please help me combat my cycle. Thank you!

[Jimmy Martinez]

Hi friends, I hope everyone is well and not in a cycle. If you are in a cycle, my prayers are with you for a quick (and permanent end) to the the cycle.

I'm in a cycle right now and hopefully at the end of it. I've been taking verapamil (3 times a day)  and maxalt (to abort an attack when all else fails). 

I'm getting a prescription for Oxygen and Naratripan today.

My attacks occur 95% of the time about 1 hour after I fall asleep. I have had some light success taking 3 Advils, applying an ice pack to my head/temple, and deep breathing to abort the attack.

But lately I've had to take the Maxalt in order the fully abort the attack and end the pain. The pain has had me literally in tears.

My question is this: is it too late to "bust"? If I do bust, do I abstain from the verapamil during the bust?

Looking back I think I should have done an "emgality" dose at the beginning of the cycle which began over a month ago.

Is anyone have success with or "wins" they can share? I'm also doing a version of the Vitamin D regimen but it is an abbreviated regimen with vitamin D and Fish Oil only.

Hopefully there are some things that are working very well for you all.

My doctor who is a headache specialist told me he has had several patients who stopped having cycle altogether for several years. They just stopped one day and never came back.

My cycles have happened at different times of the year but typically happen every 12-18 months.

It would be great to find out why they are happening but also how to prevent them and better extinguish them.

Thank you!

Jimmy Martinez 

 

[BoscoPiko]

Hi Jimmy,

Sorry your in the thick of a banger session.. As for stopping the verap prior to attempting a bust depends on the dosage but i dont think it's 2 late to try. As for the D3 reg attempt with the D and fish oil only, I dont think thats gonna cut it. You really need to be on the full reg (all co factors). Is there a reason you can't take all the suggested vitamins? O2 is super important so I'm glad your getting that squared away! 

[BoscoPiko]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Martinez said:

Oxygen and Naratripan today.

O2 can really be a game changer! Do yourself a favor and check out the high flow oxygen therapy portion of this site which includes great info on the dynamics of usage, set up and techniques. Not sure if it's the same for you with using Maxalt, but for me it literally only gave me a 10 to 15 minute break before the cluster bunny was back coupled with making me feel sick and extending the duration of my attacks, same with any triptans I've ever used so just be mindful of that. I totally get the need to use them though especially when your brain seems to be attempting to off you in the most painful way imaginable...As for wins/prevents there are lots so thats the good news! You are already aware of the D3 reg but you do indeed need to take ALL the vitamines and it would be great if you did a loading dose after doing a bit of blood work to see what your baseline is. Other methods can be read about and responded to on here by posting in one of the other more private threads like theory and implementation or share your busting.. please excuse any typos as im limited to responding on my phone with very fat thumbs 

[Bejeeber]

12 hours ago, Jimmy Martinez said:

If I do bust, do I abstain from the verapamil during the bust?

There have been reports of CHers staying on medium-ish level dosages of verapamil and still successfully busting.

[EDIT]: I just saw this pertinent bit about verapamil from my exceptionally trusted source, @CHfather, in another thread:

8 hours ago, CHfather said:

At relatively low doses (say, 360/day) it can interfere with busting, while not blocking it completely. 480 and above seems to have a more substantial blocking effect.

 

[CHfather]

Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy ..... So sorry to see you back.  

Why naratriptan?  It's a migraine medicine, and I think it's a pill (not an injection or a nasal spray).  It is unlikely to help you.  But as it's a triptan, you can't expect to bust successfully while taking it.  (I'm a little confused about what you're saying. Maxalt is not naratriptan; it's rizatriptan. It also blocks busting.)

Please read about O2 here: https://clusterbusters.org/forums/topic/6213-basic-non-busting-information/

And note this:

To avoid frustration, it might be wise for you to contact your O2 supplier before their first delivery to make sure you are getting the right equipment.  Many of them are not used to providing for people with CH.  You want cylinders (tanks), not a concentrator.  At the least, you want one large tank (an M tank or H tank) and one smaller tank for portability (an E tank).  Multiple versions of each tank are better.  You need some kind of stand, at least for your larger tank(s).  You want regulators that go up to at least 15 liters per minute (lpm), and preferably up to 25 lpm. (I say "regulators," plural, because the large tanks and the smaller tanks take different types of regulators.) And you want a NON-REBREATHER mask.  These are all things they should know to give you to treat CH, but often don’t.  When the stuff is delivered, have the delivery person set it up for you and be sure it's working. 

