The pain of cluster headaches is upon me once again.  The hell that is one of these demon's inside of me has descended... and it did so as soon as I was starting to get comfortable... as soon as I thought that maybe they were gone.  It started easily enough, but that little level 3 scared me completely to death and its only been worse since then.  I've even had the occasional 9 and 10. 

Its hit me harder this time, and I didn't know what to do until I found this site.  I got hooked up with a doctor who knows this disease and he gave me some oxygen.  It really does help, but not enough, and not all of the time so...

I tried injecting my oxycodone, probably one of the most powerful opiates in the world... I only do it for attacks that are really, really bad.  I always have a needle ready, just in case.

Then I remembered what I tried a long time ago, cocaine.  A vaso-constrictor.  It completely eliminated the attack the only time I tried it.

Anyways, so I tried it again during an attack... it stopped the whole ordeal, and I didn't have another for a while.  I thought, "wow, this is great.  I don't have to worry about becoming physically addicted to opiates." And I lived. (This was all starting 2 months ago)  Disaster occured when I thought, "why not try injecting it?  If it works with opiates, it'll work with cocaine."  And boy, did it ever work.  Not only did I stop the cluster, but it didn't come back all night, and I had fun.

However, I first used it for fun... when I didn't have a headache about a week ago.  Immediately afterward I decided not to touch the shit ever again.

The moral is that this might be a damn fine way to eliminate headaches, but remember that it can kill you... and it will worm its way into your life and do far worse than merely ending it.  If you can control yourself, snort away!  But.. don't inject, and don't EVER take it outside of a bad headache situation.

There it is.  Please understand what it takes for me to tell you this.  I am a law abiding citizen, but this disease destroys lives.  My girlfriend actually left me after an attack, she didn't understand.  I *kind of* have another one. I met her a few days ago, out at a bar, not drinking (trigger for me) and definitely clean.  I told her immediately.

Finally, I wont be shooting my oxy either, I feel like too much of a junkie (even though I'm NOT, as you guys know... you'll do anything to avoid that kind of pain); however, I will be snorting my oxycodone anytime a 4 or harder hits.

So, good ending.  Thanks for the oxygen tip guys.  I will be around.

-PbZep

P.S. And thanks for listening.

:-X

Brew wrote on Feb 7^th, 2010 at 7:05pm:

:-X

Second your  :-X and raise you  :o :o

Educate yourself   

There are so many safe, effective, and legal meds for CH. Despair is not effective.....
-------

 
Cluster headache.
From: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article--link, line above--if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]
==========
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Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002)
================
Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute for another list of treatments and other articles:

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Quote:

If you can control yourself, snort away!

You should be bounced off this site forever.

I know you're a Mormon.......And it's testimony Sunday.

    Potter

seaworthy wrote on Feb 7^th, 2010 at 8:26pm:

Quote: If you can control yourself, snort away! You should be bounced off this site forever.

Seaworthy, i'm with you on this one.  This kid has alot to learn!!!

Potter wrote on Feb 7^th, 2010 at 8:37pm:

I know you're a Mormon.......And it's testimony Sunday.     Potter

Potter....one too many m's....

Quote:

I tried injecting my oxycodone

He knows more than you think. Knowing how to do what he describes isn't something the average guy knows how to do. A seasoned druggie does though.

Sounds like you are headed for the permanant solution..... Very wreckless. Most of us would do anything to stop an attack but I've never heard of even one getting that desparate.

You will survive CH, I pray you survive your desparation.

Don

listen friend I used to do cocaine.  I snorted it only.  Not for ch it was before I had ch.  every time you use it is like playing russian rullette with your brain.  One time is all it takes for it to miss fire and your dead.  I know.  I used a lot of coke many times.  I did one little line and I woke up naked in a bathtub with my husband, parents, kids, police and emts staring at me.  I had overdosed on a small amount.  I was lucky to be alive.  That was the last time I used the stuff.  Please read up on this site.  Get yourself a good preventative.  Try lithium, verapamil, topamax, neruontin, elavil, anything but please leave the narcotics out of it.

Dude, i've delt with clusters for years w/o drugs of any kind.  It was horrible, but I knew I wasn't going to die.
Those opiates are only masking the pain if they do that at all.  I will tell you also in college I used cocaine "once" during a cycle and guess what?  Had a cluster in the middle of the coke high.  So, it's doesn't do jack shit if you ask me.  Shooting the stuff, please get help immediately.  It's the best thing you can do because you're playing with fire.  Look into oxygen, a much more natural way of aborting the pain w/o the drugs.

Not that I'd use it but ...

Cocaine is still listed in the US guideline: Treatment of primary headache: cluster headache. Standards of care for headache diagnosis and treatment (START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE)

Cocaine is listed as some sort of pain reliever, I guess it's more the plant itself than the processed, powdered drug.  I'm not willing to try it.

It's difficult for us to know your intentions.  It does sound, however, as if you are experienced in snorting and shooting stuff up.  What I will tell you, without being judgemental, is that opiates dont work for many of us at all.  We've all tried them, and there are very few who say they relieve cluster pain. 

U might want to look into using Oxygen in a more effective manner, which could mean a higher flow rate or a different delivery method.  There are also pharmaceutical drugs (not pain killers) that can stop the pain.  There are also daily medications you can take which can help to stop a cycle or avoid it entirely.

Hopefully you can find one that works for you.  In the meantime, please don't snort pills.

