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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Verapamil
        
(Message started by: Ob1kanobee on Feb 7^th, 2008, 12:45am)

Title: Verapamil
Post by Ob1kanobee on Feb 7^th, 2008, 12:45am

I'm going to go in and see my doctor. He is not a neurologist but a general practioner.
I'm episodic and I'm going to bring him information on Verapamil. Has anyone had any success with just this? I have o2, taking kudzu as well, magnesium and drinking a glass of water every hour.
I usually get hit once a day at 1:00 in the afternoon but oxygen takes care of that along with an energy drink.
I'm just tired of these darn shadows and neck aching with my eyeballs hurting. I know it is better than getting an attack though.
I'm just wondering if Verapamil could halt my symptoms all together. Maybe it is the RX that I am missing.

Being that for right now anyway I am getting hit just once, I don't want to go the Imitrex route because i don't have insurance and I don't want to risk rebounds.

By the way, I got the welder's tank brand new and took it to some shop I found in the phone book so they could adapt it for me and my Clustermask. The guy that owns the place fixes regulators all over Florida and Georgia. They had more regulators and parts laying around this place than you could imagine. He put a medical regulator on the welder's tank for me. The only thing is he could only find a brass nipple for my Clustermask hose to connect to it. He is going to get me a stainless in a few days (I'm not sure how big a deal this is)?

Anyway, I tell him my sob story about my CH and he says they usually carry oxygen for refills but they are out right now. I show him my E tank and he said he would have no problem filling it for me so I don't have to lug that big heavy welder's tank everywhere I go. Pretty good ha?

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by Gator on Feb 7^th, 2008, 3:42am

Verapamil, like every other drug, works with varying degrees of success with different people. The only way to know if it will work for you is to try it. You are going to want to be very careful about taking verapamil and kudzu at the same time. Read the threads on kudzu thoroughly. Lots of good information and personal experience in them.

Start here:
http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1110584362

Glad to hear you got the O2. Hope it works well for you. I know I would be lost without my tank.

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by Charlotte on Feb 7^th, 2008, 7:32am

I took kudzu and added verapamil twice in the past 2 years. The first time, I had a virus and a heart irregularity was discovered and verapamil was discontinued. The second time, the dosage of verapamil was upped slowly to 320 mg and is doing well.
My doc didn't want me to try the verap the 2nd time, and both doc and neuro watched me like a hawk.

The company that made the liquid kudzu (in grain alcohol) stopped making it, and the other forms and brands I have tried do not help the same way so I am no longer using kudzu.

Good luck.

Charlotte

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by sandie99 on Feb 7^th, 2008, 10:14am

Verapamil was the last med I've taken with ch - that took place back in Spring 2005.

Low dose of verap didn't help with ch, but it made my low blood pressure drop low enough to make me nearly faint on several occasions. When my neuro decided that I should try a higher dose, my BP returned normal and eventually I found remission.

These days I rely on energy drinks and caffeine tablets when I get hit or shadows arrive. It's been working better for me than doc subscribed meds; hits end quicker and I get a lot less side effects. That was my decision and I believe it was the best choice for me. :)

Sanna

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by Bob_Johnson on Feb 8^th, 2008, 8:37am

Headache. 2004 Nov;44(10):1013-8.

Individualizing treatment with verapamil for cluster headache patients.

Blau JN, Engel HO.

