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I ended up buying a bottle of CBD oil today to try when I go to bed tonight. The brand I purchased is called "Saving Grace Oil." I have no idea what the concentration is; I'm concerned it may not be concentrated enough, according to what @Freud recommended. It looks like the oil I bought only contains 11 mg of hemp extract, so I'm gathering I didn't buy the highest-quality oil, unfortunately. Not sure if that will affect the effectiveness. Sigh. I'm really hoping this will prevent a cycle.

Thanks Swiftlaw, I too have tried it all, with very little success ( except for the wonder drug imitrex, which I robustly abused ). Your story of CBD oil is fascinating, could it be that simple? I hope so, I bust now and it takes planning and work. Freud, I went on the Lazarus website, just to make sure.. You are referring to the "Flavorless High Potency Tincture"? Thanks guys, the more ammo I carry, the better to fight the beast.

Hi all, I'll get straight to the point. My wife has just been diagnosed with chronic cluster headaches having suffered a single episode approx 6 months ago. This CH started 3 days ago and shows no sign of stopping. She is 31 years old, a mother of two boys, does not smoke / drink and has an underactive thyroid. She had suffered migraines in the past but we now understand the difference between the two. She has the bright red eye in her left side and is suffering approx 8 attacks a day. The most difficult thing for me is watching her writhe in pain and feel utterly helpless. She has been prescribed 50mg tablets of sumatriptan which help a very little. And yesterday in the hospital I believe she had sumatriptan as an injection which help a lot more. We cannot get this at home at the moment as the pharmacist told us there is a supplier issue. My wife is currently on her way down to the hospital to hopefully get another injection which I hope will help as she has ran out of the tablets this morning. She was also on oxygen yesterday which did not help much. I have picked up CBD 500mg oil which she is willing to try in vape from. Can anyone provide a starting point for help, especially within the UK with having the NHS.

Hi guys thanks for the quick reply, I get them all day every day(Also just to clarify never have had a headache/migraine in my life up until now). There is a constantly pressure and pain behind and around my right eye and the actual eye gets bloodshot and swollen/hurts to the touch. I went to the ER multiple times for the pain and just looked at the medications they gave me. I was given percs 375mg x 2 every 6 hours for 3 days for the first time. 2nd visit was given multiple Toradol injections followed by maxeran and a steroid. 3rd visit same thing but the torodol did not work very effective but got me really high. Took away 70% of the pain but the headache was still there. 4th visit was given a high dose of maxeran with a steroid, did pretty much the same thing as the torodol but a little less relief. After that they had no other medication to give me, the ER by my area doesn't take the headache very seriously neither does my doctor. They didn't try oxygen on me. I begged my doctor for it but because " she hasn't heard of anyone doing that" she wont prescribe me oxygen. The neurologist I saw recently just gave me verapamil to try but reading the side effects and problems that can come to your heart I am a stiff no go for that one, I have bad side effects to many medications. There has to be a better way. I don't drink or do drugs, i smoke marijuana and cigarettes which I know can be a cause for clusters. As for right now I am in a 7/10 pain constantly throughout the day, with spikes every little while in behind my eye/around it that happen every hour or hour and a half and are really painful. My entire face hurts but I am just battling it out. I would rather live with the pain than have to deal with bad side effects from medication even if I cant do anything. Also if this is helpful, I have intense TMJ problems, my jaw is out of place a good 50% of the time and it is always swollen/ clicking and grinding on the joints. Could this be part of the problem associated to my headaches? I had a wisdom tooth pulled about a year and a half ago and they messed something up in my face on the left side and it has been going numbing and painful since. Now I have these headaches on the right that started august 13th exactly. Also am seeing double/blurred vision out of right eye, and very dizzy. I just use ice packs on head all day and smoke weed. Also i know MM will take time to grow but I have all the time in the world and know I could grow a good batch and use a low dose in pill form preferably. I could try and get through a friend but don't trust the quality. Meds I am on right now: Tramadol 375 x 1 when needed. Ibruprofen as needed. Xtra strength 400mg. over the counter tylenol. Advil as needed. Naproxxen 500mg x1 as needed for Joint pain. .75-1.25 ML of CBD oil. 2-3 joints a day with marijuana. Took a 2 month break and had no effect. So Would rather smoke and deal with the pain.

