lapsan Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 I've been getting CH for about 16 years now. The bouts have never lasted more than 6 weeks, tops. This time around they've been coming full steam since November 2013. Nearly always at night. Often, one every hour and a half, all night long. I've been using oxygen for several years, with pretty good success (probably works about 90% of the time). I've been put on steroids and weened off while ramping up Verapamil to 480 mg a day and Imitrex only if the O2 doesn't work. This plan stopped working this time around. I haven't had a full nights sleep in months. Not just a full nights sleep, but I go weeks without reaching Stage3 or 4 sleep, I'm pretty sure. I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday. Made the mistake of taking the painkillers I was prescribed (Tylenol3 and Ibuprofen). Turns out, I'm allergic to Tylenol 3 (wheee) and the site of the teeth removal is in bad shape and painkillers are needed. Now I've been prescribed Tramadol. I don't know that I should take it, as the Ibuprofen/Tylenol 3 threw me into a horrible set of headaches last night. The CH are beginning to not respond to the 02 and not even Imitrex worked last night. I don't know what to do. I'm thinking RC or HBWR but I am unclear on how and how much. I'm also thinking there has to be a way for me to get sleep. But I can't for the life of me think of how I would go about that short of being in a coma I'm rambly and a bit out of it. Can I get pointers to how to use the RC seeds? They seem easier. Anyone got any ideas about the sleep situation? :-[ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas Denny Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Welcome to the community lapsan, sorry you have the need to be here!! No personal experience with RC or HBWR so I'll let someone else advise you there, however, when I get to a point of really bad sleep deprivation my Doc will give me a shot of phenegran and nubain in the buttocks....got to have someone take me and drive me home but it'll knock me out for 18 to 24 hours!! Haven't had to resort to that since I began busting but it does work!! DD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHfather Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Many people (not all, of course -- there doesn't seem to be any "all" when it comes to CH) find that they get a good night's sleep for the first time when they start with RC. Have you tried melatonin at night -- some people get some good prevention results, and some better sleep, from that. The standard advice is to start at maybe 9-12 mg and then work up. At least one person here gets into the 20-plus mg range during a cycle. (I know of one person who uses a lot less, taking chewable melatonin that comes in small (.5 mg) tablets.) A lot of people experience severe aftereffects from the anesthetics used in dental work. Late for you to learn that now, but it might help explain what's going on at this moment. (Might even be the effects of that, not the meds, that are making things worse for you.) RC ---- makes sense. You'll have to be off opiates and other meds (not verapamil, probably) for five days before you start. People seem to find www.tranceplants.net (which is in Montreal) and www.iamshaman.com (in the midwestern US) to be reliable sources for RC.  You'll probably want to buy at least 250 seeds. They are, of course, legal to buy and possess but not legal to process for LSA and consume. The method for processing is very simple: grind/soak/drink. When/if you get to that stage, get back to us. Have you tried energy drinks? Drunk at the the first sign of an attack, they can reduce the severity of the attack, and sometimes even abort it. (They don't seem to add to sleeplessness, for some reason.) It also might be time to revisit your O2 setup. Higher flow, O2ptimask, and other things can return some effectiveness that you seem to be losing. You might look at the CB oxygen page under the black and white MENU tab on the left side of the page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bejeeber Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 What CHf said. 8-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThatHurtsMyHead Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Lapsan, Ditto what CHF said. His script is on the money. Energy drinks might actually help you sleep. I've never had them keep me awake when the night attacks come, but they definitely help with reducing the severity and frequency of attacks when combined with high flow O2. When the night attack comes. Slam half a Monster (blue can, low carb) energy drink. Then get on the HIGH flow O2 ASAP. Start deep huffing. Once the attack passes, stay on the O2 for maybe 5 more minutes. Staying on a little longer helps to reduce the likelihood of the attack coming back quickly. Hope you find as I have, that this combination may give you more sleep time between attacks. I know where you're coming from on the no sleep thing. It's a world of sucks.... But you'll get through it. Order the RC (and maybe some backup HBWR, so you have it if you find RC doesn't work). Things will get better, I guarantee it.. J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoxieGirl Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 Hi lapsan, Welcome to the group, sorry you have to be here. I started busting with RC seeds, and found they helped a lot. At the time I was getting up to 5 hits a day every 2-3 days, and all the doctor prescribed stuff had stopped working. What CHFather said about prepping seeds is pretty spot on, albeit brief. I've written the steps I used here: https://www.clusterheadaches.com/cb/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1357378289 Hang in there, and I hope it gets better soon. MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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