Just Putting This Out There...

[Steve Pray]

OK so I've been episodic for the better part of 15 years now. I used to get hit hard in both Spring and Fall but the last 3 years it's only been in the Fall. The problem is the last 3 cycles have been especially brutal.

Anyway I've been on the D3 regiment for a long time now and I'm not sure it's helping but I won't stop just in case. So this last cycle was getting particularly brutal and it just started a few weeks ago. I even had several attacks during the day which is usually reserved for the peak of my cycle which usually lasts 6 to 12 weeks. 4 nights ago I was hit 3 times and even my oxygen wasn't working. Tried slamming a Red Bull nope nothing. Just had to tough it out scared as hell that this would be my new normal. 

The next day I got hit early afternoon and again around 9pm. As i was blowing my nose afterwards my wife suggested taking a Claritin and said "you never know it may help". I actually laughed as I've tried just about every legal drug known to man over the 15 years I've fought the beast. However to humor her I took one. That night I got hit 3 times but all were knocked out by the oxygen in about 5 minutes and they weren't particularly brutal. The next night I took a Claritin about an hour before I went to bed and I got hit an hour after going to sleep but like the night before it wasn't as bad as usual. After that I went to bed wondering when the next one would hit. It didn't and I got a solid 7 hours of sleep.

Last night I took another an hour before bed anxious to see what would happen. I woke up 7.5 hours later and never got hit last night.

Don't really know if the Claritin along with the D3 regiment is doing it but I wanted to share just in case this may help someone else get at least one night of good sleep. I know tonight I'll go to bed expecting the beast to come back with a vengeance but maybe, just maybe he'll stay away.

 

[xxx]

Hey Steve,

One question and some comments...  When you started the anti-inflammatory regimen, did you also start the 12-Day vitamin D3 loading schedule at 50,000 IU/day for 12 days?

Regarding taking Claritin (Loratadine)...  Good move... I've been suggesting a first-generation antihistamine like Benadryl (DIphenhydramine HCL) as it passes through the blood brain barrier to block H1 histamine receptors on neuronal genes throughout the brain and in particular, the trigeminal ganglia where the neurons have a relatively high density of GCRP expressing genes.  Blocking the H1 histamine receptors on trigeminal ganglia neurons inhibits the expression and release of Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptides (CGRP), the neuropeptides responsible for neurogenic inflammation and the pain we know as CH.

Claritin (Loratanine) is a second-generation (Less Drowsy) antihistamine that works to block H1 histamine receptors in the periphery and is less able to pass through the blood brain barrier (making it a less drowsy antihistamine).  It is also ranked as the least potent of the second-generation antihistamines.

In researching H1 histamine receptors I've found them located in all the major body tissue and cell types.  The following BioGPS Gene Atlas for the HRH1 H1 Histamine receptor gene illustrates its relative density across several tissue and cell types.

What the above chart is telling us is there are H1 histamine receptors on neuron genes and other cell types throughout the body that are capable of expressing and releasing CGRP.  Your report of Claritin (Loratadine) providing CH relief is a new and welcome data point in our fight to control CH.  Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) also works to block H1 histamine receptors on neuron genes and other cells throughout the periphery as well as neurons throughout the brain.

It's also important to note that the genetically active Vitamin D3 metabolite 1,25(OH)2D3 attaches to vitamin D3 receptors (VDR) on neuron genes throughout the brain and trigeminal ganglia and acts through genetic expression to down-regulate the expression and release of CGRP.  Accordingly, Vitamin D3 and antihistamines provide a synergistic effect in reducing the expression and release of CGRP... and in the process, help prevent CH.  There's a complete section on first-generation antihistamines in the anti-inflammatory regimen CH preventative treatment protocol I had posted 21 Jan 2017 at the VitaminDWiki website at the following link:

http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708

I'll be changing the Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) dosing schedule in the next release of this treatment protocol scheduled for Jan of 2018.  In the mean time we've found that 25 mg of Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) taken every 4 hours throughout the day and 50 mg at bedtime provides the best protection throughout the day and at night while sleeping against CH while taking the anti-inflammatory regimen.  Just be careful and not drive after taking Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) as it will make you drowsy,

Hope this helps and thanks for the feedback.  Take care.

V/R, Batch

[Steve Pray]

Thanks for the info. I started the D3 when it first came out I believe (long time ago) and at that time I don't remember it having you load up on the D3 to start. back then it also had 1000mg of Taurine. I don't do the Taurine anymore but I do load up on an extra 10,000 IU of D3 when a cycle starts. If this Claritin stuff continues to work I'm going to owe my wife a new car or something (dinner at least). I've never had a cycle come to a screeching halt like this, not even close. heck I've never been able to even catch a one night break before.

 

[jon019]

Welcome Steve....

