omg it's been 8 years since my last episode and i'm starting to freak out everything is so different now i have a new job and a 2 year old daughter and neither of them understand what is happening to me. right now it's the beginning stage i'm just getting 1 or 2 here and there but thats how it starts for me and bam it up to 6 a day and to make matters worse i have no health insurance so i guess i just gotta tough them out (holy shit thats a scary thought). well i guess i'm wondering if there has been any break throughs in the last 8 years? anyone have any tips even though it probably wont work for me. i would kill myself but i'm afraid they would follow me in death!

Hey Paul welcome to the board. No earth shattering break thru's I'm afraid but we've done a lot to improve the delivery systems on the oxygen. As a result we're seeing a phenomenal success rate with it as an abortive. Read the link on the left, "oxygen info" as it must be used correctly to be effective. My insurance wouldn't cover it for years so I paid out of pocket for it, it's pretty cheap. Tanks rent for about $3-$4 a month, around $12-$15 bucks per refill. I can halt an attack in less then 10 minutes. Beats the old days of 90 minute rides. ;)

If all else fails there are peope here who will show you how to rig up welding oxygen...it's exactly the same stuff they put in medical bottles, come from the same big tanks...and is cheaper then medical.

Sorry the beast came calling again, has a nasty habit of never losing your address. By the way, have you ever had any luck with preventative medicaitons?

Joe

thanks for the reply. the only preventitive medication that worked for me was Prednisone but you could only take it for so long and when that was done the demon came back 100 times worse i will never forget that pain for as long as i live he was pissed lol.....i tried oxygen as well but that worked for one episode and never worked again although i never had any input from my doctor other than how to turn the tank on

Then definitely read the link on the left. Many who it didn't work for in the past, find it works very well when they changed HOW they used it.

Yeah pred is the same for me, 100% relief for the short time I'm on it, but the beast makes you pay 10X over the short pain free time. Fortunately for me lithium has proven a great prevent so I just use the pred for the 10 or so days it takes the lithium to kick in.

For now try slamming an energy drink down at the first hint of an attack. Monster, Rock Star, any containing the combo of caffeine and taurine. Many can abort or at least reduce an attack by gulping one down at the first sign of an attack.

Joe

thank you so much for the advice i really appreciate it i'm gonna try that energy drink thing since i have no health insurance that seems the cheapest way to go for now and thanks for taking the time to help me out i've always just been able to run to the doctor and get some imitrex injections and stadol (nasal spray) thanks again

another question i have is my headaches seem to be starting in my back, right side of my spine (which happens to be the same side of the pain) in between my shoulder blades. this has never been the case before. it quickly moves to my neck though and takes off from there just wondering if this happens to anyone else

Hi Paul - my headaches actually started out with pain in my right shoulder blade before I even had the first headache.  Now when I'm having one my shoulder blade is what gets whacked into the wall first!

I'm a base of the neck starter but what you're describing isn't that unusual either. I get that "bump" at the base of my neck that hurts when I rub it but at the same time it seems to help with the CH pain.

Joe

this back thing is new i never had it before this cycle. i was the same way it always started in my neck or i would start to feel it in my temple first. the one i got today was like a 2 or 3 on that kip scale for like an hour,then it started getting a little worse so i asked my girlfriend to rub that spot on my back within like 1 sec of her doing it the pain jumped to like a 7. the thing that drives me crazy is every cycle is different for me the meds that worked last time don't usually work for the next cycle even how i respond to some one trying to help is different whether its a message or a cold towel so every cycle is guessing game for me, am i the only one this happens to?

Wow, I am having the shoulder blade pain, and very painful neck also!  The o2 helps the h/a fairly quickly.  Hang in, lots of support here, keep checking in!

Thank you!