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Hi all, hope everyone is having a good Christmas period. I have been episodic since 2001, this site is great it has really saved me and I am thankful to the Cluster Buster community. Oxygen, busting, D3 regime and low carb diet have really helped me. Apologies in advance for asking this if it has been already been answered within the forum. I have not been in a cycle since March but have been getting shadows the last few weeks but with no attack so far. I have upped my D3 intake from 10,000 to 20,000 combining this with fish oil, K2, magnesium and a multi vitamin taking these once a day with food at night. Should I keep doing this if I am experiencing the shadows or should I take 10,000 of D3 with the fish oil, magnesium and multi vitamin twice daily? Or any other suggestions welcome Thanks

Hey Emmalou, CHfather is spot on saying your 25(OH)D3 serum concentration target is a therapeutic range between 200 nmol/L and 250 nmol/L so the anti-inflammatory regimen is definitely for you as your serum 25(OH)D3 concentration at 86 nmol/L (34.4 ng/mL) is still too low. The following photo illustrates the supplements by brand and dose I take and suggest to other CHers as we've found they have the best response in preventing CHIf you live outside the US you can order most of these supplements through iherb.com when you're ready to reorder. If you live in the US, you can order all of them from amazon.com. If you haven't already done so, you can download a PDF copy of the anti-inflammatory regimen CH preventative treatment protocol at the following VitaminDWiki link: http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 The best course of action is to start loading vitamin D3 at 50,000 IU/day for at least 10 to 12 days or until you've experienced 24 hours CH pain free, whichever occurs first. At that point you can reduce your vitamin D3 intake to 10,000 IU/day as an initial maintenance dose. The Bio-Tech D3-50 is important. We've found this 50,000 IU water soluble form of vitamin D3 is faster acting with a higher bioequivalence than the oil-based liquid softgel vitamin D3 formulations in elevating serum 25(OH)D3. I'd suggest ordering it now and take one a day as your loading dose when it arrives. You'll only need one (1) of the D3-50 vitamin D3 capsules a week as your maintenance dose. Be sure to double the magnesium to 800 mg/day split AM/PM with meals while loading. Take all the remaining supplements 10 minutes after eating the largest meal of the day. Stomach acid will be highest at that point to digest the food you've eaten and that helps dissolve the supplements. Be sure to drink at least 2.5 liters of water a day. When you've completed the loading schedule and been on a vitamin D3 maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day for 30 days, be sure to see your PCP/GP for lab tests of your serum 25(OH)D3, calcium and PTH. As long as your serum calcium remains within its normal reference range, even if it's at the top of this reference range and not over, there's no hypercalcemia, a.k.a., vitamin D3 intoxication/toxicity so your actual 25(OH)D3 serum concentration doesn't really matter except as a reference for being CH pain free. When you have the lab results in hand, please find the time to take the online survey of CHers taking this regimen to prevent their CH. To start this survey, click on the following link: http://www.esurveyspro.com/Survey.aspx?id=fb8a2415-629f-4ebc-907c-c5ce971022f6 I'm not a fan of Amitriptyline primarily due to the fact that tricyclic antidepressants tend to have too many adverse side effects. It's up to you, but I would ditch the Amitriptyline and start a week to 10 day course of a first-generation antihistamine like Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL). I would do this anyway if you haven't responded to the loading dose by day 5. Ask your PCP/GP about starting the first-generation antihistamine as depending where you live, Diphenhydramine may not be available, but there are other first-generation antihistamines. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

Personally I never want to discourage the free exchange of information and ideas because you never know when the next "Flash moment" will appear. We are all aware that when folks get desperate they are vulnerable to any idea or snake oil salesperson. Evidence of this includes offering unsubstantiated surgical procedures at great cost and risk which people consider and actually agree to. In this particular situation I suspicion there may be a mental health issue in play. Whether the initial poster is attention seeking, manipulative or well intentioned their verbose nonsensical communication style speaks to a lost soul. Now that the story is out each person can judge it for themselves, take pity and move on.