Nothing I can add to the info from the ever-cogent, concise and rapidly responding Batch....he has got clusterville's 6...

Will add in support that MANY clusterheads...me included... have concluded long ago that there was some connection between ch and allergies. Batch provides insight and research backed info on how to "handle" that connection. Many years ago ch was called histamine headaches...so somebody thought something. There was even an accepted treatment called "histamine desensitization". Over the years I have heard of very few, if any, cases where it was more than minimally/moderately successful. I suspect it may have been used as a standalone and therefore missing the other components of the D3/O2 regimen...or just not a powerful enough therapy to overcome the willful beast.

Except for the drowsiness part.... I have had more success with Benadryl than Claritin....but danged if I would complain about something that WORKS!

Best

Jon

 

[xxx]

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the reply and Jon, thanks for the kind words.  Like you, I've had plenty of first-hand experience with Benadryl getting my CH back under control with the anti-inflammatory regimen...

Steve, have you downloaded a copy of the latest version of the anti-inflammatory regimen?  It contains a major section on the vitamin D3 loading schedules and allergies with the need for a first-generation antihistamine.

An allergic reaction occurs when enough allergens reach a threshold and trigger mast cells to degranulate releasing histamine and a lot of other neuropeptides.  The histamine, in turn, triggers neurons to express and release CGRP.  If there's a lot of histamine, it triggers a major release of CGRP that turn around and trigger mast cells to release even more histamine.  This becomes a circular chemical chain reaction causing a CGRP cascade.  When this happens, none of the traditional CH interventions including vitamin D3 and oxygen will be effective.  This circular chemical chain reaction continues until one or more of the reactants are consumed at which point the reaction stops and so does the CH...  for now... As luck would have it our bodies recharge the mast cells with more histamine and neurons with the building blocks for more CGRP in roughly one or two hours which means the circular chain reactions is primed and ready to go again enabling the CH beast to jump ugly...  Sound familiar?

This is where the antihistamine comes into play.  By blocking the H1 histamine receptors the antihistamine helps prevent the expression and release of CGRP and this enables vitamin D3 to do its thing to further down-regulate CGRP production and in the process prevent our CH.

If you've been without Claritin for more than 24 hours, the allergens that triggered the initial allergy may have dissipated sufficiently...  In any event, I'd keep the Claritin handy as we're surrounded by allergens 7X24.

Take care and please keep us posted on your use of Claritin while taking the anti-inflammatory regimen.

V/R, Batch

Edited to add:  Be sure to thank your wife for suggesting the Claritin.  Tell her you love her and that her hair or shoes look nice...  Wives like to hear things like this.  We're usually in such a foul mood during a CH bout that wives keep their distance once they know we're doing something about the CH...  Who knows... You might get lucky...

[Steve Pray]

Well I didn't have any shadows yesterday at all so i was hopeful went I went to bed last night. I was actually looking forward to going to sleep instead of being terrified of it. Went to bed at 2am (I'm a late nighter) and wouldn't you know it at 5am I had to jump out of bed. The difference was this time it was because of my 61 year old bladder. Did my business and back to sleep. Woke back up at 10am this morning after another restful night other than the bladder call.

I gotta tell you I am almost in tears right now. After 15 years of fighting the beast I've never had a break like this during a cycle. Hoping it continues. I did download the new D3 info and will look through it today. 

I also want to state for anyone reading this that I have been on this site for quite some time but never really post. However if it wasn't for this site and the information I've gained from it I may well be another reason they call CH suicide headaches. I've had cycles so bad that I've literally banged my head against the door jam to the point of bleeding just to try and focus the pain elsewhere. I thank God for this site and the people who work so hard for all of us who battle this beast and I thank God for the woman who has stood by me through all of the terrifying nights we've been through. So thank you to all of you from the bottom of my heart.

[xxx]

Steve,

Please believe me I know how you feel having broken the code so to speak with Claritin.  I'm all about if it works, don't screw with it...  I would suggest if you haven't already done so, is to get your wife started on the anti-inflammatory regimen.  Like you, I have a wonderful supporter who has stood by me and my CH for nearly 24 years.  I got her started on this regimen a little over a month after I started it in October of 2010.  She had been a migraineur for more than 20 years at that point with migraines hitting for 3 to 5 days a month like clockwork.  She hasn't had a single migraine since.  She's now 80 and has more energy, getup and go than she did at 60.  I'd like to keep her around for a lot longer and the anti-inflammatory regimen appears to be making that happen.  At ~ 55 cents a day, it has become a very effective form of health insurance. 

We both go in for our annual physicals on the same day and our PCP tells us the same thing.  He says to the two of us, "Your labs look great, but your 25(OH)D is elevated... as usual.  However as your serum calcium and PTH are well within the normal reference range, I guess you know what you're doing."  Neither of us take any prescription medications.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch