I have had cluster headaches for the last 30 years (I'm 61), although for the last 4-5 years have been headache free, thank God. I have recently been diaganosed with High Blood Pressure and the doc wants to put me on HBP pills. Question is what class of pills would be best for someone who has cluster headaches? Ace inhibitors, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, or angiotension pills....or anything elae?

I know some of these medications dilate the blood vessels....probably not good for clusters. Any help/personal experiences you can give would be much appreciated.

Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker.  I have high blood pressure and switch my meds up when my cycle starts.

Out of cycle: low doses of verapamil sustained release, hydroclorothiazide and lisinopril.

In cycle: 400mg of regular release verapamil 120mg/120mg/160mg.

-Dennis-

I take Lisinopril and Verapamil,  To start you could try just Verapamil but it only lowers htn slightly.
  Phil

Ask your doc, or the doc who diagnosed you. They will know.

We can only relate what we take, but we cannot recommend a med for you. Talk to your doc. What did he say he wanted to put you on?

Pete,

By HBP I'm assuming statins...  cholesterol lowering medications like Levacor, Zocor, Pravachol, Lipitor, Crestor, and more.  They work but carry potential side effects you may find offensive, not to mention you'll likely need to remain on them for the rest of your life.  

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Have you discussed dietary/life style changes as a first step with your doctor?  

As a participant in a new treatment for an eye condition at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), I was on a protocol for my eyes that included sirolimus (rapamycin)...  an immunosuppressant with know side effects of elevated cholesterol and triglycerides...  Sirolimus has some other rather nasty side effects, but keeping my eyes from falling out for the short time I was going to be taking it at relatively low doses was a reasonable trade off.

As a first step, the team of doctors treating me were more than happy to let me try a diet high in oat bran, up to 3600 mg of Omega-3 fish oil, Cholestoff - a plant steroid, and more exercise.  They were also concerned about the side effects from taking a statin given they knew what was elevating my lipids and BP, and that this was temporary due to the sirolimus...

Long story made short, tests at the end of the first and second week indicated this regimen was working, and by the end of the first month, my total cholesterol had dropped from over 265 back down below 165, and my triglycerides came back down into the safe range...  My BP also dropped back to 120/65 from well over 165/85.

It's worth asking your doctor...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

purpleydog wrote on Nov 4^th, 2008 at 1:09am:

Ask your doc, or the doc who diagnosed you. They will know. We can only relate what we take, but we cannot recommend a med for you. Talk to your doc. What did he say he wanted to put you on?

GREAT Answer!!!! :)

AT 62, a new age, good-bedside-manner (friendly, helpful) MD put me on diltiazem for CH. He says his "hobby" is the headache (Erich Pessl, Montana) and apparently he found that this heart and stress medication has a crossover help for CH. But, since thru lifestye and diet, I have always kept my blood pressure on the low side, it seemed to get me sick as the proverbial dog  --and I simply pulled away from the stuff while on a bed of pain. The same thing happened when a friend gave me a sandwich bag full of the ibuprofen she buys by the shitload. When I was at a lecture on aging recently, when the doctor asked for a show of hands as to who DOESN'T use pharmaceuticals, I was the only one who raised my hand...........LOVE, Rhodiola Rodat (Rodat is my mother's maiden name, if you must know, and Rhodiola, a root, SEEMS to work for my clusters.)

danielpeterson wrote on Nov 12^th, 2008 at 10:31am:

who raised my hand...........LOVE, Rhodiola Rodat (Rodat is my mother's maiden name, if you must know, and Rhodiola, a root, SEEMS to work for my clusters.)

Huh?   :-?

IF by HUH you mean what do you mean, I was just playing with words, with meanings, with beliefs in meanings. MANY end their letters by signing Yours Truly, What's-his-face. I signed my letter with another name (My honest-to-goodness name is Daniel R Peterson) that has both my mother's last name, Rodat, and and the herb that I have fallen in love with, cute Rhodiola. And, if you haven't noticed, more than caffeine, more than kudzu, the natural substance that seems to work for canceling out CH for me is a relative of ginseng, an alpine root called rhodiola. (I also think that Dr John Sarno is onto something about the psychological side of pain.)

okay