has popped up on my radar before. Regarding the oxidative stress that it purports to reduce, my approach would be to target the offenders first: sugar, simple carbs, low concentrations of EPA/DHA/Omega 3, Vitamin D, and of course the key trace minerals and micronutrients. Without a hair analysis, which I can't afford, I am pissing in the wind. It creates expensive urine when you take a bunch of supplements to treat nutrient deficiencies that may not exist. And I create the paradox because I hate all the nutrient-dense vegetables. Go figure. Regarding the MSM, I am still interested in short-term prophylaxis. It appears to be a reasonably priced option to reduce inflammation. As with nutrients, it would be futile if you don't repair the leaky gut, as well as eradicate sugar and eliminate processed foods and bad carbs. I found it interesting that MSM can reduce parasites (benefit), and improve intestinal health (benefit). Regarding it being a free radical scavenger and its role in nitric oxide, my knee-jerk reaction was proper Vitamin C saturation. And not Vitamin C from ascorbic acid, rose hips, and so forth. Some supplements provide the true form of Vitamin C and your last name needs to be Rothschild to afford it. All the evidence looks great; however, there is only a paucity of data, small sample sizes, and most research stopped by 2003. There are scattered studies, but zero clinical trials since 2003. What is more, I did what I can recall from meta-analysis and none of the studies or clinical trials did a lab draw on homocysteine levels. If it works then why eliminate a simple lab test? That is its purported benefit and after combing through over 50 publications, not one had a homocysteine level, and the paucity of data was concerning. To be fair, there isn't money in curing someone. The fact that research stopped tells me the opposite of what an untrained eye would surmise. Most likely, it works damn well and they (you know who) attempted a brilliant cover-up. There is one way to find out, do a baseline homocysteine draw and follow up every three months while taking a starter dose of 1 gram. If the results aren't promising, double down. Most studies included Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which I don't even know a naturopath pushing nutraceuticals to their brother would recommend. That gives the age of the publication. They proved that Glucosamine and Chondroitin are all placebo. I would suggest a trial run of 1gram of MSM, with Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega (2800mg of EPA/DHA Omega 3 Nemechek protocol approved), Garden of Life Raw Code Vitamin D3 (5,000 IU), Garden of Life Chewable Digestive Enzymes, Garden of Life Raw Organic Perfect Food Green SuperFood, Garden of Life Perfect Food Super Green Formula Berry (5 servings of fruits and vegetables), Garden of Life My Kind (Women if a Woman and age range), or Garden of Life My Kind Men's Multi (Age and Man if a Man), the multi is $60 but is all plant-based the only on the market, it is two months thus $30 a month (a steal), Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw C, Garden of Life Dr. Formulated Probiotics Mood+ Acidophilus (buy the refrigerated), Garden of Life Dr. Formulated Whole Food Magnesium raspberry or orange powder (this is pure 350mg of plant based you will absorb all and not poop it all out), Life Extensions Only Trace Minerals. Cost per month $116.20 + my grocery bill of under $200= $300 to $315 for a sane and balanced nutrient dense diet. It is working. And I eat all organic. Note on Fe (Iron): incontrovertibly women have this issue and I have no clue on what supplement to recommend. I use a regional egg brand called Eggland’s Best which is loaded with all natural Vitamin E, Over 500mg of Omega 3, and about 65% of my RDA in iron. I also consume 4 large of said brands eggs each day, with a serving or two of cheese. I do avoid margarine and trans fats. Butter I will use occasionally. My total cholesterol is 170, screw the 90s myth that eggs and butter are terrible. Eggs are a perfect food and organic butter is fine. That nasty shit they call Country Crock will kill you fast. For lunch, it is a can of low-sodium organic beans, which is loaded with fiber. I am far less concerned about taste than protein count. Some beans exceed 30 grams (you can’t process that much in one setting). I strive for under 15 grams of protein. I eat a few servings of veggies, and nothing fancy. I don’t count calories or carbs. That isn’t necessary if you avoid sugar, starch, simple carbs, and bad fats. If my tummy growls, nothing scientific I eat something that isn’t simple carb loaded. Even I realize that you need carbs. Don’t ask, but even I strive for the RDA with complex carbs. KISS (keep it simple stupid). I eat one organic yard bird (chicken breast) with Olive Oil and fresh herbs every night, nothing fancy. If I do feel tired and instead of calorie counting I add cheese, and find whole foods to add. And with each meal I consume a 7 gram all natural fiber that I forgot to add in. I struggle but manage to consume about 2 servings of veggies with dinner, frozen, to hell with chopping and to hell with carb counting, are you nuts? If hungry in between I eat pistachios. But only one serving. My lab draws are the best that they have been in decades, but I am still a train wreck waiting to happen. The damage that I did to my body may be beyond repair. Jen Sais Pas. Time will do. I do know that my migraine days are down to once, at most twice per month, and I was intractable. Concerning Cluster Headaches, I was intractable and I think it has been two months since my last bad bout. And usually it is one and done. Im euthymic after a 7 year, and several should have been fatal run with mental health and borderline addiction. I have a long way in that department but I don’t recall being this stable since childhood, pre-puberty. There is still a shitload of CBT work to learn how to be around people, make these things called friends, and things like that. My C reactive is down substantially, most inflammatory markers are drastically reduced, and I am now at the point that I need to see a functional NP and have a hair analysis to figure out the exhaustion. If I could figure that out, I could return to university and get on with my life. Ultimately come off disability. You have to take quality supplements, I mean whole plant based and few exist. Also, you must eliminate everything that you would buy in the supermarket. If you pay attention, all the healthy stuff is way in the back or in the most inconvenient places. And with COVID, I don’t have issues with groceries because everyone purchases chips, pop, bread, ie, grains, cereals, starches, sugars, etc. If it is empty at Harris Teeter, Wegmans, Target Greatlands, you should not be eating it. I would suggest that you skip the theatrical performances and shop at Trader Joe’s compared to its sister company it is much cheaper and the quality of people is much better. Respectfully, shopping at Aldi is even worse than dealing with people at Wal Mart. Much of the novelty treatments don’t seem necessary if you address the underlying cause.

