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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006-2007 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> New to the site 
        
(Message started by: gus411 on Jan 19^th, 2006, 5:42pm)

Title: New to the site
Post by gus411 on Jan 19^th, 2006, 5:42pm

Hi all I'm 24 years old and have been dealing with these cluster headaches since I was 17. I just went to the head doctor LOL for the second time in 7 years. He was able to identify that these are cluster headaches. Reason I decided to go:
On january 10'th 2006 I expierienced the worst CH I have ever had. It lasted 3 1/2 hours of excrutiating pain. The normal hot shower didnt help. The exedrin Migrane meds. stopped working and I was at a loss. My family didnt understand the pain I was going through and why I wanted to be DEAD :(. I have been in a 2 week cycle now and I get 4-5 almost as bad as the 10'th ( I will never forget that date.) The doctor put me on prednisone. and depekoate. So far today only 2 ch's. I am happy to finnaly have found a site that knows what I'm going through. I started to feel like I was crazy. Thanks all for listening to my sob story. hope to hear from ya.

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by marlinsfan on Jan 19^th, 2006, 5:57pm

Welcome gus, we know how you feel. We've been there, but don't let the beast get the best of you. Death from this is not an option. Headaches do pass, and life goes on.

Read this, it has all the good info on meds:

http://www.brightok.net/~mnjday/chtherapy.pdf

Get your doc to write you a script for Oxygen. It's a godsend for me.

Also, I use melatonin to control to some degree the nighttime attacks. 9 mg 30 mins before bedtime is what I do.

Are you tapering the prednisone? Be careful with that stuff.....

PF wishes.

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by AussieBrian on Jan 19^th, 2006, 5:57pm

You're not crazy and sob away to your heart's content, that what we're here for. Welcome home.

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by gus411 on Jan 19^th, 2006, 6:13pm

Does anything you do reduce a cycle?Is melatonin ok to take with the stuff i'm on.(In your best opinion of course.) And another question. How does your family members cope with you. Mine dont understand the pain.

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by marlinsfan on Jan 19^th, 2006, 6:47pm

You can take melatonin with prednisone. Depakote I don't know.

I've had CH since I was 14, and I've been living on my own since 17. For the first 3 years I basically hid it, cause I was freaked out myself about it.

My wife knows I have it, she caught me with a gun in my temple before we got married, and married me anyway!

Now, 10 years later, she knows what it is, what it does to me, how I handle it, what I like & don't like when I'm getting hit, etc. The rest of my family knows I have bad headaches, and that's it. I don't get into it with them. When I'm in cycle, I basically watch what I eat, I don't drink, and I bolt out of wherever I may be if I feel the slightest shadow coming on.

PF wishes.
Jose

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by thebbz on Jan 19^th, 2006, 8:39pm

Hey Gus,
How long have you been taking the pred? It does take a day or two to ramp up on the stuff. It is fairly effective. Lots of side effects though. Feeling crazy is not unusual. LOL Hide the sharp objects, hang on and dont forget to breathe. Your family simply needs information. Rant all you want. Start a journal of your headache. Read this site. Identify your triggers. Information is golden when fighting the beast.Lots of good people here with the goods on the CH.
jb

Title: Re: New to the site
Post by mcf69 on Jan 19^th, 2006, 10:11pm

Hi Gus,
Welcome to the board, you definitely found a bunch that can identify with you about the pain and mis-understanding. More than once I've thought that if I could just remove a chunk of my head and face I'd be ok, but then realized that wouldn't be a good idea. The prednisone is a sound, recognized treatment, but I beleive the side effects outweigh the benefits, does it seem to be working for you? Are you using any abortive treatments like triptans or oxygen? If the pred doesn't stop them I'd highly recomend looking into the O2, just follow the link on the left of the page. As for the melatonin, alot of people here have had great luck with it, I tried it and it seemed to work well for a couple weeks, then I started getting hit in the morning instead of at night. Anyway, welcome to the board, if you need anything or have any questions don't be afraid to let us know, and let us know how you're making out with your current treatment.