I thought some might be interested how I fared with the thyroid surgery on April 30th. ;)

Well, the surgery went without problems. (Although they took both sides, not only 3/4, so I'll take thyroid hormone pills for the next 50 years.) After 2 days I was already smoking and coughing again, but the coughing (and swallowing) did hurt some for a few days.

But much worse it went for my beard. An overzealous anesthetist did mutilate it badly. :(

But some complications came later. Adjacent the thyroid is the organ that regulates the Calcium level in the blood. This got pissed off by the disturbance nearby and shut down. As a result on day 3 my blood Calcium had dropped from a normal level of 2 (of some units) to 0.9. Such a low level makes a guy very apathetic and sleepy. So, instead of going home I had to do 3 days overtime while they tried to get my Calcium back into whack.

When I finally got home after 5 days Jupi was so elated that he almost wanted to eat me up. Although he was fed by a neighbor, he missed the cuddling. BTW, he turned 14 last week.

Waiting for my Ca level to regulate itself again I had to boost it with big chunks of chalk. That was quite a drag; why in hell do they have to "improve" something tasteless with artificial aroma and sweeteners??? I can assure you, coffee with a smack of lemon isn't what you want for breakfast.

All seemed to go well. On May 13th the Ca level had reached 2.4 units, so I could reduce the Ca supplements. But not enough as seen in hindsight. :(

On the evening of the 21st I got a real mother-fucker of a CH attack, something I hadn't experienced since I know about preventative and better "abortive" than Aspirin. In the last 10 years I sucked a few times a week oxygen at a leisurely rate of 6-8 liter/minute, while playing some computer game, and in 5 to 10 minutes all was gone, never exceeding a Kip #2. But this time I had to remember what I've read about high flow rates and hyperventilating. But still, the intensity kept slowly increasing for more than half an hour. Zero level was only reached after 2 hours. After a calm hour the beast surfaced again. Needless to say during the night a wake-up call every 90 minutes, but these where dealt with in 15 min.

The same scenario the following days. :(  I emptied four 4000 liter oxygen tanks in the following 10 days.

The slow and long ramp-ups suggested a continuous trigger. I suspected too high Calcium, notably because after the 3rd of 6 daily Ca tablets shadows were appearing. Therefore, I cut back to 4 tablets a day, giving a slight improvement.

On the 30th the Ca level was 2.6, so the doctor told me to stop the supplements. In the last 2 days the cluster activity is almost back to (my) normal routine.

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Has anybody any experience / knowledge / explanations about blood Ca level and cluster activity ?


Thanks to those reading down to here ;)



                 [smiley=smokin.gif]

Welcome home Ueli.

Hope you are better day by day.

Will you be posting a picture of your shorn baby face?

Be well

E

Well I am glad that your calcium level has finally gotten back where it should be but this is the first time I have ever heard of low calcium affecting clusterheadaches but it has to be related.

I can't imagine it being a coincident.

Anyway, I am glad that you are back to normal and that you finally read your pm's. ;)

Glad everything is getting back to semi-normal now for you Ueli.  I am sorry about experiencing the back to backs, they are a very cruel night companion. :(

Don't know about Ca levels & CH's, but just wanted to say I'm glad that you are OK and I'm happy to see you post. :)

love,
:-*me

Hope your calcium levels can stay self-regulated.  Glad to see an end to the 90 minute wake up calls.  Had that oxygen chain-sucking, slow building, long lasting, tough acquaintance myself at times when 6-8Lpm are usually just fine.  Great news finding a way out stopping the supplements.  

Can't say more than Jupi has about you being through this and back.  From one ear lobe and down around the collar bone to the other to raise the skin, one long scar.  Take the thyroid meds another 50 years now and you'll get that beard back just the way it was.    ;)

:)

Glad to hear you got through the surgery OK.

Sounded to me that it was a high calcium level that might have caused the trouble, although, I've heard quite a few stories over the years about surgeries and the use of anesthetics causing a great deal of new cluster activity. In this case though, the time line seems to point more to the calcium levels as you suggested.

I hadn't heard of that connection before.

One interesting point could be this.......many people find that increasing magnesium helps, as I'm sure you know. One of the side effects of adding Magnesium is that it will decrease the calcium levels in your system. We always tell people to add calcium if you add magnesium. Maybe we shouldn't? Maybe its the action of decreasing the calcium that makes adding magnesium work??

Makes a body go hmmmmm.

Interesting....and i agree...we should see pictures of the new beard ;-)

Bob

Well given that I have chronic problems with absorbing calcium I can definitely agree with you Ueli.

When my calcium is low, hits disappear and start to reappear as it increases. Therefore I have my own "barometer", if my head is acting up my CA is nearer an okay level whereas if the hits cease I know it's time to go for a quick blood test!

I'm actually taking effervescent disolvable calcium 5 times a day (disgusting) along with calcium chewable tablets a further four times a day.
Actually I do tend to take more than that sometimes as I've found they are the BEST thing for heartburn LOL I have a hiatus hernia from the constant vomiting of the last couple of years so at times the calcium pills are a godsend.

Glad to hear you and Jupi are both happier now though!

So glad you are out of the hospital and recovering Ueli!!

I'm glad Jupi welcomed you home, there's nothing like cuddling up to someone you love :)

I can't speak to the calcium thing, as I don't know any science related to it (obviously), but I hope that your head gets back on track to "normal" soon.

That anesthesiologist has some nerve, but now curiosity is also getting the better of me!

Pepp  8-)

It's good to hear that you're better after all you've gone through.  When do you get a break Ueli? I don't remember who said it but it's true that it's one big battle to stay afloat in this world.

I can't speak to your CA problem, as in some things, I've been fortunate.....very much so in relation to CH so far.

Now if only your hits would have permanently disappeared after all this.......

Hold on, Ueli.

Charlie

Glad to read your report, Ueli......been wondering how you made out.

Sorry about the beard though.  

Jupi is 14!!  Wow.....I'm surprised he didn't claw you fro leaving him alone that long.

Stay well....
Jackie