I've spent plenty of time lurking on this site over the last few years, but I think now it's time to post!
My name is Alissa and I have been fighting the demon for 11 years now.  I had my first cycle when I was 22 and pregnant with my first child.  I thought I was dying; tumor, anuerysm, who knew!  After nearly 7 years of misdiagnoses, I was finally tentatively diagnosed (without the neuro workup) when I was living in Alabama in 06 and have been managing ever since.  I cycle for about 6 to 8 weeks every 18 months like clockwork, but something seems to have ramped up my cycles this year! 
I had my second baby in April and started a cycle the first week in May, I knew it was coming and it was not as bad as others had been in the past.  I chalk that up to happy nursing hormones and the hundreds of litres of ice water I drank during that time.  Anyhow, six months later and they are back!  I'm hoping this isn't the start of a new trend with only 6 months off! 
This cycle is particularly brutal, because I am nursing a new baby (still once during the night) and trying to get my dissertation proposal finished for my PhD.  The nursing part rules out a lot of meds, although the AAPP okays imitrex in the lower doses, unfortunately imitrex only works some of the time, and the rebounds can be almost as bad.  Suffice it to say, I finally decided that I may need a little more help than my supporters at home can give me!  I'm a little mortified that I have to explain the demon to another child when my first (she's 10) is only now beginning to understand that mommy's not dying and she'll be fine after a little alone time!
Anyhow, I'm trying really hard not to wallow and hit the "what did I do to the karma gods?" to soon, I've only been cycling for 2.5 weeks!  Hopefully this site will give me a something to do when I'm afraid to go to sleep!
Cheers

Yer workin on a Doctorate in what might I ask?


           Potter

Look at the 02 option...Doc
the bb ;)

By all means read the oxygen info link. Would be a perfect treatment to get you through the nursing months until you can start taking decent prevents. I can abort in 6-8 minutes using oxygen, it's a beautiful thing! Good luck on the Thesis....future doc!

Joe

I'm a Medical Anthropologist, Potter, thanks for asking!  Ironically there are three areas I work in, reproductive health, the doc/patient relationship in (and out of) the clinical setting, and pain. 
As long as I successfully defend my proposal and qualifying exams at the beginning of next year, I should be researching and writing soon! For now, I am grant writing, teaching a freshman course and still(dear-god-will-it-ever-end...) taking courses.

Hi Alissa,welcome. Sounds like you really have your plate full at the moment!

As has been said, the o2 thing.

All the best :)

Iddy

Hi Alissa,

I have three kids ages 15, 11, and 3. I nursed all three of them and only with the last one did I know about OXYGEN. Love my O2! Read about O2.

I suffered through with the others without anything....yuck! Even though they say imitrex is okay I didn't think it was good for me or baby.

Read and let us know if you have any questions we'd be more than happy to help :)

Be well and Pain Free!
-Rori

Thanks so much Rori!
Did you find that your CHs were not quite as bad while nursing (nominally)?
I am in the process of trying to get my doc to prescribe O2, they're pretty hesitant to do it without a full workup, something I don't really have time for right now...

I'm not a typical CH cycler...I tend to get HA patches randomly. I get migraines and CH and other kinds too. A real party in my noggin :D

I had a rougher patch headache-wise when my last son was first born and then it evened out slightly less than  usual unpredictable-ness.  They were pretty rough individually.... but I agree that the nursing hormones played a more positive part in how I felt about them. And cute baby helps too! :)

And the support from the people here and from one pEoplE in particular was priceless! And continues to be so :)

Quote:

...one pEoplE in particular...

Cute. And clever.  ;)

He's one in a million, that guy.

Alissa - realize you're busy but if you could "make" the time for your workup to get the O2 you will got lots of time back in not having to have extended periods of pain from CH. Just my 2cents, welcome to the board.

Good luck with the dissertation!

Thanks to all of you for the support!  I seem to be at the end of my cycle and I lucked out with my visit to the doc!  I am now being treated by a ARNP Doc combination who have experience with CH sufferers!  My one issue seems to be that my insurance will not cover self-administered O2 therapy (I assume that it is my insurer and not my practitioners).  They require that individual treatments be administered through a home health practitioner.  Moot when I have to place a phone call at 2am with a 10 on the pain scale.  Has anyone come up against this?
Any advice would be helpful!

My insurance wouldn't cover it either but I was able to buy a complete rig, ( cart, tank, regulator and mask ) for $150 with extra tank rental fee of $8/mo and $12.50 refill fee.  All totaled I spent about $650 on this last cycle and I now have my own rig in the closet with a full tank just waitin for the beast to rear its ugly head one more time.  I used either 6 or 7 old imitrex injections during the cycle also which from what I understand on todays market would be worth over $700 so the O2 investment really makes sense to me.

Dallas Denny