|
||
|
Title: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Slim1874 on Oct 19th, 2005, 11:30am Hello everyone, my name is Stephane. I am new to this forum and I am very gratefull to have found this place. I am posting here partly to present myself as well as venting out the frustration of those damn headaches. Besides my wife and close family it does not appear that alot of people, doctors include, can even imagine the pain one goes through when a cluster headache arrives. I am 31 years old, maried and father of five. I am an independent filmmaker and work from home mostly. This has become a blessing. I do not dare imagine working somewhere else and tell my boss "you know i'll be back in a couple of hours, case my head realy hurts..." I've been having these headaches for 13 years now at an interval of 6 months. Last night at 2:00 AM I had to go to the hospital so much it was hurting. Usualy I just lie on my bed and cry like a baby but last night was worst. The doctor told me it could be cluster headaches and my wife did some searching and found this place here. After reading some pages I then new that this was actualy what I am going through. And now I don't feel as alone as I used to. Why is it that people dont understand how much pain you go through when an attack occurs? I wish some folks could get a glimpse at this for just a few minutes and see how they would handle it. One doctor told me once "take some advil and rest". I wonder what results he had at medical school!... I am getting desperate and this afternoon I'll talk to my doctor about some of the treatments I've read here this morning and see if I can find a way to cope with the pain cause now I've seriouly had enough of this. I will keep you guys posted and perhaps it will help someone. Thanks for the time to vent out the pain and frustration. This has helped alot... Kindly, Stephane |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by E-Double on Oct 19th, 2005, 11:37am Hiya Stephane, This is a great resource to know like the back of your hand...print it out and give it to the doc http://www.brightok.net/~mnjday/chtherapy.pdf It will present the appropriate treatments that you should seek and your doctor should know!!! If you want an abortive with the least amount of side-effects O2 should not only be requested but demanded from your doctor!!! http://www.maplefallswebdesign.com/misc/oxygen/oxygen.htm I have recently been using Zyprexa as an abortive and have found it to work (for me) as fast as Imitrex and without the "hangover" http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1120904753 If you do have the "typical" wake you up in the middle of the night horrors then.... Melatonin might be very helpful. Though I am not sure if you can get that in Canada OTC....there are other things comperable. Many of us (myself included) have found that taking 6-9mg (some take more) about a 1/2 hour to 45minutes prior to bed have Knocked out the night visits and can finally get sleep. With the exception of 10-12 times.....I have slept through the night since August '04 (went chronic in March 05).....Still get hit during the day but my overall quality of life is better because I am not as exhausted all the time. Some people report that it seems to make them worse....The fact is that we are all different and respond differently to everything therefore it may or may not... The one thing I will tell you as far as my experience was that I had to stick with it...The first night I took melatonin, I was awoken with a doozy only I was too groggy to find my O2 .....It got a lot better for me....I then slept through the night but would get slammed about 1/2 hour after waking up....kinda like knocking the beast off schedule.....then again I was peaking and this cycle has been all over the place with no real pattern. I stayed with melatonin and have had decent sleep overall. It may help and it is natural with not too many sideeffects....also ask your doctor b/c if there are any side effects or contraindications...I think they have to do with mild depression..... Like I said we are all different. Also check out Canada's website http://www.clusterheadaches.ca/DesktopDefault.aspx Best wishes, good luck & stay as positive as you can!!!! Eric |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Slim1874 on Oct 19th, 2005, 12:03pm Thanks Eric for the links and suggestions. I will discuss them with the doctor when I leave in a few minutes. Maybe I can tell you guys what I am doing that seems to help ic coping with the pain. Tiger balm: on the neck, top of head, forehead, inside the ear with a cotton ball. Heck even in my right nostril hehehe. It's quite effective to lessen the pain but it's not a cure and I was told that Tiger balm can iritate the skin. Yeah as if I cared about skin iritation. I've also found that when my wife gently brush my back with her finger tips it helps relaxing and often it will sooth if not kill the pain all together. Pepermint essential oil. I put that on the right side temple and back on my neck... If I can do this before the pain realy kicks it will make it less strong when the pressure starts building up.... I dont know if this will help people out there. It does help me a little and even a little is to me a blessing... Is that how we usauly nick name it - the beast? hehehehe It certainly fits very well. Am I the only one who is ready to