 

 

[Dallas Denny]

I have to chime in and agree with @CHfatherwith regard to naratriptan @Jimmy Martinez!!!

Early on in.my cluster journey I was misdiagnosed with atypical migraine and was first prescibed naratriptan followed by amytriptaline. As he stated, both are in pill form and both are migraine drugs!  Back then ( over 40 years ago) I think it was quite common for docs to prescribe both drugs for off lable treatment of clusters!  However, I rarely see someone post that it was prescribed to them in the last 20 years!!

And, my personal experience is that neither did a fecking thing for my clusters....AND... the amytriptaline produced some of the absolute most horrendous side effects of any pharmaceutical I've ever ingested!!!

DD

[Jimmy Martinez]

On 5/19/2026 at 5:52 PM, Jimmy Martinez said:

Hi friends, I hope everyone is well and not in a cycle. If you are in a cycle, my prayers are with you for a quick (and permanent end) to the the cycle.

I'm in a cycle right now and hopefully at the end of it. I've been taking verapamil (3 times a day)  and maxalt (to abort an attack when all else fails). 

I'm getting a prescription for Oxygen and Naratripan today.

My attacks occur 95% of the time about 1 hour after I fall asleep. I have had some light success taking 3 Advils, applying an ice pack to my head/temple, and deep breathing to abort the attack.

But lately I've had to take the Maxalt in order the fully abort the attack and end the pain. The pain has had me literally in tears.

My question is this: is it too late to "bust"? If I do bust, do I abstain from the verapamil during the bust?

Looking back I think I should have done an "emgality" dose at the beginning of the cycle which began over a month ago.

Is anyone have success with or "wins" they can share? I'm also doing a version of the Vitamin D regimen but it is an abbreviated regimen with vitamin D and Fish Oil only.

Hopefully there are some things that are working very well for you all.

My doctor who is a headache specialist told me he has had several patients who stopped having cycle altogether for several years. They just stopped one day and never came back.

My cycles have happened at different times of the year but typically happen every 12-18 months.

It would be great to find out why they are happening but also how to prevent them and better extinguish them.

Thank you!

Jimmy Martinez 

 

Hi CH Father, Denny, BJeeber and Bosco, I hope this message reaches all of you. Thank you all so much for your care and concern. I've been meaning to see how you were all doing during my recent pain free period which lasted over a year! I'm going to do the FULL Vitamin D regimen, the blood draw thing isn't easy because seeing a doctor here in LA takes months with the insurance I have. I'll ask my doctor about the Naratriptan. He gave it to me and told me to take it an hour before bedtime so that my super punctual Midnight attacks would be prevented or lessened. I guess Naratriptan is not effective and no longer used. It's funny because this doctor is supposed to be THE headache guy in LA. I have the non-breather mask and I usually get the proper oxygen tanks. I'm awaiting on the oxygen, it usually takes some pulling teeth to get it all because of the insurance company. I'm tempted to go back on the verapamil (I stopped it about a week ago because it just makes me feel lousy and I thought I was coming to the end of my cycle). It sounds like FULL Vitamin D regimen, oxygen, and verapamil are the way to go for now. I'll bust (tried it once about 2 years ago and I couldn't tell if it ended my cycle or helped my cycle) if I continue to get these midnight attacks. Getting help like this is so incredible. Thank you. I wish there was a way to do all of this by phone or with a CH specialist here in LA who knows all of the things you guys are talking about. I'm guessing none of you are 100% pain free at this time or that your attacks have permanently ended. If this is the case, I will put you all in my my sincere and strongest prayers so that the switch turns OFF forever and the only reason why you would ever visit this site is to help people in pain and to encourage and guide them. When this affliction ends for me permanently, I will always be a part of CH community so I can help people and hopefully deliver them from pain permanently. Thank you!!!!

[Bejeeber]

Well your doctor wasn’t necessarily completely off with the advice to take a triptan pill an hour before a pretty much otherwise guaranteed sleep-induced attack. 

It seems it’s the TYPE of triptan pill that is at issue there. Some CHers have reported success preventing attacks with this approach, but with sumatriptan pills. Not surprised that the especially slow acting naratriptan didn’t work. Of course any triptan is not typically recommend by us busting folk around here though.

for those with the buck$, there are independent labs now proliferating that do whatever bloodwork you want without need for a doctor’s order, cutting out the middle man. I would imagine there are some of those pretty close to you in LA for the initial blood draw, and that they could be searchable and findable online.

