All this Andy H chatter got me going.... I am in 4th week of 1st time ch's.  Last night i grabbed a frozen piece of salmon to ice down my head after getting a ch., was amused that the cold was like hurting yourself elsewhere to take your mind of the actual pain... counterpain?

Anyway, i ate the salmon so nothing in the freezer, not even frozen peas so I grabbed a cold diet pepsi to rub on my temples tonight.... thought about the Andy Story and so I chugged the fucking soda out of pure frustration.

Within 5 minutes the pain was aborted at least 60% so I went out at 2am and had a cigarette since i figured to be awake for a while.... still up so i'm chatting here.... now pain free from last attack.

Did the diet pepsi work?   I dunno but I'm gonna feed the beast another one tomorrow night.... I think everybody here is great... i didn't want to take the damn fioricet anyway although I did 3 hours before the attack, maybe the diet pepsi was just icing on the cake... either way... a temp crutch for me until I can get some uniformed clinic to give me o2.

Love to all and PFNAD's     (i have been so depressed knowing what I know about the beast now but after tonight, i feel like i have been given at least a tool or weapon to throw at the fucking bastard when he wakes me up....  ) i'm a little cranky now being awake but at least it don't hurt like the icepick man cometh!

PS> the caffein has me going now...  i need a project at 242am and tv is a bore!  thanks again to all for this site...  

Pleasantly revived......... One Blue Dog!   :o

corrections: i mean UNINFORMED clinic and by habit, i am a diet coke drinker, it's just that the diet pepsi was on sale, three 12 packs for 9.00....    and i ate the salmon cooked for dinner earlier... not frozen after my attack.............   just wanted to set story back on track...  man am I bored!  :D

BlueDog wrote on Nov 16^th, 2008 at 6:05am:

corrections: i mean UNINFORMED clinic and by habit, i am a diet coke drinker, it's just that the diet pepsi was on sale, three 12 packs for 9.00....    and i ate the salmon cooked for dinner earlier... not frozen after my attack.............   just wanted to set story back on track...  man am I bored!  :D

Ya had me worried there for a minute.  All I could see was a vision of this pain ravaged guy standing in his kitchen alternately chowing down on frozen salmon and holding the remnants to his head chasing the whole mess down with a cole Pepsi  ;D

Rant away Blue Dog.  That's what this place is for.

-Dennis-

Did have me laughing at the idea you were eating frozen salmon, though I was sure that's not what you meant.   ;D

Expect it was the caffeine in the drink that helped abort.  Do look into the energy drinks - in combo with the taurine may work even more effectively then!

Laurie

BlueDog wrote on Nov 16^th, 2008 at 5:42am:

was amused that the cold was like hurting yourself elsewhere to take your mind of the actual pain... counterpain?

I had a good chuckle over this.  I used ice packs during the hot weather, thinking the cold may shrink the veins.  But in reality, I think it is the "counterpain" or just something soothing on a hot day LOL.

I however think a very cold glass of water has helped me a bit.  It can be lemonade, iced tea, or anything (I don't like carbonated drinks).  I'm not sure if it's the numbing effect by a cold drink, but I filled a plastic cup with ice cubes and let it live in the freezer, plus bottled water in the fridge.  

I thought, if my theory is correct about "numbing some nerves", maybe ice cream may work!  Instead of chilling my tummy in a hurry with ice cold water, maybe eating ice cream helps like cold water does!  Well, it gave me something to do, at least.  I don't do sweets, so it was work for me.  And the pain from ice cream is another counterpain LOL.  Cold treatment didn't help THAT much, but I thought it was better than nothing on a hot day.

I think I'll cook salmon for dinner tonight.

