Haven't had them in years

old oxygen tank up in attic, quit smoking over 3 years ago, in great shape now, on and on i can go.

to wake up this morning at 3:30, and feel that slowl long hard clenching cone on, i swear i could just die.

here we go- a few months of HELL, TORTURE, and TEARS.

that is all

i am sooo upset
:'(FF :'(

I have a lovely art piece from an Iowa artist which says:

"Many people don't know that there are angels whose job is keep people from becoming too comfortable and missing their lives."

When you write back at age 80, with the same message--then, maybe, some surprise!!! <bg>

Welcome FF and so sorry CH has you in it's clutches again.

Hope you enjoy the gift I pm'd you back  ;D

PFDAN's to you!

sorry to hear that.
we are hear with you tho :)

Yeah.......just when you think they're gone for good.....ambush!!! Wishing you a short cycle.

Joe

sorry to hear it... I just found this site after nine years with this. i finally went to the doctor and got a name for this hell. i think i am going in remission, it's been four days. could be the meds though.

Welcome Foxx! What kinda meds did they put you on???

Joe

my gp put me on verapamil, prednisone, and metroprolol succinate. he put me on the metroprolol last year, and it got rid of the ch. i stopped taking it when it went away, and forgot about it, as last time it took only four days to get rid of the pain and start remission. about a year went by, and this time the torpol didn't work. so now i'm on a cocktail. I think the prednesone is the main thing that is combatting the cycle, as it tapers off the pain ramps up....but it's been a few days since a full-blown cluster, and i have been sleeping through the night... sort of. i won't go to sleep till 245a.m., because i don't want to wake up in hell, i don't know. this cycle has been the worst one yet... most of my attacks are two hours long, and i've been getting hit so frequently, and so intensly that i have all but destroyed my house, and everything i own. sumatriptan sems to work also, but my insurance will only cover two injections a week. i go to see a nuero tomorrow at 330, i hope to show her some things i've read here, as so far this site has helped me more than the meds. at least now i know i'm not the only one. i literally cried when i found this site... thank you

Oh boy, do I know that feeling!  That feeling of dread when that first ch hits, when you wake up in the middle of the night instantly knowing what that horrific, stabbing, pain is!  Knowing that it is going to be the beginning of a long few months!  When I have been in remission for a few months I always get my hopes up that they won't come back.  My family and I don't talk about the ch when I am in remission, we are scared to, we don't want to jinx my run of good luck!  I have had these headaches for 26 years!  I have had three major brain surgeries and have tried every drug on the face of the earth (or at least it feels that way)!  Right now I am in a cluster and all hope is gone again, my daughter keeps me going but quite honestly I don't know how much longer I can keep going with no sleep and working a full time day job!  I am loosing it.  My doctors don't know what to do anymore.......
Shauna

Shauna - this beast is pretty good at ripping your life to shreds isn't he?  :(

Good thing your daughter is there to try to help you through this.

Shauna, FlyIn, Foxx, I just hope that that some of the therapies people are reporting success with on this site (the "new" way of administering O2 with high LPM, non-rebreather mask for instance) will help you too. Something has to work!!!!  :o

Hang in there my friend.  Remember to not think about the next hit and enjoy your pain free time.  This disease will not kill any of us so get your weapons in order and don't let the beast get you down.  Realize we are ALL here to help and support!

I wish you pain free days real soon!

Chad

I find myself in the same boat.  I had these headaches for many years and they stopped 5 years ago.  I naively thought that meant they were gone for good.  I got one about 6 weeks ago and thought it was odd but hoped it was just random.  Then a few weeks ago I started getting regular headaches almost daily.  3 days ago the cluster headaches came on and I've had them several times in the last 3 days.  I can't believe I'm going through this again!  I've got an appointment to go see my doctor in a few days and hopefully get some help.  I used to use Imitrex injections as my only relief.  I'm hoping this time that I can use oxygen and maybe something else as a long term preventative medication too.  They never tried these things with me before.  I really thought this was over for me and I can't believe life can be so cruel to tease me for 5 years without them and to now throw me right back into them full force again.   :'(

Butterfly43 wrote on Sep 28^th, 2009 at 6:43pm:

I can't believe life can be so cruel to tease me for 5 years without them and to now throw me right back into them full force again.

Yeah well that's a glass half empty way to look at it I guess.

This could be seen as how lucky you are in a sense to have gone a longggg 5 years since the last episode. That's the way I try to look at my current episode after having been free of the beast for 7.5 years. VERY LUCKY.

OK, to consider anyone experiencing cluster headaches to be lucky is a stretch, but to put it in perspective, I'm just thinking the people who really know how cruel life can be are the chronics who never go 5 days without them, let alone 5 years.

Butterfly, what part of the world are you in? I do hope you're able to work with your MD to get oxygen. It's  helped so many, without delays and side effects. When you go see the doc, take the recent research with you. And order yourself a clustermask - or at least tape up the holes in the one you get with the tank. Good luck.

I know the feeling well, started a cycle 3 weeks ago after almost 4 years in remission. But, as  a later post says, "think of the chronics that never get 4 days let alone 4 years.