And then there's Snake Oil Willie..."I don't look good naked anymore"... https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OOgd9hitEAE&feature=share

Would a vegan version of the D3 regimen work? If so, does anyone have a recommendation for a vegan Omega-3 supplement or a suggestion for how much DHA, EPA, etc., should be in a vegan Omega-3 supplement to match the effectiveness of fish oil? Thanks.

Everyone has a preference, but I have reviewed independent lab tests and through the years tried an entire slew of different Fish Oil supplements. I started with the ones that you could purchase at Target, nothing changed, even approaching 4800mg. Next, I went to MOMS (My Organic Market), and well they said try Now Foods. I used several of their products, most are an industry secret (non-GMO, organic, natural) exceptional product at rock-bottom prices, nope. I didn't see the results. And unlike most brands, they pay to have their products tested by all of the third-party labs. They also do a lot of clinical research. Onward, if you know anything about Meta-Analysis, Amazon reviews are fake. If you buy a product based on reviews that is your ignorance. When adjusted, most products are not anywhere near the quality portrayed. This is important. I managed to acquire the lab results for Nordic Naturals (not hard, but I refuse to pay), and I tried it. In a week I felt what all the hype was about. I realize this was drawn out, but EVERYTHING that I use is evidence-based. Nordic Naturals is at the top for purity standards, meaning you will get that 1400 of EPA/DHA. Most are all on paper, not even close. They have numerous products, no burp, lemon, mixtures with Vitamin D, et cetera. I don't support Amazon, so I provided a link to their webpage. Don't be discouraged go on Vitacost, they have buttloads of Omega 3 products. I will stick my neck out on this. Most of the lab results I have seen had shown evidence of mercury and toxins with other Omega 3 blends, they distill everything! And you get the real purported dose. Yes, there are other products, they cost more. It is not cheap, but it is worth it. If you dose as I do, 3000mg, plan on $60 a month. https://www.nordicnaturals.com/en/professionals/why-omega-3s/536

You can get most of your ALA from flaxseed oil; however, it will not provide the EPA and DHA. Furthermore, fish do not produce EPA or DHA-its their diet from Algae. The product I sent a link to is 100% plant-based, Vegan. It contains your EPA and DHA from Algae and your ALA from flaxseed. The capsules are not Gelatin! I went through a few medical databases and found no differences in outcomes. It works similarly, just differences in approach. I believe that you can purchase this on Vitacost, as I refuse to support cronyism. Anecdotal, but important, I take 3200mg of Nordic Naturals Super Omega 3 and 15,000 iu of D among several other orthomolecular approaches. My 25 Hydroxy maintains at 40. Most push for 30, I have my reasons. The big 2 Omega 3 and D, drastically reduced my fibromyalgia symptoms, all headache symptomology, and it is a potent mood-stabilizer. Even with a severe form of BPD not responsive to DBT or CBT my entire team is wondering what in the hell I am taking. It works. Don't be scared to go heavy. The price is very fair: I don't see the big stink. I pay far more, people don't understand that quality affords an output of cash. This isn't a mass-produced Natures Way loaded with fillers, gelatin, and binders. https://www.ovega.com