Hey CSA, Thanks for the reply. While you're looking for a new PCP/GP, I'd restart vitamin D3 therapy. The following photo illustrates the brands and daily doses my wife, the rest of our family and I have been taking for many years. This is also what I suggested in the posted version of this protocol since 2011. It will also be in the updated version of this protocol I hope to have ready for prime time and downloads from VitaminDWiki.com in December. You'll find the "How To" instructions at the following link. Take a copy to your new PCP/GP when you find one. http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 The Bio-Tech D3-50 is a recent addition to the anti-inflammatory regimen since July. of 2018. It's a 50,000 IU water soluble form of vitamin D3 that I've found to be faster acting with a higher bioequivalence in elevating serum 25(OH)D3 at the same dose as the oil-based liquid softgel vitamin D3 formulations. It's also more convenient and least expensive. You take one D3-50/day while loading and when the loading schedule is complete, you drop back to an initial maintenance dose of one D3-50/week. At 23 cents per capsule, that works out to a little over 3 cents a day for a an average of 7000 IU/day vitamin D3. The daily cost of the least expensive liquid softgel vitamin D3 is 12 cents/day for 10,000 IU. Most CHers taking the Bio-Tech D3-50 have found the 12-Day loading schedule taking one D3-50 capsule a day for 12 days is sufficient to elevate serum 25(OH)D3 to a therapeutic range that prevents CH. When the loading schedule is complete, one D3-50 a week should be sufficient to maintain the therapeutic 25(OH)D3 serum concentration. In short, I'd get back on that horse and send the CH beast running by restarting this regimen now. When you find a willing PCP/GP, the next set of labs for 25(OH)D3, calcium and PTH should confirm a therapeutic 25(OH)D3 range (80 to 100 ng/mL) with normal calcium and PTH in the lower third of its normal reference range. Don't forget to get your daughter on vitamin D3 at 50 IU per pound of body weight/day along with calcium chews. At 2 to 3 years the average weight is around 30 lbs so that works out to 1500 IU/day vitamin D3 or 10,000 IU/week. I'd pick up some Bio-Tech D3Plus. This is an ideal vitamin D3 formulation for kids as it contains the essential vitamin D3 cofactors all in one capsule. It just needs calcium and phosphorus, the two primary building blocks needed to build strong growing bones. https://www.amazon.com/D3Plus-Vegetable-Capsules-Bio-Tech-Pharmacal/dp/B0085F3K2C/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=Bio-Tech+D3&qid=1574813439&s=hpc&sr=1-10 The dose for a 2 to 3 year old with the D3Plus is one capsule every other day (48 hours) for an average of 1250 IU/day vitamin D3. The calcium gummy my grand kids take comes from Vitafusion. It's formulated with tricalcium phosphate. https://www.amazon.com/Vitafusion-Calcium-Gummy-Vitamins-100ct/dp/B003DRD3PG/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Calcium+Gummies&qid=1574851736&s=hpc&sr=1-4 One of these a day is great for 2 and 3 year olds. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