Thank you Batch and spiny for your replies. You guys have been so strong and have endured so much pain. I'm guessing you guys don't "bust" at all. I promise every day for the rest of my life to chant and pray for you guys to be pain free and for there to be a cure. There has to be a rhyme or reason to this. There has to be a cause to this effect. I wonder what constitutes a barometric pressure drop? higher elevations, rain coming, windy weather.. Tonight I took so CBD oil (no THC) and I'm praying for a good night's sleep. Take good care and we will beat this together! Jimmy-

HI Batch, I hope you are 100% pain free and your family is very well. I am taking the calcium, boron, Zinc, Vitamin A, B, C, and D3 (6 pills at 10,000 IU each pill). I'm also taking fish oil, magnesium, and a multi-vitamin. I ran out of the Vitamin K2. I've asked my doctor about the serum levels but haven't heard back. Hopefully the regime I'm on now is the correct one. I'll try the Bio Tech stuff once me current VD3 supply runs out. Thanks for all you do sir, Jimmy-

I took High dose CBD oil for a month along with 160mg of verapamil 3 times a day and had no problems. I think it helped but it didn’t abort my CH as some one here has reported. If you’re going to do cbd check out https://www.lazarusnaturals.com/shop/ after spending hours researching I found this company makes the highest quality cbd for the money. The flavorless just tastes like coconut oil.

(1) Very nice of you to make that call, spiny. (2) spiny, what has been your experience with the CBD oil? I think I have three questions, assuming that you're using it to treat CH: (a) are you using the hemp-based version or the marijuana-based one? (b) are you using it for aborts? if so, is it helping you? (c) are you experiencing any kind of preventive effect from it, as far as you can tell?

thank you Spiny! so take the CBD oil 2 hours apart from my Verapamil doses (which are every 3 hours). Hope to talk to you or meet you in person one day. Same with CH father and Batch. You guys are all great people who are so helpful.

HI friend, I'm so so sorry that you are battling this right now. It sounds like you are a pro at battling it. Thanks for the reminder about driving tons of water. Also, for the vitamin D3 regimen, is it crucial to take the FULL regimen or is the vitamin D3 the most important part? I'm taking the calcium, boron, vitamin B, A, Omega 3 fish oil, and a multi vitamin as well as C and B12. I'm taking 7 Vitamin D3 tablets at day which I believe are 10,000 IU. I'm praying for you: nam myth range kyo is what i chant and I am chanting for you. If you can't give me your name, I will chant for CHsurvivor22. take care, jimmy

Hi Guys, I am starting to get optimistic now. Finally the severity of the CH symptoms has weakened noticeably. Overall, it's lasted 3 weeks. Finally, the past 3 nights in a row, I had no episodes of CH. However, the achey face feeling--the same area of head--still noticeable when I awaken in the morning, and gradually diminishes late morning. It looks like some sort of biorhythmic cycle still continues. I hope it completely goes away soon. With Batch's recommendation, I added fish oil to the daily regimen. Now taking daily: 10K D3, 240mg MgGlycinate, 2.2g fish oil (1.2g EPA, 0.5g DHA), 200ug MK-7, and a multivitamin.

To my knowledge, there is not an issue. I take CBD Oil and I just called the manufacturer with your question. Their 'hard - do not cross' line is to separate your CBD by two hours from any other meds, including OTC like Tylenol. People forget Tylenol is a med and often do not think about that one. But it puts two meds in competition without the gap between injestion. Hope this helps you!

Hi friends, I bought a CBD oil called "Charlotte's web". I don't believe it has any THC and it does not have any psychoactive effects. Do you know if it's okay to take this and also take Verapamil? Thanks for your help! Jimmy

Thank you friends for your help! Last night I got a full blown attack after about 2 weeks of little "shadows". I had to find some old Verapamil and some old Ritatriptan to take as the pain was heavy and constant throughout the night after trying 2 rounds of advil. This is a horrible horrible ailment. Batch: thank you for your advice! I've been taking on average 4 to 5 Vitamin D3 pills (10K MG each) every day for over a year now. I also take fish oil, vitamin A, B, C, Magnesium, Calcium, and B-12, and a multivitamin. I'll bump up my VD3 intake to 6 or 7 a day. Siegfried: Thank you for the information. Oxygen works only as a temporary relief for a few minutes. It doesn't seem to kill the pain long term. I'm so glad it works for you. I will probably have to get some as I am sadly expecting a cycle here. J: thanks for there tip on the Melatonin. I'll give that a try by not taking it. I seem to be getting these attacks every 18-20 months since I was 37 and now I'm 46 next month. It rained here last week. other than that I can't figure out what the cause is. I'm a little stressed but nothing more than usual. I'm eating healthy. Drinking decaf coffee. getting good rest. Very sad and frustrating but I will beat this!