My daughter has been using 5-Hour Energies with good success for aborting (along with O2) for many years. Sometimes her attacks break through and last a long time (couple of hours), and she often uses more than one 5-Hour Energy. That many 5-Hour Energies, as many as four or five a day some days, makes her feel pretty crappy. About a week ago she just couldn't take another 5-Hour, so she went with some coffee she had sitting around. Got a very fast abort with it and O2. Since then, she's been using coffee and consistently aborting pretty quickly (~10 minutes), and her gut feels 100% better. I suppose it's possible that like other meds, too much of whatever's in energy shots might turn out to be counterproductive. (Or, as you all know, it could be any number of other things. For example, she was taking hemp oil for the CBD right about until the time she switched to coffee; so maybe the oil/CBD was making things worse instead of better.) She doesn't use triptans or any preventive except D3. She's also been drinking ginger tea every day for about a week. Maybe that has something to do with it.

Being CHH does suck but like Jon said it is more like high and low cycles within it. I am stuck in a higher cycle at the moment and it really blows. Going through 02 tanks like they are goin out of style and due to some sort of oxygen shortage in this area I was just limited to what I can get refilled so a little added pressure and panic is starting to set in. Sticking with 02, 5hr drinks and Frankincense oil on the roof of my mouth and hopping that this ends soon. On the up side I do not have to sit around dreading any certain moth or time of year when the hits are going to start coming. I have the joy of knowing I am going to get hit in the side of the head with a brick every day!

Hey Katrina, Welcome aboard. I suspect you are vitamin D3 and magnesium deficient. These deficiencies can easily contribute to SUNCT/SUNA and the rest of the TACs. The Standards of Care recommended treatments for SUNCT are frequently Antiepileptic medications which are useless as you already know and do more harm with adverse side effects that any good in preventing these headaches... I usually suggest headache sufferers see their PCP/GP for a lab test of their 25(OH)D serum concentration. However, there in the UK, your NHS guidelines usually prohibit this lab test unless there's suspected hypervitaminosis D. Accordingly, if you run into this problem, telling your PCP/GP a little white lie that you're taking 50,000 IU/day vitamin D3 should do the trick. On the other hand, data from several sources including the online survey of 257 CHers taking the anti-inflammatory regimen have found most are vitamin D3 insufficient/deficient as illustrated in the normal distribution chart of 25(OH)D lab test results taken prior to starting the anti-inflammatory regimen. As you can see, the majority of the 257 CHers taking this lab test prior to starting the anti-inflammatory regimen had 25(OH)D serum concentration below 30 ng/mL or 75 nmol/L as its measured there in the UK. The optimum range for 25(OH)D that results in a decrease or cessation of CH is 80 to 100 ng/mL (200 to 250 nmol/L). Accordingly, obtaining this lab test now is not as important as having it done 30 days after starting the anti-inflammatory regimen. As most CHers have found taking a vitamin D3 loading dose of 50,000 IU/day for 12 days elevates their serum 25(OH)D into the therapeutic range rapidly and usually with favorable results, then dropping back to a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day, it wouldn't be a lie if you told your PCP/GP you've been taking 50,000 IU/day vitamin D3. Your best course of action is to do what many cluster headache sufferers (CHers) there in the UK do, and that's to order some 5000 IU vitamin D3 soft gels. I work with hundreds of new CHers a year and have recently found that Bio-Tech D3-50, a 50,000 IU water soluble form of vitamin D3 from Bio-Tech Pharmacal is faster acting and more effective at the same dose as the liquid soft gel vitamin D3 formulations. I've been providing information outreach to nearly 2000 CHers over the last eight years on the benefits of taking what I call the anti-inflammatory regimen. It consists of 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3, 400 mg/day of magnesium, 25 mg/day zinc, 3 mg/day boron, 1000 mg/day Omega-3 fish oil and vitamin A at RDA. The results have been amazing with 80% of CHers reporting a significant reduction in the frequency of their CH from an average of 3 CH/day down to 3 to 4 CH/week in the first 30 days. Moreover, 50% of CHers who start this regimen experience a complete cessation of their CH in the first 30 days. As SUNCT/SUNA are the evil cousins of cluster headache with similar pathogenesis, they should respond to this regimen as well. While you're waiting for the vitamin D3 there are several things you can do now to help reduce the frequency and severity of your headaches. These include hydration, drinking at least 2.5 liters of water a day. It sounds too simple, but it works. You shouldn't have any problems picking up magnesium, zinc, boron and vitamin A supplements. To this many CHers and migraineurs have added 300 to 900 mg/day CoQ10 (very important if you're taking statins), 1000 to 2000 mg/day Turmeric (Curcumin), liposomal vitamin C at 4 to 6 grams/day, Quercetin and Resveratrol at 500 mg/day. We've also found diet can play a key role in successful headache preventative treatments. The Atkins Diet or Ketogenic DIte are both very effective. They call for a complete abstinence of all sugars, wheat products and a very limited intake of carbohydrates or high starch food types. You can eat all the free range organic meats, poultry, eggs and wild caught fish you want. NON GMO organic green and colored veggies are also on the list of good things to eat. Restrict fruits to dark berries and grapes. A good anti-inflammatory diet should also include garlic, ginger, lemon, and apple cider vinegar. You can combine fresh ginger, garlic, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar with some extra virgin olive oil and blend as an emulsion salad dressing over fresh spinach, sweet onions, portabella mushrooms, boiled eggs and some smoked or kippered salmon. That's a great meal all in one... Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

