My appointment was 1:00pm so he was coming back from lunch. He just happened to be walking by as I was putting on the O2pti oxygen mask, gave one of those, what the heck looks, and continued in to the office. The hit reached K-7.

Luckily and with a lot of help from my 25lpm O2 regulator and the Godsend of an O2 mask I aborted in time to make the appt. and was partly angry and part joking during it. My blood pressure was high because of the hit. 137/90
nrml. 110/70.

I have mixed feelings about this experience. I told him I was sorry he had to see that, and he said that's alright. I think it caught him off guard. He is a great Dr. and I wouldn't trade him. The rest of the appt. was good, covered what was needed.

Just wanted to see if anyone else has a like experience.                        Best,  Don

I had one once in my nuero's waiting room.

It got me in to my appointment early and finally convinced him to rx the O2. Prior to actually witnessing a hit, he was denying the possibility that i was suffering from CH. "It's gotta be something else, you're not male. Women don't get CH"

As much as it was embarrassing to have a hit in public and scaring the receptionist and other patients, i am glad it happened since it finally got me the right DX and the right meds to help.

Yep.  Even though it was emarrassing as hell...it was the best thing that could have happened to me.  


I'd gone to see him for something other than CH and while I was in the room waiting for him ...I start to get hit.  By the time he came in...I was pealing his wallpaper off the walls.   He stood in the door-way just starting at me for what seemd like hours, and then he told his nurse to get me a shot.

That man has been my savior ever since then and I do believe BECAUSE of actually seeing me in the throes of a CH.


Linda

I've had my neurologist, GP, and hematologist witness me during hits. All at different times.

The neurologist heard me screaming down the hall, and came to see what was going on after 3 nurses came to see. After he saw I was in a hit he understood why I was screaming. He tried to touch me as little as possible, but I knew he had to some with it being a neurological exam... so I was prepared for it.

The GP had seen this before in several of his patients. So he wasn't too shocked. My hematologist was probably the only one who was shocked about it.

I don't get embarassed anymore when I have one in public, at a doctor's office or no... I think about it in the same way I think of other illnesses. If a person is having a seizure, they don't need to be embarassed of losing control of their bodily functions... So why should we be embarassed at how we deal with our clusters? It's not something we can honestly control.

Mystina

I think it's good for them to SEE it. Gives them an idea of "how" bad they are. I had one the FIRST time I saw my neuro. He's never "doubted" that I suffer from CH.

Had one in my GP's office one day. Had hold of his lab coat hitting my head on his chest. No one  could pry me loose. When it was over he backed up against the wall and just slid down on the floor and said, "My God, I didn't realize it was THAT bad!" Just the word "headache" put him at attention (and his whole office) after that day.

I hate to see anyone get hit, but sometimes, "Show and Tell" works better than just "tell"....

Hugs BD

I call those that I have in doctors' offices, or at the hospital, my impromptu "training sessions".

I HATE getting hit in front of witnesses, but I get hit so often, it has happen many times.  I have forced myself to just look at it as another training opportunity.  They sure take a different look at clusters, once they have seen one!

Chuck

Thank you so much folks. I needed the support here. Even after 20 years I tend to get embarassed to have someone see me get hit, even my wife. Silly I guess but true. I will go hide when ever possible.

My original Dx'ing Neuro did see me have a full blown attack in his office that lasted 2 hrs. They had to get me out of the exam room and put me in a storage room for most of it. I don't know why but I was not offered any treatment at that time. I was a new patient on my 2nd appt. 1989.

We've come a long way and we all have gone through a lot. And now I have you great people to fill in what couldn't be filled before.

Thank You All Sincerely, Don

thought i was the only one who felt like a turd in the punchbowl? lol! Yeah i still try to hide every time. People freak out when they see something like that. They just can't comprehend the pain.You don't know how many times my ch's have been compaired to the pain of kidney stones. While kidney stones are painful, they are a walk in the park to these things.