 

 

 

 

[Jimmy Martinez]

8 hours ago, Bejeeber said:

Well your doctor wasn’t necessarily completely off with the advice to take a triptan pill an hour before a pretty much otherwise guaranteed sleep-induced attack. 

It seems it’s the TYPE of triptan pill that is at issue there. Some CHers have reported success preventing attacks with this approach, but with sumatriptan pills. Not surprised that the especially slow acting naratriptan didn’t work. Of course any triptan is not typically recommend by us busting folk around here though.

for those with the buck$, there are independent labs now proliferating that do whatever bloodwork you want without need for a doctor’s order, cutting out the middle man. I would imagine there are some of those pretty close to you in LA for the initial blood draw, and that they could be searchable and findable online.

 

 

 

 

Thank you Bejeeber. Chat GPT said Melatonin might help reduce or prevent my midnight CH attacks. I'd love to meet with you guys or have a phone conference because the typing and emails are nice but seeing and hearing is much more powerful. I'm sure everyone wants their privacy but I'd love to one day talk to someone in the CB community so I can get more clarity on things. It sounds like the busting is a miracle for many in the CB community. I assume some have perfected it to the point where they barely even get an attack and they have the beast fully contained so to speak. I wonder if there is any long term mental damage that can occur from busting. How are you Beejeber? are you pain free right now and have you mastered the CH monster? I can only imagine what people did back a hundred years ago when they were getting attacks, they must have just jumped off a cliff. The levels of pain are various for me. But even the weakest level is enough to keep me awake and uncomfortable. The highest level makes me wish I were in heaven. The oxygen works but only temporarily. it will quickly kill the pain but once I go back to bed, within an hour the pain comes back. The good news is that in this current cycle, I have been able to fully kill the pain a few times without the Maxalt. I hear people chug a 5 hour energy drink to abort an attack but if the attacks happens at 1am, I guess I'd be up all night wide awake and then suffer from sleep deprivation. are you on any other CH forum or website and have those sites helped you in any way? Thank you, Jimmy

 

[Bejeeber]

8 hours ago, Jimmy Martinez said:

I wonder if there is any long term mental damage that can occur from busting.

Not that I'm aware of - especially since busting doesn't require constant dosing or particularly high dosing, and there is apparently evidence that psychedelics can actually be mind expanding.

People with a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia are warned to stay away from busting though, since there is said to be a real risk of triggering such a latent condition.

 

 

8 hours ago, Jimmy Martinez said:

How are you Beejeber? are you pain free right now and have you mastered the CH monster?

I think the people who are closest to having mastered it know it can be a fool's game to assume the CH monster can never get 'em again.

I'm now in a several years long remission, successfully busting when the shadows start intensifying in a way that signals an an episode wanting to rear up, but also probably benefitting from the not uncommon phenomenon of aging out of it at least somewhat - where the remissions can become longer and longer, whether busting or not.

One dirty little secret there though that I hate to mention is that along with extended remissions, extended bouts/episodes can be concurrent, and the frequency, intensity and length of the attacks can increase.

I REALLY hate to mention that part, and should add that this increased severity when in cycle should not be expected to automatically accompany extended remissions.

I don't know about 100 years ago, but 1,000 years ago some indigenous peoples used psilocybin, rivea corymbosa seeds, etc. for severe head pain.

The O2 aborted attack reappearing an hour after falling back asleep is also unfortunately pretty common. Hang in there man, you'll get through this one and will be positioned to potentially prevent the next cycle completely.

 

 

 

[FunTimes]

Jimmy, I get my oxygen by paying out of pocket, it is actually cheaper for me this way. I am chronic so I have tanks delivered all year round. Busting has not cured me in any way but does infact cut my attacks down in frequency and the pain is much less that pre busting. I am also one who will down a 5hr energy drink to help the oxygen kick in faster. It does not seem to keep me up at night. This can be different for everyone, the only way to know is to give it a try. Melatonin and Benadryl have helped me get a full night sleep also. All of the things I hade done over the years have faded in effectiveness or stopped all together. I  have switched it up on busting substances, tweaked what and how I take things and kind of go with the flow. It is understandable that people tend to stop visiting the site when in remission and only pop in when in cycle, I wish I could be pain free and never visit this place again ( No offence) . As you know we are all here to help each other.. Welcome back