Background.-Verapamil is currently the best available prophylactic drug for patients experiencing cluster headaches (CHs). Published papers usually state 240 to 480 mg taken in three divided doses give good results, ranging from 50% to 80%; others mention higher doses-720, even 1200 mg per day. In clinical practice we found we needed to adapt dosage to individual's time of attacks, in particular giving higher doses before going to bed to suppress severe nocturnal episodes. A few only required 120 mg daily. We therefore evolved a scheme for steady and progressive drug increase until satisfactory control had been achieved. Objective.-To find the minimum dose of verapamil required to prevent episodic and chronic cluster headaches by supervising each individual and adjusting the dosage accordingly. Methods.-Consecutive patients with episodic or chronic CH (satisfying International Headache Society (IHS) criteria) were started on verapamil 40 mg in the morning, 80 mg early afternoon, and 80 mg before going to bed. Patients kept a diary of all attacks, recording times of onset, duration, and severity. They were advised, verbally and in writing, to add 40 mg verapamil on alternate days, depending on their attack timing: with nocturnal episodes the first increase was the evening dose and next the afternoon one; when attacks occurred on or soon after waking, we advised setting an alarm clock 2 hours before the usual waking time and then taking the medication. Patients were followed-up at weekly intervals until attacks were controlled. They were also reviewed when a cluster period had ended, and advised to continue on the same dose for a further 2 weeks before starting systematic reduction. Chronic cluster patients were reviewed as often as necessary. Results.-Seventy consecutive patients, 52 with episodic CH during cluster periods and 18 with chronic CH, were all treated with verapamil as above. Complete relief from headaches was obtained in 49 (94%) of 52 with episodic, and 10 (55%) of 18 with chronic CH; the majority needed 200 to 480 mg, but 9 in the episodic, and 3 in the chronic group, needed 520 to 960 mg for control. Ten, 2 in the episodic and 8 in the chronic group, with incomplete relief, required additional therapy-lithium, sumatriptan, or sodium valproate. One patient withdrew because verapamil made her too tired, another developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and the drug was withdrawn. Conclusions.-Providing the dosage for each individual is adequate, preventing CH with verapamil is highly effective, taken three (occasionally with higher doses, four) times a day. In the majority (94%) with episodic CH steady dose increase under supervision, totally suppressed attacks. However in the chronic variety only 55% were completely relieved, 69% men, but only 20% women. In both groups, for those with partial attack suppression, additional prophylactic drugs or acute treatment was necessary. (Headache 2004;44:1013-1018).

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by PollyPocket on Feb 8^th, 2008, 6:21pm

I did the verap w/out kudzu, so I can only speak from that experience. I did have moderate to good results with it, I think my dosage was ramped up to 240 at its highest.

It took a good couple of weeks to get working, and I had a pred taper one year with it, and then another year had Frova as abortive (I refused the pred). Verap did lower the intensity of the hits and shortened the cycle for me. Side effects were: I was cold ALL THE TIME, and got dizzy very easily. You learn to stand up or move slowly.

Good luck!

Jen

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by Lebowski on Feb 8^th, 2008, 8:04pm

I am on a low dose of Verapamil during my season and it works very well for me. If I feel one coming on for sure I take a 5mg Zomig. Stops them right in there tracks.

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by Miz_D on Feb 12^th, 2008, 4:55pm

I take 1080 mg verapamil daily (360 mg 3x per day)and that seems to work for me...anything under that doesn't do a damn thing.

Title: Re: Verapamil
Post by otakuhouse on Feb 12^th, 2008, 5:42pm

I've used Verapamil twice for clusters. I have healthy BP, am only 32, bicycle regularly and am like 5 pounds over my ideal body weight.

Once I was off a pred taper my headache frequency and intensity skyrocketed. So it doesn't work for me like it does for some.

On this current cycle once i started taking 120 mg's daily (2 60mg doses) it was enough to help that right now I get one heavy shadow a day and other than that I'm fine.

The verapamil makes me feel awful, low energy, can't do anything physical, but i am so appreciating the ability to sleep without getting woken up.

My last cycle 3 years ago same thing but i was on 240 a day. Made me feel horrible. Wrote in my diary that I did not like being on it and i had chest pains.

On this cycle i've noticed though the chest pains seem more to do with indigestion... A huge burp actually helps oddly enough.

I prefer it, too, to daily imitrex, which i think has a horrible emotional after effect and a friend who takes it for migraines agrees. After heavy doses of Imitrex I start to get a very depressed feeling.

Everyone's different and responds to different meds. If it's safe for you to try as recommended by your doctor, then it's worth investigating.

Given new research from this last summer though as my neurologist recommends now an EKG every now and again is a good idea. Verapamil is not ideal given that it's not specifically for these headaches.