Thanks for sharing.

This is poppycock.

It just astounds me when people with under 20 posts to this board come along and claim a cure . . . . .un-effing-believable.

It's almost like clockwork . . . .once every three months or so.  At least this isn't that damn nasal spray again.

::)

Um ya good on ya there Greg    :D 

That and [smiley=twocents.gif] will get you nill, notta, zippo, zilch !   ;D 

Don't ya think that if it were as simple as Carbs a Doc or Researcher would have found that out YEARS AGO!!!

How I love these chance correlations !    [smiley=yikes.gif]

How about a little bit more scientific approach? Have the doc check your blood sugar level...


BTW, Dallas Denny recently posted a fitting picture:

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                 [smiley=smokin.gif]

That's some pile of oatmeal.

            Potter

... [smiley=crackup.gif]  [smiley=crackup.gif]  [smiley=crackup.gif] ...

P.S. You may want to be a bit more careful where you smoke AlienSpaceGuy unless you are into flaming cow pies  ;D

I believe that low blood sugar has a negative affect on the number (not kip level) of hits I experience....candy and crackers are always close by when in cycle....

If it were as simple as "carb loading"...myself and a few thousand others wouldn't be here....

Best,

Jon

Quote:

So I just ate two pouches of instant oatmeal and within minutes the headache stopped!!

Sure you weren't smoking it?

I thought it was dust:

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Or drafts:

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Or the wind changing direction:

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Or worrying:

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Or dry air, or something:

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Guess I was wrong.   :-?

Best,

George

oh, man, though...
Wouldn't this be nice if it were true?
it's not, but wouldn't it be nice if it were?
You could say, 'I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, I have a headache and need to go eat a sundae STAT.'

If simple carbs were all you needed to abort your h/a, I'm thinking that you were having hypoglycemia headaches as opposed to a real cluster.

But in any case, I'm glad it's working for you...

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Quote:

It just astounds me when people with under 20 posts to this board come along and claim a cure

Correction, when the same person pays his bi-weekly visit.

Quote:

I have a headache and need to go eat a sundae STAT.

Careful there.  Ice cream headaches hurt like hell.  ;)

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Don't have ch, but have had headaches from hypoglycemia (rarely and my diet fixed that problem).  If I had a headache from hypoglycemia and I ate simple sugars, I would eventually crash and burn and the rebound headache would be far worse.  Not to mention the shakes from the sugar rush.

Either Gregory is kidding, or he is a newbie -- We need to cut him some slack and offer advice rather than dissing him.   I'm a newbie, too, and have read a LOT and learned a lot from you seasoned professionals, but I still have a lot to learn.  Good luck, Gregory.

Jim L wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2010 at 12:06pm:

Either Gregory is kidding, or he is a newbie -- We need to cut him some slack and offer advice rather than dissing him.   I'm a newbie, too, and have read a LOT and learned a lot from you seasoned professionals, but I still have a lot to learn.  Good luck, Gregory.

We weren't dissing him Jim L we were merely sharing our knowledge and using a sense of humor to do it, at least in my case that's how it was.

Fact CH is not cured or fixed with Carbs.

Either way if Greg is a newbie or kidding opinions were made known and knowledge shared no matter how it was done.

Good on you though for sticking up for him or trying too.    :)

Gregory is a newbie, and as such, yes, we should cut him some slack.

CH is not caused by a lack of carbs, nor can it be stopped with carbs.  The worldwide medical community is coming to the conclusion that CH is caused by a malfunction or problem with the hypothalmus in our brains.

That being said, I do, however, find it difficult to believe that in the middle of a CH hit, one can stand there and wait while the instant oatmeal microwaves in the oven.  By the time the oatmeal is done, probably so is the hit.  Coincidence?

Sandy

Jim L wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2010 at 12:06pm:

Either Gregory is kidding, or he is a newbie -- We need to cut him some slack and offer advice rather than dissing him.   I'm a newbie, too, and have read a LOT and learned a lot from you seasoned professionals, but I still have a lot to learn.  Good luck, Gregory.