Got ya beat there Don, I've been hit at all my docs, dentist, and so on.  Part of life as a cluster head I guess... I just hate the look of fear you get from people. They act like they want to run, then realize the doe in the headlights posture is the best way to go... FTA!!!

Rolo. ;)

Never got hit at my docs or neuro's office, but that's because my hits come at night (as long as I don't screw with my preventative, which last cycle was Kudzu).  I did get hit in Walmart once, lower on the kip scale, but painful nonetheless.  I held my composure as best I could until just before I paid for my things.  The guy cashiering asked me "Are you ok?", and I uttered "In about 20 more minutes", and then grabbed my crap and hightailed it out of there.  Ran to my car, and then broke down crying, rocking and moaning until it left.

Needless to say, I steer clear of stores in the evening if I'm in cycle, lol.  But I do wholeheartedly agree that if I could get hit and my docs see it, I'd feel like I've helped to educate them all the more on my condition.

:)mel

I've never been hit in front of a doctor.  I'm a "hider" as well, and really hate for other people to see it.  

Once they do, though, I don't think there's much doubt in the person's mind--unless they're a complete blockhead.  A CH attack is a pretty distressing thing to see.

Best,

George

I actually got hit really badly a couple miles from my neuro (at the time) office. I was floating around Kip7 or above and made it to the parking lot and went inside asking for help. Told the girl at reception that I was having a cluster headache and did not have anything to treat it with, and asked if they could they help me.

"What kind of insurance do you have?"

I responded "Blue Cross" and she said, I'm sorry.

I said I'll pay cash, check, credit card, I don't care.

"I'm sorry" was the last thing I listened to. And spent the next 15 minutes with my face against my Ford air conditioner vent crying.

Having a K9 in my Neuro's office did change how they responded to me from that point on. Prior to that, their performance was lackluster at best.

It wasn’t long before the Doc would say things like: “You’ve been at this long enough to know. What do you want to try next?”

Very interesting topic.  I don't get the high Kip clusters that often other than the peak of my cycle, however I did get one low kip at the GP before while waiting for the 3 month long neuro visit.  Yeah, it takes that long to get an appointment.  I needed to come in for the Imitrex refill.  I guess after so many refills, they want you to come in for evaluation.  My GP was the first one to fiqure it (CH) out before she sent me to a neuro some years ago.  She saw the dripping and redness in my right eye and saw my ear swelling with her scope.  Fortunately it was a low level hit, almost a strong shadow that I didn't have a scene at the office, but was in pain.  I can control my pain well even while at work, however without Trex at work, I usually go out to my car to duke it out with the beast.  I just started my rc seed treatment 1 month before my next expected cycle (Jan.-Feb.) so i'm crossing my fingers.  

I'm kind of pissed at my neuro though because when i said about talking to folks on this site, he said you got to "watch out" for those chat rooms and what they say.  I literally told him about shrooms years ago and how my cycle suddenly stopped after the trip and he just rolled his eyes at me since he is a pharmacuetical nut.  More money in his pocket.  I think it pisses him off to know that natural things can actually prevent or abort clusters.  Yeah well, this site is better than my neuro.  I've found another neuro locally that is listed on the OUCH site.  I may visit him next if he is within my insurance network.

Back to the original subject, I think it's good for doctors to see what we go through so they can know the intensity of our pain.

I hope you all have PF days during this holiday season.

Seaons Greetings to all!!!

Chad

I got hit this morning by one of the worst ones yet in my relatively short CH life, and it happened to be the morning I had an appointment with my GP. When I got to the GP I still had the CH, getting there was horrendous. My GP is also a CH sufferer so he understood the pain, and he offered my his oxygen. That was the first time I used oxygen and the pain almost went away in about 10 inhales. I stopped the flow then because I felt guilty using his oxygen. But yeah, it worked and now I'm only mildly in pain. He subscribed me some injections and some steroids tablets, which I'll be picking up soon. He also ordered me some oxygen tank and a mask, which is apparently free he said, so I'm really pleased.

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you all have a good one.

A doc with CH?  Wow, Kuno, you are the luckiest SOB on the planet!!  :D