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

Hey Trent, I'm impressed... A life time ban from E-bay... Wow! Welcome to the club... I received a life time band from Facebook for suggesting 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3 plus the vitamin D3 cofactors was an effective preventative for migraine headache. Given you've invested in more than sufficient numbers of M-Size and E-Size oxygen cylinders, I'd suggest a very cost effective alternative to an oxygen demand valve and regulator with DISS fittings. It's called the Redneck Oxygen Reservoir Bag. I made the first one from a new kitchen trash bag, a plastic soda bottle with the bottom cut off (keep the cap), oxygen tubing cut off of a disposable NRB oxygen mask at the mask end, some Duck Tape and electrician's tape. I cut the corners off the closed end of the trash bag as illustrated above, insert the oxygen tubing in one corner and the soda body through the other corner from inside the trash bag and seal both with electrician's tape for a gas tight seal then close the open end of the trash bag with a few strips of Duck tape you'll have a very effective oxygen delivery system that only needs a 7 to 9 liter/minute oxygen regulator if you fill ahead of time and turn off the oxygen at the supply valve. If you've taped the seams properly, the Redneck reservoir bag should stay inflated for at least 24 hours unused. The soda bottle becomes your handle and mouthpiece for inhaling 100% oxygen. I've found a fully inflated kitchen trash bag is good for three aborts using the following procedure and breathing technique. The procedure I suggest involves hyperventilating at forced vital capacity tidal volumes with room air for 30 seconds followed by inhaling a lungful of oxygen from the Redneck reservoir bag and holding it for 30 seconds. You continue repeating this sequence in rapid succession until the pain is gone. That usually takes an average of seven complete cycles or 7 minutes. You remove the bottle cap inhale the lungful of oxygen then replace the bottle cap. The purpose of intentionally hyperventilating at forced vital capacity tidal volumes is to pump CO2 from the blood stream faster than the body generates it from normal metabolism. This lowers the CO2 content of the arterial blood shifting the pH to the alkaline side of neutral (7.35 to 7.45) to a pH around 7.5 to 7.6 resulting in a temporary condition called respiratory alkalosis. This does two things that help abort CH much faster. A low arterial CO2 level and elevated arterial pH triggers a rapid vasoconstriction in and around the trigeminovascular complex. The elevated pH also increases blood hemoglobin's affinity for oxygen enabling it to carry 15% more oxygen sending hyperoxygenated arterial blood to the brain. Oxygen triggers vasoconstriction in the trigeminovascular complex. Hyperoxygenated arterial blood triggers vasoconstriction in an around the trigeminovascular complex even faster. The net result is very rapid and very effective CH aborts like 99% effective in an average of 7 minutes across pain levels 3 though 9 on the 10-Point headache pain scale. Hyperventilating at forced vital capacity tidal volumes involves exhaling forcibly and rapidly until if feels like your lungs are empty... they're not. At that point without delay, do an abdominal crunch like doing sit ups and hold the crunch for one second or until your exhaled breath makes a wheezing sound then inhale a lungful of room air and repeat the above sequence. You should be doing around 10 of these cycles in 30 seconds. On the 10th exhalation, hold the crunch/squeeze for 3 seconds. This will squeeze out an additional half to full liter of exhaled breath highest in CO2 As the guy who patented the oxygen demand valve method of rapid CH aborts in 2010, I've found the Redneck reservoir bag and the above procedures just as effective and fast as the far more expensive oxygen demand valve system and I bought the Cadillac of oxygen demand valves, the Carmét along with a Flowtec Inc, 0-60 lpm, InGage regulator with DISS fitting plus an M60 aluminum cylinder as my roadie along with a pigtail filler nfor a total cost of ~ $2100 USD in 2008. In 2008, I conducted a pilot study of the oxygen demand valve method of aborting CH using the same breathing technique above with seven CHers (1 ECHer and 7 CCHers). They each aborted their CH with this method of procedure for 8 weeks collecting pain level and abort times for each abort. All total, they collected this data on 366 aborts. Their average abort time was 7 minutes and over 99% of the aborts came in at ≤ 20 minutes. The following chart illustrates these results. As you can see, the oxygen demand valve method of procedure produced aborts 3 to 4 times faster than traditional oxygen therapy at a flow rate of 15 liters/minute. Now here's the payoff... The Redneck Reservoir bag method of aborting CH is just as effective in aborting CH as the oxygen demand valve method. If you'll look at the photo of my oxygen kit you'll see a sticker on the oxygen cylinder with check marks indicating 30 aborts, the average number of aborts I obtained with an M-Size Oxygen or Welder's cylinder with the oxygen demand valve. As the copay for each M-Size oxygen cylinder was $30 USD, that works out to $1/CH abort. I got nearly 300 aborts from an M-Size welder's cylinder using the Redneck Reservoir bag method so that makes the cost per abort roughly 10 cents USD. All that said, I developed the anti-inflammatory regimen CH preventative treatment protocol with 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3, Omega-3 Fish Oil and the vitamin D3 cofactors, magnesium, zinc, boron and vitamin A (retinol) in October of 2010. I was CH pain free following the second dose of this regimen. I've been CH pain free ever since. You can find the anti-inflammatory regimen CH preventative treatment protocol at the following link. http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

Hey Signals, Welcome to Clusterbusters. We know what you've been going through so you've come to the right place. Regarding travel and taking the vitamin D3 regimen, I pack a ziplock bag with enough vitamin D3 and cofactors to last the duration of my travels plus enough for a few more days in case of delays and keep it in my carry on bag. In the 8 + years since I developed this regimen, I've never had any problems with TSA or customs during international travel. I switched to the Bio-Tech D3-50 water soluble 50,000 IU vitamin D3 capsules. They make the loading schedule a snap at one capsule a day. I've been taking one D3-50 a week as my maintenance dose and this has been adequate to kept me CH pain free. At one D3-50 a week the daily cost is ~3 cents/day where the oil-based liquid softgels cost 6 cents per 5000 IU or 12 cents/day. Check your PM InBox, I've sent some additional info. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