You're far too charitable. If you will read gregory's posting history, nowhere does he ever say he's been diagnosed with CH, nor does it look like he has even been to a doctor about it. He just gobbles over the counter meds, cleans dust out of his apartment, and avoids tacos and beer. His posting history is all about searching for and eliminating triggers.

I'm relatively sure, based on what he's posted at this site, that most of the headaches he experiences are rebound headaches from all the Excedrin he eats.

okay I may be wrong on the theory, but I have found that sugar or some of light snack helps relieve the pain. It has worked four days in a row so far. I don't know why. Heck, through all the years I've tried to figure why it keeps happening, but I get proven wrong eveytime. Sorry to sound stupid or such. I always thought it was a simple allergy. But I still stand by that for some reason sugar or a light snack relieves the pain.

Real good. Delete your original post.

If eating sugar stops the pain, you don't have CH. Get to a doctor and find out what you have.

well ch or not
you must never forget the first rule of fight club

you don't just say Wesley Schneider in a brazilian forum :D

glad someone finally figured it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  WOW!!
thats all i had to do all this time. I feel like such a dumbass!!



         :D   :D   :D   :D   :D   :D

some people think they have CH, but dont. Or this person is a real freak.

ok, ok I AM sorry for such a dumb post. But you know when these episodes come on I try to find a way to stop it. And it's been getting worse this week each day. Last week there was the two days of slight hints, that woke me up and I knew then it was coming. Monday I took off from work, I work over nights and sleep the days. I took off and slept over night for the first time in quite some time. And ever since then, the headaches have started. And it's getting worse everyday. Here in Texas, the weather is already starting to change and we have Hurricane/Tropical storm Alex moving up the western part of the state, right now he's in the SW region of the state and it is hot and muggy around here. Everytime these episodes start I just try to find a way to make it stop!! What I think relieves the pain will stop working here in a couple days, it always does. I have CH and it  makes me crazy. I just woke up again from a second attack so far today.

Been there done that Gregory. I have "cured" my CH by:

Not using Q-tips in the ear on the affected side.
Giving up coffee.
Buying REALLY dark sunglasses.
Crap I've lost track of all the ways I cured the damned things in the early stages, my late teens and early 20's. Now I'm 50 and like you, I'm still looking for the "cure." But with a much better understanding of what that's likely to entail.

Pull up a seat and learn not how to "cure" it, but to bring the beast under control.

Joe

Guiseppi wrote on Jul 3^rd, 2010 at 6:24pm:

Pull up a seat and learn not how to "cure" it, but to bring the beast under control.

Amen...

And to learn to live through it in the meantime.

Welcome back, Gregory, and I'm sorry you're here again!

Sandy, good point.   I just read an article/summary byManjit Matharu at START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

I understand that he will be speaking at the OUCH conference in Atlanta. 

Yes he speaking at the convention - twice, both Friday and Saturday.  Friday will be on CH in general, what it is, what the medical thinking is about it at this point, etc.  Saturday's presentation will be about ONSI, what it is, does it work, what is done and he will be joined in this presentation by Carrie Preston, one of our own CH.com members who has had the ONSI procedure herself who will give her experiences both before and after the procedure.

It's not too late to register and come on down to Atlanta!

Sandy

Sandy, did the ONSi work for Carrie?  I haven't seen anything on here about it.  My husband had the trial done in April and it did not work.  Just curious if it worked for her.

I honestly don't know how ONSI has affected Carrie's CH.  I'm going to the convention and look forward to learning about the procedure and especially about Carrie's experiences with it.

Sandy

Thanks Sandy.  I can't attend the convention in Atlanta, but do look forward to hearing about it.  Christine Karper on cb.com is going to have the permanent implant sometime this month.

Lee Ann

Regarding the convention:  I'm actually off work that week and not too far away -- I'm in NC.  How will a semi-shy newbie fare among all you veterans?  Is there easy public transportation to go downtown?  Any art-lovers want to go the the High Museum? 