MrsT wrote on Nov 19^th, 2008 at 9:57pm:

BlueDog wrote on Nov 16th, 2008 at 5:42am: was amused that the cold was like hurting yourself elsewhere to take your mind of the actual pain... counterpain? I had a good chuckle over this.  I used ice packs during the hot weather, thinking the cold may shrink the veins.  But in reality, I think it is the "counterpain" or just something soothing on a hot day LOL. I however think a very cold glass of water has helped me a bit.  It can be lemonade, iced tea, or anything (I don't like carbonated drinks).  I'm not sure if it's the numbing effect by a cold drink, but I filled a plastic cup with ice cubes and let it live in the freezer, plus bottled water in the fridge.   I thought, if my theory is correct about "numbing some nerves", maybe ice cream may work!  Instead of chilling my tummy in a hurry with ice cold water, maybe eating ice cream helps like cold water does!  Well, it gave me something to do, at least.  I don't do sweets, so it was work for me.  And the pain from ice cream is another counterpain LOL.  Cold treatment didn't help THAT much, but I thought it was better than nothing on a hot day. I think I'll cook salmon for dinner tonight.

I tried the whole giving myself an ice cream headache several times... In hopes maybe it'd counter-act things. I found out, I only felt it in my GOOD eye... The cluster cancelled out the ice cream headache in my left eye. LOL.

I don'tlike the tase of Red Bull, but Loca Moca Coffee Energy Drink is really good.
On smoking, doesn't that dialate the blood vessels? I thought I remembered the people at the blood center saying not to smoke after giving blood (I don't smoke, anyway). I just checked with my hubby (a nurse) and he confirmed that smoking dialates the blood vessels. That means if you take an abortative medication to constrict the vessels to stop the CH and smoke a couple of cigarettes, why bother taking the medication?

webgopher wrote on Dec 6^th, 2008 at 12:40pm:

On smoking, doesn't that dialate the blood vessels? I thought I remembered the people at the blood center saying not to smoke after giving blood (I don't smoke, anyway). I just checked with my hubby (a nurse) and he confirmed that smoking dialates the blood vessels. That means if you take an abortative medication to constrict the vessels to stop the CH and smoke a couple of cigarettes, why bother taking the medication?

I am a smoking, and I do smoke one (1) cigi after a CH episode, never know that smoking dose dilates the blood vessels.... will look into it closer, but tks. for the hint! ……   one more reason for to stop this nasty habit. I will stop the habit of smoking after a CH episode in any case; will do better any way…… with out the cigi.

Michael

I think Ueli explained this a while back.  As I recall, the CO in cig smoke binds with the red blood cells, preventing them from carrying O2.  Since the brain is being robbed of O2 it calls for more blood flow, thus dilating the vessels.

I don't know,
but in dialing in this current episode of mine, Ive gotten a handle on the night time attacks by 2 quarter pills of Zomig 5 mg before bedtime, but for the last week, I've had a 4 and 7 PM headache each day like clockwork. I figured the Pepsi  experiment downside, at three 12 packs for 12 bucks was minimal, and it did work for Andy, so what the hell. Sunava gun, three days, 6 clusters, knock on wood, the Pepsi has knocked down all 6 headaches, no pills or O2. Last night, just for grins, I halved my Zomig, only one quarter pill, and washed it down with a can. Awesome night's sleep, no headache in the morning at 5:30, as I had been having with the Zomig alone.
OK, this does sound like BS, and I'm just waiting for it to stop helping, been there, done that, but is there any possibility it might work for some of us?
Hell of an experiment, anyone else out there drinking the stuff?
In trying to make sense out of it, as thought there is any sense in CH's, I note a regular Pepsi has 38 mgs of caffeine, along with phosphoric and citric acid. I wonder what the "natural" flavors are, but note the delivery system dilutes it, and is laced with CO2, which has been mentioned pro and con wrt CH.
I dunno, maybe time to stop typing and start drinking?
Last, I believe nicotine stays in the bloodstream approx 72 hours, whatever is constricted, stays constricted about 24 hours after the last cigarette, so one more ciggywould have a minimal effect. At least that's what I tell my self lighting up after the headache.

Drink up,

Chris

DP never helped me, maybe b/c I was a big soda drinker already, but those new giant cans of monster energy drink (with like 6000mg taurine in the whole 3-serving resealable can) reduces the chronic redness in my right eye for about 12 hours and seems to help hits a bit.

BTW, I'm doing regular Pepsi, hard core, the real thing.
No idea if that will make a difference, sugar vs whatever they use in DP.
Going to grab a bunch of Red Bulls in the morning, too much chatter on them not to try them.