Thank you, I see that now. I have the mms on hand if I absolutely need them. I am wondering how effective the d3 regimen could be alongside the lithium (or whether it is even beneficial for me to be on lithium during a cycle). I am in the process of getting the vitamins needed for the complete regimen and have taken d3(5,000 iu) and fish oil (1000 mg) today to start I hopes of relief. I always have had clusters and shadows on the right side but the shadow pain seems to have immediately switched to my left side after taking the d3(only 5,000iu).

Batch, thanks for your comments. I bought a fresh bottle of 5K D3 pills, tossed by 2K bottle, in case the pills had lost potency (from last year). Have you ever heard of that? Also taking 240mg MgGlycinate, and 200ug MK-7 daily. I don't have fish oil on hand, but will try to eat more fish. I hate looking for fish oil pills--so many different kinds. You are the one whose advice I followed in 2016, and the CH's disappeared. I am still hopeful that they will go away this time, and soon. The Vitamin D solution does make sense, given all the facts. One thing I don't understand is why the water soluble type that you mentioned would have a quick effect. Absorption might be faster, but doesn't it have to be metabolized just like the solid pills? So it should save some hours, but not be able to act to staving off an attack? Jon, thanks for your ideas. I gave up on the sumatriptan pill--took too long to act. Even if I had an injector, I might not use it. Just worried that pumping that stuff will mess me up eventually. I moved last year from California, and don't have a neurologist nearby, but plan to. I also wish I had cannabis to try--not available where I live now. I do not know why I am sometimes nauseated, but it is a chain reaction of some sort. I might seek the O2 tank route, but could be an uphill battle, implied by some others' posts. I did try O2 once in the ER, and it didn't help. The diagnoses was done first by a ophalmologist. Up til then I had several eye exams that found nothing wrong to explain the eye pain. I have no doubts...symptoms all align with Mayo Clinic description: pain around the eye, droopy eyelid, tearing. Episodes usually at night.. By the way, I had a CH onset this morning for some reason. I was able to get some relief by getting into a hot bath after around 10 minutes. I think it was RussM wrote about putting feet into hot water. I tried that, but was shivering, so just got in. I think this will become my first line response if I am at home.

Onglamesh, Alexandrax, Depression and anxiety attacks are part of the cluster headache syndrome. Some CHers experience clinically significant depression. We know what you've been going through and the good news is it doesn't need to be that way. Nearly all CHers are vitamin D3 deficient and that deficiencies contribute to the frequency, severity and duration of their CH. Solve that vitamin D3 deficiency and the odds are high you'll solve your CH problem... depression too. My name is Pete Batcheller, a.k.a., "Batch." I'm a 74 year old retired Navy fighter pilot and long time CHer... chronic since 2004... except I no longer suffer from these terribly painful debilitating headaches. In October of 2010 having experimented with a combination of vitamins and minerals to reduce inflammation, I added 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3... I was mildly surprised when the frequency of my CH dropped from 4 CH/night to 1.5 after the first dose... I blew the first CH away with 2 minutes of oxygen therapy at flow rates that support hyperventilation... The half hit was so minor it went away before I could get to my oxygen... I was totally pain free the second night after the second dose... That very pleasant surprise blew me away. It's stayed that way ever since unless I do a burn down test of my 25(OH)D by stopping the vitamin D3 until I get hit... I know that sounds crazy... That said, I'm so confident in the CH preventative capacity of this regimen, I do this 3 to 4 times a year and never have more than one or two mild hits before returning to a blissful CH pain free status. I've an estimated 800 CHers taking what I call the anti-inflammatory regimen of vitamin D3, Omega-3 fish oil and the vitamin D3 cofactors. I've run this treatment protocol in front of several vitamin D3 experts, endocrinologists, Integrative physicians and a few neurologists experienced in treating CHers. All think it is the best, safest, and most effective CH preventative we can buy... for roughly 55 cents a day if you buy the supplements at Costco or over Amazon... The results of this regimen have been published in the American Academy of Neurology journal Neurology in April of 2014. You can download the latest version of the anti-inflammatory regimen migraine headache (MH) and CH preventative treatment protocol at the following link. Be sure to share a copy with your PCP and in particular, your neurologist. This treatment protocol also contains the results from an ongoing survey of 215 CHers taking this regimen since December of 2011. Having your PCP and/or neurologist up to speed with this headache preventative treatment protocol will have you all singing from the same sheet music when you ask for the 25(OH)D, total calcium and PTH lab tests 30 days after starting this regimen. Henry Lahore, the brains and brawn behind the VitaminDWiki website posted this treatment protocol for me on 21 January, 2017. As of this morning readers of this post at VitaminDWiki had downloaded over 11,050 copies, a little over 17 copies a day so the word is getting out about the efficacy of this regimen to prevent CH… and migraines. http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 This is not a joke and I don't sell anything. I've been providing information outreach to migraineurs and CHers on the benefits of this regimen and vitamin D3 since December of 2010. If you've any doubts about starting this regimen, click on the following VitaminDwiki link. It will take you to a page at that site that's all about my work with CHers taking this regimen with vitamin D3 and the cofactors. http://is.gd/clustervitd If you’re still in doubt about starting this regimen, click on the links below to read posts by other CHers who started this regimen. I have hundreds more just like them. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/798/#798 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1393027277/2/#2 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1425/#1425 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1465/#1465 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324046404/278/#278 Please feel free to ask questions... Most CHers have them when starting this regimen... I'm here to help. I’d also suggest you order some Bio-Tech D3-5 (5000 IU water soluble vitamin D3 capsules) and a 12 capsule bottle of Bio-Tech D3-50 (50,000 IU water soluble vitamin D3 capsules from Amazon.com. It is proving to be more effective with greater bioavailability than the liquid soft gel vitamin D3 formulations. https://i.imgur.com/TtwD4qw.jpg Take care and please keep us posted, V/R, Batch