Jim L - You should ask your questions on the convention thread (Meetings and Gatherings board). It'll get much more attention.

Jim L wrote on Jul 4^th, 2010 at 3:33pm:

Regarding the convention:  I'm actually off work that week and not too far away -- I'm in NC.  How will a semi-shy newbie fare among all you veterans?  Is there easy public transportation to go downtown?  Any art-lovers want to go the the High Museum?

Check your PM's Jim....

Check your other PM's Jim.

Sandy

Check again Jim. ;D

For those of us who can not attend; will anyone be recording the presentations so that the rest of us can hear/watch them?

JustNotRight wrote on Jul 4^th, 2010 at 7:54pm:

For those of us who can not attend; will anyone be recording the presentations so that the rest of us can hear/watch them?

Not me. Sorry.

Gregory,

As Joe said earlier, very often when one is first dealing with CH things coincidentally seem to "cure" our CH, only to disappoint us greatly later on when they don't continue to work.  If some of us seemed to be mocking you a bit I hope you will overlook it for a while.  We get posts from newbies with "Cures" all the time, but most of them are trying to sell us something, and we tend to be rather quick on the trigger getting rid of them.  We don't really try to run off those who are truly clusterheads, but we get so many fakers it is sometimes a bit hard to tell the difference and we jump the gun a bit to quickly.

That being said, may I suggest you spend a good bit of time reading on the site and finding what really does work for us.  You will find some l o n g  posts about "cures", the dumbest things ever tried, etc., but you will also find the latest in what is really working for each of us.  You will have to try a variety of things probably, and you need a GOOD Dr to work with on this because none of us react the same way to the different methods, and often we don't react the same way from one cycle to another.  You will need to try each method for a period of time to give it a baseline before you can say "This works for me".  One time does not make a trend.

About the only exception to that rule I can come up with is O2.  It works for most of us if used properly, and that is the key to it.  It must be used properly or it will not work at all.  Read the oxygen info page thoroughly and take it to your Dr and get it prescribed as suggested on the page.  The only change I would suggest to that would be to ask for a minimum of 25 lpm rather than 15 at the beginning.  If you don't need that much you can cut it down, but if 15 is not sufficient it can be difficult to get it increased.

Hope this helps.

Jerry

Quote:

How will a semi-shy newbie fare among all you veterans?

Within 5 min. you'll think you've known us all your life.  Really.   ;)

Ginger,

I'll be videoing the speakers, but am not sure of the legalities as to broadcasting the speeches.  I believe something along that line was considered when we were asked if we had video cameras available.  I promise that will be discussed, and if possible we will try to make something at least available.

Jerry

Quote:

He just gobbles over the counter meds, cleans dust out of his apartment, and avoids tacos and beer.

Gives up tacos and beer?! Crap. I live on that stuff. Anyway, way to take the hits like a man, Gregory, and for comin' back in. But enquirin' minds do want to know: who diagnosed you with CH's as opposed to something else that might be imitative!

Quote:

How will a semi-shy newbie fare among all you veterans?

Bring Tacos and your golden !  8-)

It turns out my post about carbs wasn't totally correct anyways. I mean the first couple of days it helped. Maybe it gets the blood moving, I don't know. But Yesterday proved that wrong. Here in Texas we got a tropical system moving up the state and that's what's been wrecking me all this time. Where the air is really muggy and nauseating. Yesterday about noon, I had an attack just sitting my chair infront of computer. We had a first wave of rain at around 2 but it was a dry rain (I call it that because it's the one with the little drops and humidity is only like 66-70%, vs a wet rain with the big wet drops and  the humidity is over 90-100%). There was no wind but out of the East, and that really tears me up. So I was in pain for about three hours. And tried eating to ward it off, to no mercy. I took three Exedrin for migraines (they worked the last year), and then 3 Bayers. Drank lots of water and all my usual routines when the attacks come on. But my relief finally came at around 5, when the wet rain moved in to the area and cooled the air way down and the humidity jumped to 100%, I heard a couple of small thunder rumbles at first and was like "HALLELUJAH!" cause the relief was coming.
   This morning it's only 8am, and it's starting to feel like yesterday again, so I may be in for another attack. I keep the fans going to keep the air moving around. I'm at the poit where I can not sleep with the A/C going, that's the trigger right now. I can run it while I'm awake, and I've got the windows cracked so it doesn't build up in the air. The main thing for me is to keep the air moving. That's main reason to stay away from work, cause it's already hot and stuffy in there, it would put me in misery.
Through the years I have tried to find a reason for the attacks, everything from too much Dr. Pepper to eating too heavy, trying to find it. But it is always the weather for me. We got the weekend to go, they say Monday we should be back to normal for July.

