Good morning from a 43yr old Scotsman living in Wales, who spent most of his adult life in England.  God, My accent has a severe identity crisis.

Diagnosed 5 weeks ago with CH after 2 weeks of full blown attacks,
approximately 9 per day / night.  I looked like a boxer as I hit myself black and blue.

I'm currently on 480mg Verapamil, 200mg Carbamazepine and
1000 Mg Naproxen daily.

No low blood pressure problems as I had high BP anyway.  The meds have fixed this for the moment. ( at least 1 good thing out of all this ).

Sumitriptan injections currently on standby.  1 pack at home, 1 pack in the car and 1 pack at work.

No CH attacks since starting the meds, however constant shadows, some worse than others.

Thankfully, medical prescriptions are free in Wales at the moment.

Off for an MRI and a drug re-evaluation soon.

Anyway, enough blathering, jast wanted to say, nice to meet everyone.

Suggest you make contact with your excellent suport group:  START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

A bit concerned about using Naproxen for cluster. Pain meds not effective and with prolonged use you have the real potential for creating rebound headaches. But get started learning about your new "friend" and let us continue the conversation after you've read:


 
Cluster headache.
From: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]
=========

Here are the most widely used meds. This will give you a tool to discuss options with your doctor.

HERE ARE TWO MAJOR DOCUMENTS WITH RECOMMENDED TREATMENTS FOR CLUSTER HEADACHE, ONE FROM A U.S. PHYSICIAN, THE SECOND FROM EUROPE.
_________________________________________
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Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002. Rozen)
================
Treatment guidelines from Europe

------
A. May, M. Leone, J. Áfra, M. Linde, P. S. Sándor, S. Evers, P. J. Goadsby:
EFNS guidelines on the treatment of cluster headache and other
trigeminalautonomic cephalalgias.
European Journal of Neurology. 2006; 13: 1066–1077.

Download free full text:
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
(Thanks to "cluster" for link.)

Welcome to the family Derek!  I'm so sorry to hear we're related but I'm awfully glad you found us.

Listen to Bob.  Read everything and learn.  Education is your best weapon in this battle.  Then let us know what other questions you still have.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

-Dennis-

Pleased to meet you Derek, glad you found us. Sounds like you have a fairly effective regimen going, all I'd suggest is to read the oxygen link on the left. It's been enjoying tremendous success so certainly worth a shot! Wishing you a short cycle and a long remission!

Joe

Hi Derek.welcome. If it does not say on your prescription for Naproxen "Take with Food" do so.

That stuff can rot your guts. It sure did to mine.

All the best

Iddy ,  

Thanks for the warm welcome.

I'm a bit concerned about the naproxen gut rot issue as I already take medication daily for Gastro Oesophageal Reflux ( GERD ), ( I can never spell that right  :) ).

Fortunately I only take 1 Nexium per day for this.

The Naproxen I only use when I need them.  Mostly when my teeth start to "jangle" during shadows. They also help when my neck stiffens up also.

Hi Derek and welcome to the site. Where in Wales are you?

If you want advice on anything - how to get O2 etc. Do as Bob suggested and get in touch with OUCH(UK), the helpline number is below. Leave your number (preferably a landline number) and somebody will get back to you.

Rod

Hi Dyno,

I'm in Wick, half way between Bridgend and Cardiff.

I'll give O.U.C.H a call.

Many Thanks

Hi welcome fairly new here myself and still learning, lots to read and a great bunch of people here.


Quote:

Good morning from a 43yr old Scotsman living in Wales, who spent most of his adult life in England.  God, My accent has a severe identity crisis.

jesus you do have problems, all that and CH as well  ;) i live in germany and when i go home to blighty i find ive not only lost my Liverpool accent i have allso forgotten some english words and start answering people in german  :-[

wishing you lots of pf days

mark (a brit in germany)

My God, As Mark said you do have problems...! The last thing you need is for an Irish man to get involved and really screw up your accent..

Welcome to the board and really glad you found us....! ;)



Lefty...!

Strangely enough, a few years ago I was offered a job in Cork.

Thank god I turned it down. :)