Thank you so much I appreciate the d3 recommendation. I’ve been through 2 numerologists and they refuse to give me O2. All I have to fight the beast is Verapamil (2x) A day, lisinopril , and Sumatriptan 100mg. I am currently looking for a nuero that specializes in headaches maybe I’ll have better luck getting O2 or triptan shots. I had to stop taking sumatriptan so much because my body was giving symptoms of a heart attack, but sumatriptan is a double edge sword. The 2 hours of sleep a day is really killing me , I work nights so sleep during the day is a challenge as is, but adding the headaches is just the cherry on top. I have heard that CBD oil and other “drugs” can help with both the pain and ramp up but I don’t have that option my job has me drug tested under federal so that option is a no for me.Thank you For the reassurance I feel less embarrassed about posting on the forums now!

Started the D3 regiment this morning with the verapamil (40 mg x6) and Depakote (250 mg x2). I noticed that the fish oil was a little tough on my stomach, but I'll be better about eating more food. It's honestly hard to eat as much as I feel I need to consume to support this dosage of pills, vitamins, etc... Also working on finding a new neurologist - and more immediately - a script for O2. I bought a can of the boost oxygen from amazon which I imagine will do little, if anything.. But at this point I'm willing to try anything. I'll take your suggestion ChFather, regardless of its effectiveness. Thank you for the suggestion on other ways to get by without O2 - starting to incorporate those into the regiment. I am also identifying new triggers all the time. Perhaps the most consistent trigger - or perhaps more appropriately signal - for me has been extreme neck stiffness. When my neck begins to seize up, I know that a cluster is soon to follow. I also get ear pain, almost like a bad ear ache, when one is on the way.

Ok, I’ll wait for Batch’s responses. Been feeling better and better every day anyways. Taking melatonin and the on day 11 of Vitamin regimen. Some people also had luck with CBD oil so we’ll see. Maybe I can try the indomethacin per the doctors orders, just to confirm it is indeed this. I don’t believe it’s the Continua version because I’m only getting them in bouts of about 4-6 weeks.

I’ve been suffering for the past month or so from a particularly horrible cluster headache cycle and feel completely and utterly drained - emotionally, physically, and mentally. Feeling pretty alone and hopeless. I was diagnosed with episodic cluster headaches my sophomore year in college - little over five years ago - after I experienced a headache I thought would kill me. Ever since then, I have struggled with managing them. Typically once or twice a year I get a cycle, and it lasts for 3-6 weeks. This year, I had a cycle in January and again, most recently, for most of September and all of October. My cycles don’t seem to be linked to any season - I’ve gotten them at all times of the year, in all different places of the globe. The current cycle brings headaches at all times of day - when I sleep and sometimes randomly during the day, like earlier today. I’m on a lot of drugs now which leave me feeling lethargic, dizzy, tired, and sluggish - sumatriptan as needed (100mg pill), verapamil (x6), prednisone (a massive taper), depakote (x2). I also take CBD oil and some “preventatives” such as melatonin, vitamin b2, and magnesium, which I read could be helpful. I’ve also tried acupuncture and other “interventions” as well. The verapamil appeared to work earlier in January, but it isn’t working now, despite an increase in dosage (I now take 6 pills a day vs 2). The sumatriptan can help me get through a night, usually, but I’m limited in how many I have which is a constant source of stress. It also seems to never work fast enough.. As for the other medications listed - Nothing else I take seems to work. Not as far as I can tell, anyways. I’m struggling to deal with the pain. It’s impacting every aspect of my personal and professional life, and I don’t know what treatment I should go to next. Just would be grateful for a friend and some advice. -Blair

Sounds like a good plan you have. I have had and read of people having a reaction to the fillers in some meds. Like a name brand will have Y fillers and the generic will have X fillers. So, some people can take one and not the other. So, you might consider a different multi. Just a thought if changing the fish oil does not solve the issue. Are you taking the Benadryl? Batch is indeed not getting PM's at this point. Not sure why. But, he is very devoted to helping all and will show up when he is available. He never has let anyone down who PMed him to my knowledge. But at the moment that is not an available route to follow. We will wait to see if CHF's mail got to Batch.

Thank you Spiny, and no I am not using the ‘burpless’ one. I think I may actually be getting nauseous from the multivitamin, so it’s going to be a little bit of trial and error to figure that out. Today, I took 10000IUs of the D3, Magnesium and the multivitamin with breakfast and only had about 10 mins of nausea. Going to take the rest with dinner and see if the fish oil is the culprit.

