Ok I have decided to make myself known.

Myself

I am 27, married  ( with 2 furry kids of the canine and feline persuasion respectively) and I have Cluster Headaches. The name is George.

I live in Athens, Greece and since I do not know of anyone else with CH in Greece I kind of feel like I am the 'only CH man in the village' so to speak.

The Past

My story with CH started in summer 2005. I was living in London U.K, was going to start on my first job in 2 1/2 months, I had loads of times to visit museums and go sightseeing and things were looking fine. Then the CH started.

The good news was that I self diagnosed myself during the first week so I was quite sure that I do not have something life threatening (I am one of those people who see the glass half-full so I believe there are much worse things that one can have that begin with a headache).

The bad thing is my irrational fear of doctors. Consequently, I went through the next 7 weeks without any medication doing 'King Kong' impressions (when he is up the skyscraper screaming and swiping at biplanes) around the house 2-3 times a day.

Eventually I got out of cycle and life got back on track.



The waiting

Not sure when my next cycle would be I was quite worried at the begining. The cycle did not come in 3 months, or 6 and I started relaxing. When my CH 'anniversary' passed pain free I was a very happy bunny.

A second year passed, a third passed. I moved to Athens. I started hoping for an one-off but knew it would probably wouldn't be.

The present

I got a shadow or two during the winter and realised something was happening. It was a false alarm.

Finally about 15 days ago I got the first CH. Not a very strong one but it was there. Another one the next day so now I am back in cycle.

This time I did my research and made an appointment with a doctor who seems to know a lot about CH (and some published work too).


We started on Prednisolone 10 days ago and Imigran nasal spray (Sumatriptan) as a painkiller. Also I am taking Pariet (proton pump inhobitor) because of chronic stomach problems (and corticosteroids can do wonderfully nasty things to someone's stomach)

It is still early days but I seem to be getting results. If this cycle is like the previous one I should be having 2-3 attacks a day. Most days I am pain free (for the past two days for example, although I had a huge CH at night the 2 days before) and the Imigran seems to be taking quite a lot of the pain away.

I do not know how it will proceed, especially as the Prednizolone dose is now being reduced, but I am hopeful and all in all satisfied with the result. Fingers crossed I will get a similar attack pattern as the last time and will be out of it in 5 weeks or so.

For the time being I am glad I have the means (medication) to fight it and a supporting family.

I am optimistic and try not to worry about it too much. I see it as a way to improve my 'king kong' impression.

My only complaint is that due to the Prednizolone (I think) I am constantly hungry and have to be careful of what I eat (I love food  :'( ).

Also, after I take Imigran it feels like I am under the influence. I feel extremely relaxed and happy with the universe. As far as I know it shouldn't be giving me a high should it? It might just be the fact that I just got over the CH attack though and life is happy once more.



So yes! After lurking for years I am here with my pain troubled brethren.  ;) Nice to have found you guys.

The best news is that you have a good doctor!

And since you have been roaming around here for some time, we don't need to offer any material--unless you are seeking for something specific....

Talk to your doc about O2... It won't mess with your stomach and has worked for about 70% of us. A lot of us swear by it.... I'm one of them. With the high flow regulator and the right mask - I'm pretty well off the meds totally.

Welcome to Clusterville.. Check in more often. Greece is beautiful but your ocean is too cold!! :)

Hugs BD

Hi George,

Glad you decided to post but sorry to hear your back in cycle..!


Lefty...!

Back after 7 years...

...trying to keep my spirits up since I am lucky enough to  be CH free for so long. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't  ;)

Hi George, sorry you had to come here but glad you did.

Please read here as much as possible about Batch's D3 regimen.
It works for 80% of those who take it. it is a life saver.
Ask all the questions you want.

I was in Greece a few times on holidays, love it. the food yum!, the sun hot! great  :)

All the best

Thanks thierry :)

Glad you liked Greece!

Hi George,
Welcome to your new family. We've all done the King Kong thing.

On the left of the screen is a tab  "where we live".  if you look there you will find 11 people in Greece who have joined us.

If your doctor is happy to give you imigran, ask for the injections.  They work better than the spray and can kill off a big CH in 5 - 10 minutes.

Thanks maz. Imigran injections work wonders for me whenever an attack breaks through the preventative medication. Anyways the nasal spray is not available in Greece anymore (and I d rather not have to deal with the 10-15 minutes it takes to work) but injections are and I always have a kit at home (although due to the really long time between my cycles they tend to expire on me)

I've used them after they've expired by 6 months, and they till work.
I always collect a few packs when I'm not on cycle so I'm well prepared with a good supply.