Newbie RC question

[zakthecat]

Hi all

Thanks for the great website - it's encouraging to know that progress is being made.

I'm about 4 weeks into cycle at the moment and am going to try my first bust using RC on Thursday (day off work). I've read on the board that kudzu can interfere with the absorption of psilocybin, and just wondered if it's the same with RC. I'm not even sure the kudzu's working although I've noticed a slight dip in the severity from K7/8 to K5/6 since I started on it about a week and a half ago (every little helps). Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Zak

[Guest]

Just dont consume them together. You wait five day's between doses . Only a thought.

the bb

[Pixie-elf]

I'd detox off of the Kudzu first. Go 5 days without it.

I'm thinking if it interferes with pscilo, it might interfere with RC seeds. Better safe than sorry.

[CHfather]

Welcome, ztc.  The RC is going to help you.

If you haven't, you should read TommyD's pertinent files in the "Clusterbusters Files" section of this board, starting maybe with "The Dosing Method":  http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1290130612 .  You should read the "LSA" file, too.  And then you should ask questions.

I have to say that it's extremely rare for anyone to get more than a very mild buzz from the recommended doses of RC, especially the recommended starting dose of maybe 10-20 seeds.  It's also rare for those low doses to have much effect, for most people, on the CH.  You will know yourself best, of course, but I'm thinking Thursday is a long way away and I don't think you'd have to worry about effects at work if you took the dose the evening or night before work. So I'm saying maybe you'd want to do something sooner, if kudzu is all you've been taking and you're "detoxed" from the meds that could interfere with busting (see TommyD's file on "interactions" if you're not sure about this).

Or (and/or, really), I think you should consider the vitamin D3 regimen that has helped so many people, which you could start this afternoon and which does not seem to interfere with busting.  Very much more likely to help you than the kudzu, I'd say.  The recommended dosage for treatment during a cycle is 10,000 international units per day (with food) of vitamin D3, 3-5K mg. of Omega-3 fish oil (with food) per day, and a couple of calcium citrate tablets (the kind that are formulated with magnesium, zinc, and sometimes a little D3) a day (not necessarily with food).  Many people find that a glass of lemonade twice a day enhances the effects.  I've just told you the basics, which I think is all you need to know, but you can read more about this approach (and many success stories) at these lengthy threads:

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1300245052

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/50

You have oxygen, I hope!  If not, that should be another priority for you.

The great folks here, who understand what you're going through, are very generous with their help.  Ask questions, and, please, keep us informed, since we learn from you, too.  PF wishes.

[Bonkers]

Hi Zac,

Welcome to the board. Glad you found us. Sorry you had the need. You've been given very good advice. I would only add an emphasis to the recommendation that you get an oxygen set-up. The gray menu tab at the upper left of this page contains a button for the CH.com Oxygen Page. It's important, very important, that you read and follow through with this information. Hyperventilating oxygen through a non-rebreather mask has proven to be the best abortive for the most people that has yet been found. You'll need to lease a tank, buy a mask and a regulator that supplies at least 25 lpm. I promise you'll be amazed at how well it works. Well... maybe that's not quite true. For a very few people, including my son, it doesn't work. For most though, it's a life-saver. Good luck!

Ron

[CHfather]

Since it's not really clear whether kudzu interferes with busting (I don't see why it should, but I don't know anything), I'd still consider an initial RC bust now if you have the seeds and you're not on any of the meds that definitely do interfere with busting. Worst that can happen (assuming your reaction to low-dose RC is as mild as most people's) is it won't work. Then eliminating the kudzu before another bust five days from now (Thursday). And immediately starting the D3 regimen.  And working on getting oxygen, if you don't have it.

Also, chugging a RedBull or other "energy drink" with caffeine and taurine at the first sign of a headache helps many people. 

[Pixie-elf]

I always forget, you can do both at the same time. I'm an airhead right now.

http://www.clusterbusters.com/faq.html#4 Is where I read about the Kudzu.

Energy drinks help so much. I can't stand red bull, so I just do Monster's. Jolt is my favorite but in my part of Texas no store is selling 'em currently.

Good luck!

Mystina

[zakthecat]

Hi again

Thank you all so much for the information and support. For the first time in the 15 years or so since the beast first came calling, I'm in touch with people who know what they're talking about.

Sorry I didn't really introduce myself in the initial post (typical British reserve - we're famous for it!). I was "fortunate" enough to get diagnosed immediately by the only useful GP I've seen (he suffered from them himself - how's that for serendipity?), but since then I fell in love, got married and moved away, and the only responses from GPs I've had since then have ranged from blind ignorance to outright hostility. So, basically, I've given up on doctors and tried to "tough" each episode out. I realise that in the CH spectrum, I'm at the lucky end (though when I'm whimpering, sobbing and mopping the tears and sweat with a towel at 3am, I don't feel too lucky). So, I'm episodic, around every 18 months to two years, nearly all the attacks come at night - roughly every two-three hours, with each attack lasting around 40 minutes from being dragged out of my sleep to feeling well enough to go back to bed.

Not sure what the situation is with oxygen on your side of the pond, but as far as I'm aware, over here you can only get it on prescription - which means doctors, and to be honest, when I'm in an episode, I just haven't got the energy to fight the system.

So, guys, I shall definitely have a go at the D3 and Omega-3, and see what those innocent looking little seeds can do. Thanks again for your friendship and support, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Zak :-]

[CHfather]

Zak, do you have anyone who can advocate for you regarding the oxygen?  Because for many people it changes everything.  I had to fight not only for, but with my daughter to get her oxygen--she like you had given up on ever finding any help and she just gritted her way through some very severe attacks (8s and 9s) for years, and she didn't want what she was sure was "false hope" from oxygen.  But we got it, after many travails with the system, and it worked beautifully to abort her attacks, and changed--probably saved--her life.  It's the #1 prescription for CH according the European medical standards.  You can read about that and more here: http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1299901790

(This is a page I wrote after dealing with oxygen on my daughter's behalf; it's different from the one Ron referred you to yesterday.  I'd really encourage you to look at it.)

Maybe someone from this board over on your side of the water will be willing to advise you or even help you.  In the US, welding oxygen can be obtained without a prescription and you can order the additional parts you need (regulator, mask) over the internet.  There's discussion about all this at that link above.  I don't know how that works in Great Britain.

Because you (like my daughter) don't have a history of using pharmaceuticals that interfere with busting, I'm expecting you to have good success with the D3 regimen (don't forget the calcium citrate formulation and maybe a couple of glasses of lemonade) and with RC.  But oxygen is essential, too, eventually if not right now.  You can get some nasty "post-dose hits" for a day or two from the RC, and it's very nice to have a quick abortive nearby. 

[CHfather]

Zak, here's a list of doctors in England that have been recommended by people with CH.  It's from http://www.ouch-us.org/chgeneral/doctors.htm

I don't really understand the National Health system, but if you have the option, maybe it would be relatively easy (or easier) to get an oxygen prescription from one of these.  Can't speak for its currency, since I believe Goadsby, for example, is now in the US.

Rachel Tudbury

Watford, Herts

Dr Dennis Briley

Princes Risborough, Bucks

Dr. Sarah Benton

London

Dr. E. A. MacGregor

London

Dr Robert Hailwood

Horwich, Bolton

Manjit Matharu

London (Queen's Sq.)

Peter Goadsby

London (Queen's Sq.)

Craig Maxwell

Radlett, Herts

[Psiloscribe]

Sorry I didn't really introduce myself in the initial post (typical British reserve - we're famous for it!). 

Which reminds me of a song...."Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way / The time is gone / The song is over / Thought I'd something more to say"....

Good luck with the bust...

Give the 02 battle a second thought. Once you win the fight, it may help for years to come.

Plus, the more that fight to get it and win, the easier it will be for future combatants...

Bob

[CHfather]

http://www.clusterbusters.com/faq.html#4 Is where I read about the Kudzu.

Nice job finding that, Mystina!  I'm skeptical of these "anecdotal reports" (even though in a lot of areas that's all we have to go by), but, again, I don't know anything; and, as you say, Zak could do both (try it now; "detox" from the kudzu; try it later).  Thanks for your good research.

[zakthecat]

I'm actually feeling quite overwhelmed by all this niceness, and there's a strange irony here. I've been PF since I posted the first message (3 days), and  part of me thinks that by taking a stand and not giving in I've scared it away (like standing up to a bully). Either that, or the fact that it's a holiday weekend over here, which has meant friends, family and a lot of wine. Strangely, unlike most CH sufferers, alcohol isn't a trigger - sometimes I can go whole drinky weekends without any pain at all, only for them to come back as soon as I'm back in the usual work/dinner/TV/sleep/alarm at 5.45 routine (I'm not advocating raging alcoholism as a viable alternative!). Maybe (fingers crossed, I may have come to the end of the cycle - previous ones have lasted anything from four to 12 weeks), but until I've gone for a full week I won't hold my breath. Whatever the outcome I've decide I'll go for the RC on Thursday, and then maintenance doses every three months - there's a helluva lot to learn, and I feel I've got some good teachers.

[CHfather]

Great news, Zak!  Here's hoping we never hear from you again, except with occasional reports of your continued success and a brief report reassuring us that you have acquired oxygen, just in case.  If I were you, I would consider the maintenance dose of that D3 regimen, too -- half of what I recommended above.