Ilya the vitamins will be a big help. As you know, your D is in the trash and really needs to come up! And I share the Equinox date with you! Many start a cycle at that time of year. Sucks, but at least you have an idea of when it is coming and can prepare to battle if needed! Let us know how breaking them up worked for you! Oh, are you using 'burpless' fish oil? I could not stand the other one. Going 'burpless' helped me a lot. I'll see if I can reach Batch too.

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.

Good to know, I may give that a shot. What did you do to mitigate the nausea with the fish oil? Also I should mention I have allergies, but have been doing the immunotherapy shots for over a year so I don’t know if those are a factor. I’ve read Batch’s responses about taking Benadryl to prevent the histamine reaction. Does he need to be tagged or something to respond?

Personally I found the fish oil to generate nausea. The volume of pills may be contributing to the nausea as well rather than the specific substance. Try dividing the doses instead of taking all at once to see what you might be sensitive to. I would defer to Batch for final suggestions as this is his baby.

Hey Everyone, I'm pretty new to the community - started getting clusters last year, early September. And as all of you, thought they were sinus-related or something else so I had an MRI and CT scan, and everything came back normal. Last year my cycle started and ended earlier. This year it came back around September 22nd. So I started off by seeing my PC doctor. I happened to get my 25 (OH) D tested and it was 23.6 ng/ml. After that I went to see a few neurologists, some thought it was a migraine but most thought it was cluster headaches due to the cyclical nature of the headaches, the location of the pain, and the fact that it was unilateral 95% of the time. I did further research and started reading about the side-effects of CGRPS, Verapamil and other preventative measures and realized those were not for me. I was also placed on a 5 day steroid course which reduced the severity of the attacks and the frequency, but nonetheless they are still happening. My research further lead me to try the D3 loading regimen, with the approval of a few doctors of course. And this is what I have done so far: 10/8/19 - 10/14/19: I did 10k IUs of the D3 along with all the cofactors 10/15/19: I did 20k IUs of the D3 along with all the cofactors 10/16/19: 50k IUs along with all the cofactors 10/17/19: 20k IUs along with all the cofactors I know that this isn't exactly how the loading schedule should be done, but I was scared of taking everything at once so fast. Lately I have been doing the 20k IUs/day and I have been feeling a bit nauseated and dehydrated, so my questions are: How can I reduce this nauseating and dehydrated feeling? Why are the cofactors all necessary even during maintenance periods? Has anyone tried going off of them to any success? Are they purely for absorption? If someone could get Batch involved, he has been a lifesaver thus far and his input would be invaluable. Vitamins taken are: Kirkland Multimitamin, Pure D3 (5000 IU), Magnesium Calcium & Zinc from Walgreen, and a fish oil supplement from Trader Joes Best, Ilya

Hey Bridge, Interesting observation and great question. Over the last 9 years providing outreach on the benefits of vitamin D3 at a minimum of 10,000 IU/day plus Omega-3 fish oil and the vitamin D3 cofactors as an effective CH preventative, we've discovered situations similar to yours. We've found that infections (viral, bacterial and fungal), allergic reactions, trauma and surgery all contribute to an increase in the frequency, severity and duration of CH even when taking vitamin D3 at a dose of 10,000 IU/day. Digging into the causality, it appears that any medical condition that triggers inflammation and activates the immune system, consumes serum 25-Hydroxy Vitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] rapidly frequently leaving too little serum 25(OH)D to prevent CH. The best course of action for bacterial infections is to take an antibiotic. The big problem in doing this is nearly all antibiotics are indiscriminate, so kill off the friendly colonies of bacteria living in our GI tract called the microbiome. As the microbiome plays a key roll in our immune system, keeping it healthy is important. Accordingly, we've found that it's best to start a course of probiotic ASAP after treatment with the antibiotic is complete. We've also found that increasing the vitamin D3 dose in a range from 15,000 IU/day up to 25,000 IU/day elevates serum 25(OH)D sufficiently to counter most viral infections. 6 to 8 grams a day of vitamin C is also helpful in combating viral, bacterial and fungal infections. Hope this helps explain your observation. Take care and please keep us posted V/R, Batch

Okay thank you! I just received the rest of the supplements in the mail. I unfortunately already have the oil based d3 so I will be using that. Can I take the loading dose of d3 with simply the multi vitamin as an appropriate amount of calcium? Or should I be taking pure calcium during the loading dose? Kat

Hey Kat, I'll echo CHfather's comment to start the anti-inflammatory regimen now. You'll need a round of labs for your serum 25(OH)D, calcium and PTH after 30 days on this regimen anyway. We can reverse engineer your 25(OH)D3 results to come up with an estimate of your starting concentration. I'm in the process of updating the posted version of this treatment protocol on my webpage at VitaminDWiki at the following link with a change in the suggested type/brand of vitamin D3 from the oil-based liquid softgel 5,000 IU vitamin D3 formulations to the Bio-Tech D3-50 50,000 IU water soluble vitamin D3 capsules. http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 I and many other CHers have found the Bio-Tech D3-50 to be faster acting with a higher bioequivalence than the liquid softgel formulations at the same dose. What this means is more CHers respond faster to this treatment protocol. The following photo illustrates the supplements I take. You can order these supplements from amazon.com and iherb.com whichever has the best price. I'd like to point out that at 22 cents per capsule taken once a week, the cost of this form of vitamin D3 is ~ 3 cents/day. Two of the 5,000 IU liquid softgels cost 12 cents a day. Dosing with the Bio-Tech D3-50 is different when it comes to the maintenance dose. I've been taking one (1) of the Bio-Tech D3-50 capsules a week. I think this is a good starting maintenance dose after the 12-Day accelerated vitamin D3 loading schedule illustrated in the following notional graphic. As you can see, the 12-Day vitamin D3 loading schedule at 50,000 IU/day for 12 days elevates serum 25(OH)D far more rapidly than just taking a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day which can take a month or more to elevate your 25(OH)D to a therapeutic level capable of preventing your CH. Taking the 12-Day accelerated loading schedule means you elevate your serum 25(OH)D to a therapeutic level faster for the expected reduction in CH frequency or complete cessation of CH symptoms. You may need to lower the vitamin D3 maintenance dose following the 30 day labs by adding an additional day or more between doses from one 50,000 IU capsule a week to one capsule every 8, 9 or 10 days. The key is frequent lab tests until you reach a stable dose and 25(OH)D response as you'll see in the following charts of my labs for 25(OH)D, calcium and PTH over the last 3 years. My PCP has no problems with my 25(OH)D3 concentrations this high as long as my serum calcium remains within its normal reference range. As you can see, it has. It's normal for PTH to be at the low end of its normal reference range when serum 25(OH)D is above 100 ng/mL. What you need to avoid is taking the PTH to zero by pushing your 25(OH)D too high like > 190 ng/mL. Like anything else, if the parathyroid glands sense there's no need to produce the PTH, they will eventually stop expressing this hormone and that would not be good. Regarding the efficacy of this regimen in preventing the other TACs, I don't have any concrete data. That said, as these TACs share much of the same pathogenesis with Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) and Substance P (SP) playing major roles in neurogenic inflammation and nociception (pain) common to All TACs including CH, it's not unreasonable to expect vitamin D3 and its cofactors will help lower the frequency, severity and duration of the other TACs like it does for CH by down-regulating the expression of these two neuroactive peptides. There's really no harm in trying. Regarding the anti-inflammatory regimen acting as a CH abortive, it's really a matter of response times. We expect abortives like subcutaneous sumatriptan succinate to abort a CH in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes and nasal spray of same in 10 to 20 minutes. A single oral dose of 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 can produce a marked reduction in CH frequency in as little as 12 hours so it's more a preventative than abortive. That said, several of us are working on an inhaled formulation of micellized (water soluble) vitamin D3 nano mist or nasal spray as a potential abortive. It's too soon to tell, but I suspect this method of administration will be faster acting in terms of reducing CH frequency and possibly aborting CH. I hope this covers your questions. Please keep us posted as you start this regimen. Take care, V/R, Batch

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 RSG, CH Father gave you the right link for the anti-inflammatory regimen treatment protocol at http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 I've made a couple changes since I posted that 2017 version. In July of 2018, I switched brands and type of vitamin D3 from the Nature's Bounty oil-based 5000 IU liquid softgels to the Bio-Tech D3-50 50,000 IU water soluble (micellized) vitamin D3. I've found the Bio-Tech D3-50 to be faster acting and more potent in elevating serum 25(OH)D than the oil-based formulations. Data from the online survey of CHers taking this regimen now supports a longer accelerated vitamin D3 loading schedule from 12-Days at 50,000 IU/day vitamin D3 to 14-Days at 50,000 IU/day. This change increases the total loading dose of vitamin D3 from 600,000 IU to 700,000 IU spread over 14 days at 50,000 IU/day for episodic CHers and 16 days for chronic CHers. This also results in a new initial target serum concentration from 80 ng/mL to 90 ng/mL for episodic CHers and from 80 ng/mL to 100 ng/mL for chronic CHers. The initial vitamin D3 maintenance dose of vitamin D3 is now 15,000 IU/day. These loading schedules and maintenance doses apply to the oil-based liquid softgel vitamin D3 formulations, If you follow my lead and that of several other CHers who switched to the Bio-Tech D3-50 50,000 IU vitamin D3 capsules as I have, the loading and maintenance doses will be different as follows. If you're an episodic CHer start this regimen with the 12-Day loading schedule at 50,000 IU/day (one of the Bio-Tech D3-50 capsules a day for 12 days) then fall back to a new initial maintenance dose with the Bio-Tech D3-50 of one (1) capsule a week. If you're a chronic CHer, start this regimen with a 14-Day accelerated vitamin D3 loading schedule (one of the Bio-Tech D3-50 capsules a day for 14 days) then fall back to a new initial maintenance dose with the Bio-Tech D3-50 of one (1) capsule a week. If you do the math, 50,000 IU divided by 7 days comes to roughly 7,000 IU/day as the maintenance dose with the Bio-Tech D3-50. Due to the increased potency of the Bio-Tech D3-50 compared to the oil-based liquid softgel vitamin D3 formulations at the same dose, this equates to an equivalent of 15,000 IU/day of the liquid softgel vitamin D3 formulations. With either type of vitamin D3, if you haven't experienced a favorable response or complete cessation of CH symptoms by the end of the loading cycle, increase the loading period by two days at 50,000 IU/day for two days then drop back to the maintenance dose. If there's still no response, within three days of the additional loading doses, you may be experiencing an allergic reaction to airborne of food borne allergens. These allergic reactions can be subclinical with no outward or obvious symptoms. In this case, start a week to 10-day course of a first-generation antihistamine like Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) at 25 mg every four hours throughout the day. Just be careful and not drive as this much Diphenhydramine will make you drowsy. If you need to drive during the day, wait until you're home for the day then take 50 mg of Benadryl as you walk through the door, and another 50 mg at bedtime. If there's no response to the Benadryl after five days, discontinue as an allergy is not the likely culprit preventing a favorable response to this regimen. It's important to take all of the vitamin D3 cofactors and conutrients illustrated in the following photo. In particular, it's best to double the magnesium dose from 400 mg/day to 800 mg/day while loading vitamin D3. Take 400 mg of magnesium in the morning with breakfast and the other 400 mg in the evening with dinner. Doing this will help avoid osmotic diarrhea. The Kirkland brand Adult 50+ Mature Multi is also very important as it's formulated with most of the vitamin D3 cofactors. It just doesn't have enough magnesium or any vitamin K2 complex (MK4 and MK7). At 22 cents per capsule taken at a maintenance dose of one (1) capsule a week, the Bio-Tech D3-50 is also the least expensive form of vitamin D3 at 3 cents/day. The Nature's Bounty has a price of 6 cents per 5000 IU vitamin D3 liquid softgel or 12 cents/day for the 10,000 IU maintenance dose. It is very important to see your PCP/GP or neurologist for lab tests of your serum 25(OH)D, calcium and PTH 30 days after start of regimen. As long as you're CH pain free or have experienced a significant reduction in the frequency of your CH and your serum calcium concentration is within its normal reference range, your actual 25(OH)D serum concentration doesn't really matter. Hope all this makes sense. I'll be publishing a revised version of this treatment protocol on VitaminDWiki as soon as a few key vitamin D3 experts and physicians have had an opportunity to comment on the new protocol. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

Can someone call CBD oil as a drug?

I've had almost the same issues you had, and I also quit smoking weed, and one of the reason why - because a friend of mine recommended me a great alternative which is CBD products. I've found a great producer (here it is: Link removed by admin), that makes this stuff for a long time. From now on, the main question for me, is cbd oil safe enough? I heard that they make even dog food from it.