Has anyone ever experienced the flu seeming to stop a cycle?  The strangest thing happened.  On Saturday I was at the peak of my cycle (4 wks out of a usual 7) and getting 4/5 a day most very strong (9).  Sunday I came down with the flu and the CHs stopped.  The first night it was like I could feel it starting, but my foggy brain couldn't really register the pain.  I am getting the occasional shadow, but nothing on regular schedule or with any real pain.  I seem to be on the mend so I will see what happens, but it just seems weird.

I was also hoping to get some suggestions for preventatives.  I am currently taking topomax and it stops my usual spring/march cycle but has had very little if any effect for the fall/september cycle.  I have previously tried depakote and lithium with serious/rare side effects.  My nuero dismissed another medication (possibly veramil) due to my normally low blood pressure.  Any suggestions?

Gee Willikers I'm gonna run out and get me some flu then!!

Actually I just started feeling pretty flu like about an hour ago and went and doused myself with all my strongest flu fighting remedies. This flu feeling could just be a drug side effect though of course.

Maybe I won't be so concerned about contracting a bit of the shweet influenza if it's a trade for HC!  :)

So Kim, 2 preventative ideas I'd have would be;

1) Rivea Corymbosa Seeds ("RC"). Discussed some here on this site and focused on over at clusterbusters.com.

2) Neurontin. Currently works better than any other preventatives for me and the same for some other CH folk. Then there are the others it doesn't work for at all. Side effect for me: A lil' bit stoned at first. Subsides after awhile. You were a heavyweight stoner in high school so this is nothing, you can handle it easy. Oh wait a minute, that was me.  :P

Actually, I've seen a number of people on this board report CH relief after contracting the flu. It's never happened to me, but I don't get the flu very often.

So the reason would be, some antigens produced naturally by body also affect CH? Or some chemistry changes in body, perhaps high tempreture or way the virus affects our system? Hmm so much to pick from.

I have seen some articles theorizing that CHs are a product of some malfunctioning biological clock.  If this is the case perhaps the body shuts down this clock as a non-essential function to fight off the infection...

Whatever the reason, I am just going to appreciate it.  If it sticks, this will be the first birthday I have had in years pain-free.  I am hoping to enjoy an adult beverage with friends and family!

Kim P wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2009 at 6:54pm:

I I am hoping to enjoy an adult beverage with friends and family!

Whoa! Be careful with that please!!   :D :o :o :o

I will bejeeber.  My birthday is not until next week...I will be sure my cycle is gone before I take a chance.  I learned a long time ago what drinking during a cycle means...usually a hospital trip!!!

Thanks for your concern.  Everyone here is so sweet.

Maybe the flu isn't so bad after all ... may have second thoughts about that flu shot?? ;)

Hope it killed the episode for you.

As for prevents -- topamax has been working well for me for about 10 years (keeps me sane - I'm chronic) - I was in "really" bad shape when I got on it - now I'm just in "fairly" bad shape. :o

Bejeebe, glad neurotin works for you - it almost killed me - the side effects were gruesome, but that's me - (my husband took it for years with no side effects, so go figure). There's a lot of info on this board about it, but for the most part it hasn't worked on many. You're one in a few, but that's the nature of this beast - what works for one of us doesn't help another.

Kim, have you gone the O2 route yet? Most of us (about 70%) use it as an abort around here. High flow rate (15-25 lpm) with a non rebreather mask works for most of us to abort a hit really fast.

And happy birthday - hope you get to have that adult beverage...

Hugs BD :-*

Yes.
whenever i get flu with high body tempreture ch stops.Not even shadows.Checked that the last fifteen years.Always the same.
no idea why this happens.

Biological clock does not shut I believe, and CH is very hard to understand, why Oxygen, Hallucinogens, Hormone Therapies stop headache is mystery but sure there is some connection through chemical and biological interactions.

Mostly it will be migraine-alike, that it is just some brain malfunction in neural processing or either neuro-hormonal processing. Though I am not genius, I just theorise, but makes me wonder why Oxygen/Hormones/Prednisone/Hallucinogens put such big emphasis on lots of us, but then not all.

Well, it did not last.  Shortly after I recovered from the flu, I got hit with a 10 and I was at work, without anything.  As you can all understand, I never wanted anyone at work to see me in that bad of shape.  Of course now people are concerned that I need a second opinion (although it would be a fourth) because that much pain must have an underlying cause...

No, I have not gotten oxygen yet.  I am planning on getting it as soon as I can get into see the neuro.  Why can't the people at the front desk understand that I won't need an appointment in 2 months.  ARGH!!!

I had the flu last June that was immediately followed by the first cycle I've had in 6 years.

Seems the flu triggeredCH for me.

just logged in to search about the flu and CH because I too have been pf since getting sick a few days ago! how ironic its the top post at the time.

i have been in a cycle now for roughly 3 weeks with no pf days until getting flu,and i havent taken any meds for the flu in fear of rebound h/a.

now i dont want to get better!!  :D

So flu on average lasts 1-2 weeks, how long are you guys pf? when you count days?

Kim P wrote on Sep 25^th, 2009 at 11:42pm:

Why can't the people at the front desk understand that I won't need an appointment in 2 months.  ARGH!!!

This seems pretty typical, and I believe the reasons why would include some sizable helpings of ignorance and arrogance at the neuro office. Probably starting at the top.  >:(

Clusterheads in Poland for example cannot get fast visit at neuro office either but war veterans and crippled people can get to doc outside of queue even when they havent registered, all they have to do is to walk to hospital or office and show papers and they get right after the already-in patient leaves, even if there is 8 people waiting in queue already.

I wonder.. isnt someone in heavy chronic or episodic but big pain considered crippled in a way? I am crippled to think properly when in pain and to act in social norms, as I will be raging pacing and rocking and I need immediate help.