As I posted last year, thank Heaven for the internet because I know what this is. I suffer all the symptoms, have been since my late teens and mostly since my 20's. Through the internet, reading Wikipedia and finding this group is how I found out what this is that puts me in more pain than I can explain. I don't get sick per se very often, but I can 'count' on a cluster headache every year and watch the weather to see it coming. Especially around this time of year to January. Gawd, I hope we have a somewhat wet Winter. And I'm already dreading late Sept, when I usually get it. After the last Summer rain and the weather shifts into the dry Autumn winds.

Paging Dr. Internet, you have a patient in chat room 5  ::)

Gregory,

Two things:

     First, never self-diagnose something of this magnitude.  Don't take this wrong or as an attack, because it is said totally with your interest in mind, but you need to get it checked out by a competent Neuro, preferably a HA specialist, and have an MRI and MRA done to be sure it isn't something else that has similar symptoms but is deadly.  You cannot self-diagnose!  To do so is to open yourself up to a world of hurt and to limit what can be done to alleviate it.  You keep grabbing at straws thinking you are finding "what is causing" it and "what cures it" and you have NO clue what you are talking about.  Do you have clusters?  I have no idea, and to be frank, neither do you!  If you do it is not caused by carbs nor lack thereof, nor by the weather nor lack thereof, nor by any other thing that you can find outside of your own brain.  Yes, there are things that will trigger hits for some of us, but not all of us.  There is however a BIG difference between a trigger and a cause.  The cause (if it truly is CH) is in your own brain.  therefore, you need to find a competent Dr to diagnose you properly.  I would not want to read that you had been treating yourself with OTC pain-killers (see #2) and caused an aneurism to rupture killing you with an unnecessary Cerebral Hemorage.

     Second,  if you do truly have CH (see #1), leave the Excedrine and Aspirin alone.  They won't touch CH, except maybe low Kip shadows, and they will give you an ulcer and eat up your kidneys and liver.  Even if they actually did work for CH they lag time between taking them and the ending of the hit overlap doing you no good.  Excedrin Migraine is good for just that, Migraine.  CH is not a migraine.  BTW, Excedrin Migaine is the same as any of the other Excedrins except for the night time formula which has a sleep aid.

I would suggest you do some serious reading on this site, but I'm going to hold that in abeyance until you get a diagnosis from a good Dr.  Otherwise you will just continue self-diagnosis and I would not want that on my conscious if it was something else that was fatal.

Jerry

deltadarlin wrote on Jul 9^th, 2010 at 3:58pm:

Paging Dr. Internet, you have a patient in chat room 5  ::)

;D

Callico wrote on Jul 9^th, 2010 at 4:42pm:

Gregory, Two things:      First, never self-diagnose something of this magnitude.  Don't take this wrong or as an attack, because it is said totally with your interest in mind, but you need to get it checked out by a competent Neuro, preferably a HA specialist, and have an MRI and MRA done to be sure it isn't something else that has similar symptoms but is deadly.  You cannot self-diagnose!  To do so is to open yourself up to a world of hurt and to limit what can be done to alleviate it.  You keep grabbing at straws thinking you are finding "what is causing" it and "what cures it" and you have NO clue what you are talking about.  Do you have clusters?  I have no idea, and to be frank, neither do you!  If you do it is not caused by carbs nor lack thereof, nor by the weather nor lack thereof, nor by any other thing that you can find outside of your own brain.  Yes, there are things that will trigger hits for some of us, but not all of us.  There is however a BIG difference between a trigger and a cause.  The cause (if it truly is CH) is in your own brain.  therefore, you need to find a competent Dr to diagnose you properly.  I would not want to read that you had been treating yourself with OTC pain-killers (see #2) and caused an aneurism to rupture killing you with an unnecessary Cerebral Hemorage.      Second,  if you do truly have CH (see #1), leave the Excedrine and Aspirin alone.  They won't touch CH, except maybe low Kip shadows, and they will give you an ulcer and eat up your kidneys and liver.  Even if they actually did work for CH they lag time between taking them and the ending of the hit overlap doing you no good.  Excedrin Migraine is good for just that, Migraine.  CH is not a migraine.  BTW, Excedrin Migaine is the same as any of the other Excedrins except for the night time formula which has a sleep aid. I would suggest you do some serious reading on this site, but I'm going to hold that in abeyance until you get a diagnosis from a good Dr.  Otherwise you will just continue self-diagnosis and I would not want that on my conscious if it was something else that was fatal. Jerry

Excellent post, Jerry!

Quote:

Second,  if you do truly have CH (see #1), leave the Excedrine and Aspirin alone.  They won't touch CH, except maybe low Kip shadows, and they will give you an ulcer and eat up your kidneys and liver.

Yup, ditto everything and especially ditto this. 23 years ago, before I knew what these things were, I was chewing asprin at the first sign of a hit. All that got me was a bleeding ulcer in short time. Sometimes the 'afterburn" is so bad I'll take ibuprofen, or on occasion after several prolonged kip 8's, I've been known to take something stronger, but for the most part I just stay away and abort with O2 and Monster. lance

wimsey1 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 8:38am:

Quote: Second,  if you do truly have CH (see #1), leave the Excedrine and Aspirin alone.  They won't touch CH, except maybe low Kip shadows, and they will give you an ulcer and eat up your kidneys and liver. Yup, ditto everything and especially ditto this. 23 years ago, before I knew what these things were, I was chewing asprin at the first sign of a hit. All that got me was a bleeding ulcer in short time. Sometimes the 'afterburn" is so bad I'll take ibuprofen, or on occasion after several prolonged kip 8's, I've been known to take something stronger, but for the most part I just stay away and abort with O2 and Monster. lance

When my son was first diagnosed with migraines, I'd mentioned one time to the neurologist at the time that people were telling me to give him Excedrine Migraine formula. 

If a neurologist could spontaneously com-bust he would have done so, in his words...

"Don't Ever Ever give him Excedrine Migraine or any variation !!"
Neuro was red faced and pissed that people were telling me that.  :D

I have also had my current neuro mention this without being asked about it.  Apparently it's a popular suggestion by many on both east and west coasts.   ;D

Excedrine...just say No.

OTC's about killed my father last year. Ibuporfen for his aching knees. Ended up with ulcerated upper intestines, so swollen they caused a blockage, damaged kidneys and bladder. His doc said, NO OTC'S!!!

Joe

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It's the donut cure.

            Potter

And as usual, it's all over. I had a slight attack yesterday, only about 15 mins. The weather around here is really comfortable, my apt is comfy and breezy. I slept really good Friday after the little episode, and ready to go back to work tonight. That should be it until late Sept. Thank you for warning about Exedrines. When I had my attack for 3 months in California, it got towhere all the OTC's were just making me sick. So I just stopped all together. And Thursday, just like back in California, the winds shifted, I sneezed and it was over.
As far as self-diagnosis, well I know that's what this is, the article on Wikipedia on Clusters describes exactly what I go through when it attacks. But I'm sure not suicidal about it, the 3 month attack in California sure almost made me think about it. It's just I can only stand so much of an A/C on these muggy days.
And I sure can not be around an infra-red heater, that's a killer for me. I sleep with a fan, but sometimes it has to come off. Or turn it in another direction, I need it for the sound since I sleep days to drown out the outside dogs and kids.
I've gotten attacks in odd situations. Once in this little place I was living in L.A., it was a bright, hot sunny day. The window unit was going and there was a draft flowing between two windows, well I was in the crossfire and got an attack. I had to lay down on the floor in the somewhat fresher air, as I usually do. MY worst attacks are in Winter, with the cold dry air piercing my nasal passages. That's where it really feels like a needle is being pushed in. Those cold Santa Ana's in California were killers for me.
Sometimes it does come on because of worry, but that's been a long time. I'm just not one to run to the doctor. I haven't been to one since I got real sick when I was a young teen.