do just about anything to avoid the pain? Stephane |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by jcmquix on Oct 19th, 2005, 1:23pm Hi Stephane.. It's nice to meet you, I am Charlie, I am also a CH sufferer... Sorry we had to meet like this, but this is the best place in the world to be for CH. Looks like E got you all setup with the info you need to get started battleing the BEAST.... He really helped me out alot also when I first showed up here, all the info is good stuff for You, Your Family & Your Dr's... Hope to see you stick around awhile and get to know us and join the Family, we are always here 24/7/365 if you ever have a question, need to vent or just need someone to chat with, someone is always here.... Also try to get your wife to come to the site and read, exspecially the Supporter's Section... My wife is an active memeber/Supporter here, she is Sassy_Lady... Well Good Luck, Keep us posted.. You are in my Prayer's and Thought's for getting Pain Free.. God Bless Charlie |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Mishka on Oct 19th, 2005, 2:18pm Hi there Charlie! i'm Stephane's wife, i've been here from the beginning reading the posts and different sections of this website & message board ;) I didn't know supporters were also welcome and even had a section for them! Thanks for letting me know! ;;D Blessings! Mishka |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Slim1874 on Oct 19th, 2005, 3:14pm Hi Charlie, thanks for the support... It's amazing to find all the support on this website. I realy dont know how to show my gratitude. Just came back from the docrtor and she prescribed Zyprexa and Naproxen... We will see how it goes. She told me her mother was suffering from CH and that in those days they did not have the kind of medecine we have available today. True it's not perfect but it's getting doctors attention an ressearch. Maybe one day we will see the end of CH... Anyway I'll see how it goes with those and hopefully it will work. My heart goes out to everyone of you! Stephane |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by E-Double on Oct 19th, 2005, 3:25pm Zyprexa will work as an abortive. Take it at onset of HA. Naproxen will not do $hit for ya. You need to get on a preventative medication like Verapamil. or just hope not to have an increase in frequency. good luck |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by jcmquix on Oct 20th, 2005, 8:53am Hi Suzanne & Stephane... It truely is a pleasure to meet you both.... Feel welcome to post anywhere on here that you wish, I do.. If you relate to someone or have information that someone could use, post it... we are all family here... Sometimes some of the other threads get a little out of hand, but we are all family here and sometimes we all have a different opinion on things, just don't let that keep you from posting yours... I am not relly good on all the Med stuff, but I can tell you that E really knows what he is talking about, so try to use his advice whenever possible, as I said he really helped me out alot... Ok Guys I have to get going, working on moving our company this week-end & next week, so i will be on & off whenever I can from work & Home, just going to be really busy.... And the Storm of course, getting ready for it too... God Bless Ya's & PFDAN's Charlie |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by lionsound on Oct 20th, 2005, 11:37am Quote:
Miska, of course you are welcome here too!!! :)....and welcome Stephane! Feel free to ask any questions you may have. or vent or whatever. That's why we are here. We understand what it is like and how frustrating it can be to try and explain CH to someone else, doctor's included. How did the doctor appointment go yesterday? be well and PF! -lionsound |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Slim1874 on Oct 20th, 2005, 11:47am Went very well, the doc told me her mother had CH too. So she has some knowledge, something I am greatfull of hehehe... So far all is going well... the beast has not manifested itself so far. Woke up this morning after a good night of sleep. Funny how we take sleep for granted huh? Matter of fact it's funny to see how much we take for granted. Anyway I cross my fingers and hope that what I am taking now will keep the beast away of at least tame it hehehe. Kindly, Stephane |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by Grandma_Sweet_Boy on Oct 20th, 2005, 4:37pm Welcome to you both. I'm not sure how near you are to Montreal but there are at least 4 others in that area. Pegase, Michel, Axel and Ann, all of whom you will find posting on the Canadian boards. I know they get together periodically and you would both be more than welcome to join them if it's near enough for you. Check out the Canadian site that Eric posted for you and you will likely also be provided with lots of info re neuros, etc. in your area. Best to you both Carol |
||
|
Title: Re: Greetings to all from the Montreal region Post by jcmquix on Oct 21st, 2005, 8:14am Hi Stephane.. Glad to see that the Dr's went good, and that she has some knowledge of CH... Also happy to see that you are getting a break in the HA's, and finally getting some sleep... Hope to see you both posting on the site... God Bless Ya's & PFDAN's Charlie |
||
|
Clusterheadaches.com Message Board » Powered by YaBB 1 Gold - SP 1.3.1! YaBB © 2000-2003. All Rights Reserved. |