Yes I have tried O2 , for a month. result was aborting from KIP10 to KIP4-6 constant shadows. AARRGGH continuously so stopped the O2 and busted with MM. This was two+ years ago at which time I discovered the MM as a preventative/ longer term bust. Haven't tried the O2 since then. .... (..in 2014 my neurologist scripted me Imigran nasal spray as abortive, and verapamil / calcium and beta blockers as preventative, but did not help, on them for more than 12 months with no effect whatsoever) Paracetamol and codeine combo work as abortive, also Imigran nasal spray, but take up to an hour, so a lot of the time I just ride out the storm. Thanks CHF, I have checked the links and info and have recently started D3 with fish oil and ginger as a daily regimen. Also including extra fatty fish and fatty foods and Chinese ginger sweets through the day on top of the vitamins. . Drinking extra ginger tea at night because I fear being woken by a KIP 10 at 2 am Going extra on ginger as understand that it lowers blood pressure. Seems to be helping by extending the time between attacks by up to 30 hours, but have to be super vigilant with the triggers I will start the melatonin soon to include in daily regimen And thanks you for the Benadryl advice. I live on a large property with pets and a dusty shed Some other interesting techniques with the hot water reducing blood pressure so will have to experiment I have been trying to source RC seeds but no joy :/

There are threads here where people report results from CBD oil. Some good, some very good, and some neutral (no effect, or no discernible effect). No bad results, I don't think. You can find all references in this forum to CBD oil by typing CBD into the search bar at the upper right side of each page. I think the ~25mg that you're getting might be a little low based on people that reported good results -- but I could be remembering that wrong.

Hi MaskedMarvel, (good nick, btw) Welcome to the group, sorry you have to be here. Most people, probably 90% or so, find alcohol to be a trigger, and many also find pot to trigger attacks. I don't with either item, thankfully, but many do. Many people use alcohol to see if they are out of cycle or not. Obvious advice, avoid them for a month or so. Means an alcohol free New Year's, but better than the alternative. No idea about CBD oil and its affects on clusters, others might comment. Waiting 3.5 days between shrooms is good, 4 days is better. We typically recommend 5 days, but it sounds like you are already aware of that. Often, after busting, you'll get what we call 'slapbacks', which will be oddly timed attacks, or stronger, or sharper, or shorter/longer, etc. Basically, an attack that doesn't fit into the norm. This is a good sign that the shrooms are working. But, it sounds like CBD oil might be holding these off, which is interesting. Most people find it difficult to stay still during an attack. Cold, fresh air should help, along with a cold drink. Caffeine, coffee, energy drinks are all also really good to abort attacks with, I usually keep an energy drink in the fridge for just such an occasion. For more serious aborting methods, look into high flow oxygen. I don't know a lot about it personally, am sure others will jump in with advice. Also, read up on the Vitamin D3 Regimen (aka Anti-Inflammatory Regimen). It's very effecting for a lot of people. You'll also want to read up on busting between cycles to prevent cycles. All this info is in the Clusterbuster Files section. As a trained massage therapist, huge thumbs up for myofascial release techniques. I generally find massage helpful for several forms of headaches, and stretching and releasing your soft tissue is a huge benefit. Don't give up hope. I was suicidal before I found this site. There are solutions and ways of managing this illness. Hang in there, and ask questions, we're here to help. MG