Hi,
   My name is Garland. I have been dealing with Clusters for over 35 years. Sometimes I have been headache free for as long as 4 or 5 years and sometimes not so lucky. The longest round has been everynight, 5 or 6 headaches a night, for over 8 months!. I only have them when I go to sleep. I have tried everything there is to offer except O2, for some reason Drs. around here don't like it when you self diagnose yourself. I know exactly what each one of you are going through and I know how frustrating it can be not being able to find help. Over the years the only two things that have helped me is hot showers ( I can literaly drain a 40 gal water heater) and in the past couple of years I have been taking Benadryl before I go to bed and it seems to help a bit with the pain and frequency of the cycles. Last night I went 5 rounds, but I am determined to not let these headaches get the best of me, they may hurt like hell and wear me down and disrupt a part of my life but I absolutely refuse to let them win! Thanks for giving me a place to share my experiences and I hope that I can be of help to someone!!

Garland

Welcome home Garland!!  I'm sorry you needed to find us but you are definately at the right place.  Great bunch of folks here and lots of good info.  Check out the O2 tab on the left and really push your doc...I've had CH over 25 years and have used O2 the last 2 cycles....it is a lifesaver for me!!!

Good Luck and wishing you some PFDAN's

Dallas Denny

Hello Garland,
Sounds like a bad nightmare with Freddy Crouger coming for your eye every night.
Have you used Melatonin?  It seems to be very helpfull for some.  I use 9mg every night (I over did it the other night, oops) and sleep soundly with no 2am wakers.

And for the O2, some use welding grade, which is safe. I have used it myself.  I don't get a prescription for O2, I pick it up myself.  Non-re-breather mask, 15 LMP and it works 95% of the time.  Be sure not to use the strap on the mask, you don't want to fall asleep and have the O2 run out.  If I have a breakthrough on O2, I use Imitrex (shot) to nip it out, and use the tip on the side menu.  Also, as a preventive, I am currently at 320mg of Verapamil daily.

Good luck, and get the O2!!!
PFN (nights) to you.
Angela

Welcome Garland! The beast morphs a lot...it's his nature. Don't be afraid to re try something that hasn't worked in the past. Have you ever tried the cocktail of lithium AND verapamil? It's proven an effective prevent for some when nothing else worked. Something you'd want to work closely with a doc when doing as your blood levels must be monitored.

And yeah...oxygen.....the closest thing to a "cure" I've ever found. 6-8 minutes huffing 02 and I'm a happy, pain free man. We preach it a lot because the success rate is just phenomenal. Hoping you're heading for a LONG remission period! ;)

Joe