Shelley Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hi guys, Just joined. Its been a long year of bad headaches. I was recently diagnosed with cluster headaches. Right now doing a course of prednisone but also oxygen. I think my cluters started after some dental surgery which involved a sinus lift for dental implants. I have a small head and sinuses to begin with and this procedure made one smaller plus I have a slightly shifted septum. THe oxygen helps the most. I am still trying to figure things ought and get a doc to really help me. I live in the LA area. Looking forward to learning and helping myself get better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas Denny Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Welcome to the community Shelly! Sorry you had the need to find us though. Read and ask questions and we'll all try to help in any way we can. Dallas Denny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Looking forward to learning and helping myself get better. Hello Shelly, Many sufferers who come along here are already in a very bad way with all the drugs the Doctors have pumped into them. Many have a long, & difficult detox process to go through before they can even consider Alternatives as a treatment. Many have a long, & difficult road to tread because of all the chemicals there brains have been subjected to. You on the other hand are what I would consider to be a virgin of all the CH drugs. If I were you. I would leave well alone the Pred, & just use my 02. Read, & learn... Ask, & beat this illness with RC Seeds, & Psilocybin. Nice to have you here. CArl... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonkers Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Hi Shelley, And welcome. There's a lot to learn here. Read, read, read. Also, familiarize yourself with the sister site to this one, http://www.clusterheadaches.com/, particularly their message board. Ask questions on both forums. You also need to find a Neurologist or Pain Specialist in your area who treats CH patients and is current with CH procedures and medications. Take what you learn here and interview prospective Dr.s. If the one you're interviewing doesn't know what you're talking about, go see the next one on your list. There are a lot of amazing things happening in regards to CH. This may well be the best place to learn about them. Glad to have you here, Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flash Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Shelley, Take my advice and get off the Pred immediately. The side effects are terrible and it's largely ineffective. It also makes you gain weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 Shelley, Take my advice and get off the Pred immediately. The side effects are terrible and it's largely ineffective. It also makes you gain weight. Whoa, Flash. Back the truck up. I have two problems with this. 1. If a person has been taking prednisone for more than a few days, you don't just get off it immediately. Doing so can cause more harm than good. It must be tapered off so that one's adrenal glands slowly get back to producing a natural level of cortisone. 2. Most every clusterhead I know that has taken prednisone reports that it's anything but ineffective. For most it will stop the attacks dead in their tracks. The problem lies in not being able to stay on the stuff for more than a couple of weeks without creating some of what you properly term as terrible side effects. Clarity in the written word is essential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassidy Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 As far as clusters and prednisone go, I believe it is prescribed as a taper up and taper back down. If someone hasn't been been using that taper for a long period of time, it should be okay to taper down and quit. In my opinion. I am not aware of any success stories with alternative treatments and prednisone. It would be important to detox off the prednisone, if one chooses to use the buster methods. Doesn't get much clearer than that. Leslie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brew Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 What I'm saying is you don't just stop prednisone "cold turkey" if you have been on it for more than a couple of days. It can throw your adrenal glands into shock. Yes, you have to be detoxed off prednisone before utilizing buster methods. And no, you don't taper up on prednisone - you start with the biggest blast and then taper down. Normally utilized along side a preventative like verapamil to transition into the build up of the preventative to therapeutic levels, which can take 10-14 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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