Thanks for your advices. Got 3 attacks this night... Fortunately, i have 2 free days, so i went to hospital with the mask i usually use at home, but the flow seemed very low although it was written 15l/mn and it was the max they could do hère ! Then i went to a drugstore, i could find fish oil (epa-dha 241,2mg), multiple vitamin&minerals, calcium (500mg) + magnesium (250mg), zinc, but no vitamine K, no boron, and no B50. I could find only "super D" (1000 IU). Should i begin and take 10 pills of it, or should i wait to order the missing things by internet ???

Hubby, type CBD into the search bar at the top right of the page. It will lead you to several accounts from people who say they were significantly helped by CBD oil.

No but Would be hard to hold a job that drug test randomly. And looking for relief with low dose solutions. We have cbd oil she could try right now but haven't read where that had really helped anyone

Thanks so much for reading such a long post and for your replies. Really touched me. I take triptans with nasal spray (imigrane 20mg/0,1ml), i guess it's not possible to split the dose. I first have tried pills but couldn't feel no effects. I fortunately could find CBD oil, it helps to feel the shadows lighter. I'll check gamma-core, and alternate medicines you mentioned (erenumab, naproxen, topiramate / never heard about these). About D3 regimen, i meant "this" winter, as soon as i'll be back home. I've already downIoaded the file and talked to my doctor about it (the guy who first told me about CH). I understood that i need to ask for blood analyse before starting it, don't i ??? Busting seems very interesting too, just hard to find vitamin M or L in France and even more in Japan. I'll try to find some from Netherlands. And if anyone can help me about this in France, welcome ! I read interesting posts about welding O2 and appropriate regulator. It seems to be available here in Japan, not that convenient while touring and moving everyday, but can help. I'll also have an acupuncture session next month, last year it could break a 10 weeks cycle. And thanks also for deleting the previous post about holystic whatever which was obviously not serious. Yann

Yann, this is of course very painful to read for those of us who understand what you are going through. It's not clear to me why you're only planning to do the D3 regimen "starting next winter." It's something you should do right now, I think. Have you looked into the GammaCore device at all -- a portable method for aborting attacks. http://gammacore.co.uk/ Mixed reviews, apparently not as effective for people with chronic CH, and quite expensive in the US (don't know about Europe), but I'd think it could be worth trying. Also, the new preventive medicine erenumab (Aimovig) is approved in the EU, at least for migraine, and I think it can be expected to be helpful for CH, if you can get a doctor to prescribe it. As I understand it right now, you have to go to a doctor's office to get an injection every two months -- but I could be wrong about that. CBD oil as an abortive and possible preventive? Lots of good reviews here. You can look it up by typing CBD into the search bar at the top right of the page. Do you know about splitting triptan injections so you use a lot less each time, and therefore have a lot less side effects? https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/2446-extending-imitrex/ As you say, many people have found relief from busting. I can see how it doesn't really fit your schedule right now, but of course it's something you should consider. You would not be the first person to come here thinking it would be better to not be alive, and to find life a lot better.