gregory s wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 1:34pm:

I'm just not one to run to the doctor. I haven't been to one since I got real sick when I was a young teen.

All I am gonna say is that you need to go to a doctor now.

gregory s wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 1:34pm:

And as usual, it's all over. I had a slight attack yesterday, only about 15 mins. The weather around here is really comfortable, my apt is comfy and breezy. I slept really good Friday after the little episode, and ready to go back to work tonight. That should be it until late Sept. Thank you for warning about Exedrines. When I had my attack for 3 months in California, it got towhere all the OTC's were just making me sick. So I just stopped all together. And Thursday, just like back in California, the winds shifted, I sneezed and it was over. As far as self-diagnosis, well I know that's what this is, the article on Wikipedia on Clusters describes exactly what I go through when it attacks. But I'm sure not suicidal about it, the 3 month attack in California sure almost made me think about it. It's just I can only stand so much of an A/C on these muggy days. And I sure can not be around an infra-red heater, that's a killer for me. I sleep with a fan, but sometimes it has to come off. Or turn it in another direction, I need it for the sound since I sleep days to drown out the outside dogs and kids. I've gotten attacks in odd situations. Once in this little place I was living in L.A., it was a bright, hot sunny day. The window unit was going and there was a draft flowing between two windows, well I was in the crossfire and got an attack. I had to lay down on the floor in the somewhat fresher air, as I usually do. MY worst attacks are in Winter, with the cold dry air piercing my nasal passages. That's where it really feels like a needle is being pushed in. Those cold Santa Ana's in California were killers for me. Sometimes it does come on because of worry, but that's been a long time. I'm just not one to run to the doctor. I haven't been to one since I got real sick when I was a young teen.

Gregory,

Please let me reiterate, see a Dr.  Yesterday would not be to soon.  While CH can be devastating as far as quality of life is concerned it is not deadly.  However, a leaking aneurism is, as is a tumor pressing on the nerves around the sinuses or the eye.  Wikipedia has never been given a medical license, and I can point out MANY discrepancies in their descriptions of CH and other medical issues.  That is the reason we don't try to diagnose or even suggest the possibility of CH UNTIL you have seen a doc and have a diagnosis.  THEN we will be all about helping you, but not until then.  I am not trying to run you off, although I do hope you don't belong here.  I would much ratherr have you find you have another issue that can be treated adn come on here and give us the good news.  If you indeed do have CH, which I frankly am doubting from what descriptions of your issues you have given, we will welcome you with open arms and do all we can to help you cope.  Until then, FIND A DOC!

Jerry

Callico wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 2:02pm:

gregory s wrote on Jul 10th, 2010 at 1:34pm: When I had my attack for 3 months in California, it got towhere all the OTC's were just making me sick. So I just stopped all together. And Thursday, just like back in California, the winds shifted, I sneezed and it was over.

God bless, and, please, maybe I missed something, but Gregory, you have at least 2 episodes per year lasting weeks to months at a time and have no O2, no tripans, no preventatives, and, in fact, have never seen a doc about these!?  You may be superman...

Please, let me also add my urging to Jerry's - See a doc - if this is CH, there are things that can help besides turning off the AC.  If it is not CH, then there may be even better things that may help. 

Please take care of yourself...
:-/