To any newcomers reading this thread:

I urge you to dis-regard what this person is recomending here.  It is dangerous and deadly and not at all what this site is about.  What everyone above has already said is true and I hope you will look around here to get all the info you may need.

There are SO many of us who have years of experience in this condition and we are here to help you any way we can.

Go here: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
and click on take me to the forum.  If we are talking illegal drugs(that won't kill ya)  REALLY helping.  This is the place!!!!!

jon019 wrote on Feb 7^th, 2010 at 11:16pm:

Potter wrote on Feb 7th, 2010 at 8:37pm: I know you're a Mormon.......And it's testimony Sunday.     Potter Potter....one too many m's....

    As a baptized, priesthood holdin, card carrying, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I assure you my spelling is perfect.
     I loved testimony Sunday, them folks would stand up and confess their sins in front of everybody. I got to hear shit that made me cringe.
   

                        Potter


    

          

I was expecting a P.S. with one of two options:

"Hey, I'm all out of coke, anyone got any PM me okay"

or

"Hey, I've got a little extra bolivian marching powder, anyone need a rail? Contact me PM okay"

But no.

In a side by side comparison of lidocaine and cocaine, both were found equally effective. Other studies have shown that these can help some people but are not a first choice med (~25% got good relief, 25% got some relief, and the other half got no relief).  Lidocaine is also much cheaper and less dangerous than cocaine. Ten dollars a month versus a hundred dollars a day ... you do the math. 

Guys, trust me.. I know all of this. I know its wrong.

Listen, I personally advocate anything to end these god-damned kip 10s.  My warning was there too, that finding yourself enjoying it *should* give you a clue to immediately stop.  And i've tried all the meds, nothing works.  Oxygen helps a little, but an hour long Kip 10 has more than once made me consider suicide.. and I was coming closer and closer until I found a cure.

Keep in mind that this is coming from someone who USED to have a great life, who USED to study criminal justice (I wanted to become a cop), and someone who hadn't had any drugs other than the occasional and very rare joint in high school. 

For me, it works.  And for me, I would rather be alive with the hope that with advances in medicine, we could get a cure... than dead by my own hand. Guys, I'm up to 6 attacks a day, at least two are kip 8 and above.  I can't believe I didn't kill myself, and i've heard of many CH sufferers who have.  I used to get so little sleep  that the deprivation of which led me to have actual hallucinations.  Fun? Maybe, but not constantly, and not when they're so real that you actually piss yourself and cry all day (this from a guy who, despite headaches, hasn't cried in a long, long time) because you thought it was real.

In my opinion, ANYthing that helps a cluster sufferer should be viable in moderation.  Hell, most of you take opiates; which are far more addicting in the long term than cocaine... and just as damaging!  The most dangerous thing about cocaine is its cutting agent.

So, I thought I might be accepted here.  You guys insulted me instead, calling me a "seasoned druggie," and saying you expected a "where can i get some?" in the post.  Well fuck you too, I laid myself bare, which I haven't done for ANYone else because i thought, "here's a group of people who understand what i go through," and got ridiculed for it.  The craziest thing is that it was by MY FELLOW SUFFERERS!!!??!?!?!?  Its bad enough coming from a doctor who hadn't heard of the condition and said the same thing.  Thanks a lot.

Finally, I didn't come on here advocating or advising anything, because I am not a doctor (after all, how the hell could I be?  I've loved having all of my dreams ruined), I just wanted to let you know that I found something that works.  Isn't that what we're all looking for??  AND, didn't you guys see the ending?  The bad part of it is over!  I am not a druggie, I WAS (see that word, its key) merely desperate.

Feel free to kick me off if you consider my behavior wrong for some arcane reason; to be honest, many of you owe me apologies before I would even consider coming back.

Seek help. Seriously.

We're all too knowledgeable that the use of drugs like cocaine do nothing for a cluster.  Maybe you have a different condition that's similar to the pain of a cluster.  When you consider shooting drugs like cocaine, I don't give a rats ass what you think of me, that's a huge problem.  The drugs that do help folks on here are no way related to narcotics or opiates.  I can tell you I have NEVER felt a high on any of the drugs i've used for clusters and that's including LSA which is considered a hallucinogen.   

All I can say is what Brew said, seek help!

PbZep, if you know it's wrong, why are you doing it?  Because the pain is too much to bear?  Well guess what, we ALL know what that's like.  You are not special here due to that fact.

Also, most people partake on support groups to find camaraderie and when they come across an opinion that is not the same, they become defensive.  This is the Internet, we are all different and some do not think what you're doing to yourself is a good thing (including me!).  I'd rather you try Oxygen, or one of the alternatives like seeds or mushrooms than go down the route you're on.  Those treatments have been PROVEN to help without the horrid side effects like addiction (amongst other things).

There is a reason your fellow sufferers are saying what they are, and it's because they've been there, done that or found something much better.  Instead of bucking against advice, maybe try to be a little humble and take their advice?

We only want to help, really!

Quote:

Hell, most of you take opiates;

Where in the world did you get THAT mistaken idea?  The majority of us DO NOT, in fact take narcotics.  Once and a while someone says that pain-killers have worked a little and of course we wish them well, but if you read around here for any length of time you will see us discouraging the use of opiates. 

Congratulations you have now reached that point in your life where you receive a new moniker.  Junkie.  Make your mom proud son.

              Potter

Watch the name calling Potter. I see nothing positive coming from this thread anymore.