Not to rebut CHF's excellent post, but I would suggest one 60 and one 90. The 60 is not required to be capped when traveling, so you can have your mask attached to it on the road. It is not an issue for me to lift and load. BTW - I am old with a torn rotator cuff, so that says something. A 90 will last longer of course and I have found the 60 very hard to come by. So, I use one of each and try to keep at least one completely full at all times. Yes, I can haul the 90 too, but it is heavy. Of course the shortage of 60's may be just the people I have to deal with! It really is easy to set up. Just know not to use grease, oil or any lubricant or teflon tape on the threads of the tank when you screw on your mask. You never use those around O2. All that you really need is a big adjustable crescent wrench to attach the mask to the tank. Tighten the nut on the regulator as tight as you can. Turn the regulator off with the dial. Open the valve on the tank and listen - no sound means no leakage. With the regulator off, any hiss of escaping gas would be coming from the nut you just screwed on. I bought them for 'my welding set up' and needed two due to high cutting torch usage. Never had a question asked, just made the statement and paid for the tanks. Owning them, I can have them filled anywhere, not just at the company I rent them from. It is a plus if you travel. And I can go on a 'welding binge' and buy as often as I want with a smile. Hopefully this helps a bit!

Chuck, it sounds like CH pain, for sure, and the timing is CH-like. I don't think we've seen anyone here say that they have discovered a link between marijuana smoking and CH (and there are more than a few here who use it), but CH experiences are so different that it can't be dismissed. CBD oil, interesting, has been an effective abortive or preventive for many people. In the short run, if you're still getting attacks you could try quickly drinking an energy shot such as 5-Hour Energy at the first sign of an attack. Often that reduces the severity of an attack or at least reduces its severity. Read as much as you can in these pages for other ideas. And of course try to get to a headache center, where you're most likely to find a doctor who can give you a good diagnosis and possibly good prescriptions. Most general practice doctors and even most general neurologists are bad at diagnosing and treating CH. Consider the D3 regimen, which probably will help. Read about it in the ClusterBuster Files section, and look through some of the other files there, too.

Hey Lizzy, I realize my next comments may appear to be coming from left field... or outer space... That said, here we go... You're very likely vitamin D3 deficient and that deficiency is contributing to the frequency, intensity and duration of both your cluster and migraine headaches. You don't need to take my word for this condition. All you need to do is call your primary care physician/general practitioner (PCP/GP) and ask for the lab test of your serum 25(OH)D concentration. This is the serum level vitamin D3 metabolite that's used to measure its status. The normal reference range for the 25(OH)D lab test is 30 to 100 ng/mL (75 to 250 nmol/L). Print out a copy of the anti-inflammatory regimen CH preventative treatment protocol from the following VitaminDWiki link and take it along to discuss when you ask for the 25(OH)D lab test. The anti-inflammatory regimen consists of 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3, 1000 mg/day Omega-3 fish oil, 400 mg/day magnesium and a good adult 50+ Mature Multi. Most of these CHers started this regimen with a vitamin D3 loading schedule of 50,000 IU/day vitamin D3 for 12 days. I've been running an online survey of CHers taking this regimen to prevent their CH since December of 2011. As of January of this year, 257 CHers have completed and submitted this survey. It's important to note that the mean baseline 25(OH)D serum concentration for these 257 CHers, before start of regimen is 23.6 ng/mL. The following chart illustrates the normal distribution of their baseline 25(OH)D lab test data before start of regimen. Again, it's important to note that all these CHers were having active bouts of CH when they had the blood draw for this lab test. The following normal distribution chart illustrates the resulting serum 25(OH)D concentrations after 30 days or more taking this regimen. 80% of these 257 CHers experienced a significant reduction in the frequency, severity and duration of their CH from an average of 3 CH/day down to 3 or 4 CH/week. 50% of the 257 CHers experienced a complete cessation of CH symptoms in the first 30 days after starting this regimen. This isn't a joke and I don't sell anything. I've been providing information outreach on the benefits of taking 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3 plus the cofactors as a safe and effective method of preventing CH since December of 2010. I estimate over 800 CHers have started this regimen since then. If you've any doubts about starting this regimen, click on the following VitaminDwiki link. It will take you to a page at that site that's all about my work with CHers taking this regimen with vitamin D3 and the cofactors. http://is.gd/clustervitd The following link will download a pdf copy of the anti-inflammatory regimen treatment protocol. Readers of the above vitamin D3 web page have downloaded over 10,000 copies of this regimen since January 21, 2017. http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 If you’re still in doubt about starting this regimen, click on the links below to read posts by other CHers who started this regimen. I have hundreds more just like them. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/798/#798 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1393027277/2/#2 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1425/#1425 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1465/#1465 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324046404/278/#278 Please feel free to ask questions... Most CHers have them when starting this regimen... I'm here to help. Take care and please keep us posted, V/R, Batch