I use oxygen pretty much daily when I am getting cluster attacks--like now.  A few weeks ago, I read on this site that one can save money by buying oxygen from welding supply cos. So,  I went to a  place nearby, liked the people, and started buying as the savings was over 50%.  Now, a few weeks later, I feel weak, jittery all the time and like I have poison in my veins.  I seem to have had a stomach flu last weekend and do have a minor head cold.  I also seem to have had some adverse side effects to the lithium my neuro prescribed me to try to chase the clusters away so it is all hard to sort out.  From the reading I have done, I should be able to very easily smell any of the welding gas if there was any in the tanks I have been using and there clearly has not been any.   Any thoughts?  I am getting an H tank from my old medical supplier tomorrow.

Maybe it's the vicodin, demerol and oxycontin you never leave home without.

                         Potter

Potter may have something... I've looked at some of your other posts as well.  You are essentially under a polypharmacy regimen.  As such there's no way to tell what is causing the heebee geebee weeblees. 

I'm not aware of any posts linking illness to welder's O2.  Once your start using your Jolly Green Giant medical "H" cylinder you might have a better idea...

On the other hand, if there's no change in your condition, call your neurologist asap and tell him what you've been taking.  You appear to be dosing with enough powerful med's to put down an elephant.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Several on the board in the welding trades have posted about this, they say it's critical that their welding oxygen be pure or their welds come out faulty, so it's very rare there are any impurities introduced into their 02.

As with anything else, careful analysis of what's changed is critical to establishing what's causing your discomfort. You need to resist the urge to look at a quick and easy fix, as that's rarely the case. Definitely time to see the doc, evaluate what you're currently taking, figure out WHAT'S causing the problem, and adjust your regimen appropriately. Hang in there.

joe

Sounds to me like it's time to detox.

My husband used welding O2 for his last cycle. Never had a problem with it.

I haven't read your posts, but if Potter is saying you're using opiates, there's your answer to why have "poison in your veins".  Unfortunately detoxing is going to suck, but your life is more valuable. 

Read Svenn's link and let it sink:

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Chad,

we tried talking with him about opiate detox some time back and were thoroughly rebuffed.  He doesn't believe he has a problem.  Further discussion with him is futile.

Jerry

As for the dif between Med o2 and welding o2 I was told by
the guys that fill both types.

Med O2 they evacuate the can first

Welding can of O2 Just gets filled

Was told that was only difference.

So, should at most have just a bit of outside air.

Peace,

Boski  ;)

I was prescribed Vicodin for my first 6 months of CH, in heavy doses. 2 tabs every 4 hours, as needed. I'd have to say, I did use it often because it really did take the bite out of the cluster attacks. For me it was not an addiction. In fact, I tried to avoid it at all cost because generally I would restrict myself from important meetings, driving, etc. while on it. I would say though, that overall, it helped. I was not a doped up zombie by any means, just careful.

When I stopped taking it, I didn't really have any sort of physical dependency but I feared not having it. It was the only solution for me at the time that had any effect. Quite honestly, I haven't found a suitable replacement for reducing my baseline headache other than nerve blocks. I'm not really sure which is worse.

That said, I have stopped the Vicodin under the direction of the headache center, primarily because they feel that it is a catalyst for rebound headaches. I believe that. I also believe that many can become addicted to it. I had a form of addition, not physical but the fear of not having it was strong.

You can judge me if you want. I was just following doctors orders, which is I think what reptile is doing. I pass no judgement, just provide my own experience and advice. Nobody that I know of has a corner on CH therapy and everyone demands their own solution that works for them.

-Chris

Chris,

I make no judgement of one following Drs. orders.  You were in the beginning stages of dependency, a psychological addiction that preceeds physical addiction in most cases.  I went through the same thing when first diagnosed years ago, and although I have been off the opioids and narcotics for CH for 30 years whenever I'm prescribed Vicodin, Percocet, or any of the other abusable drugs for dental work or injury I'll take no more than one because that one leaves me with the feeling that just one more will make it all better. 

My issue is with people who are using narcs and opiates and are in denial about what it is doing to or for them.  When I post about the attendant dangers they want to argue and defend.  Personally, I don't care what another does for their CH IF they do it with knowledge and don't try to defend the indefensible and lead newbies down the wrong path.  Opiates have been discredited with very few exceptions as a treatment for CH, and I don't want to see someone else go through what I did, or even worse what Swenn did.  (see his post stickied at the top "Dancing with the Devil.")

Jerry

Jerry,
That's a noble cause and part of the reason we're all here. I don't really like the moniker "newbie", or even ranking on the site such as junior, senior, etc. It's only relative to time and participation on this site, not an indication of experience or knowledge about CH or other matters. I don't expect many "newbies" coming here are going to take one poster's opinion as gospel, especially if it doesn't make sense and is surrounded with reasonable testimony to the contrary. In fact, I think differing points of view on the site make for better reading and help people evaluate some of the thoughts they may have had that are similar. There's no need to cast aspersions or attack someone personally (I'm not saying you did) with a differing opinion. It's easy enough to provide more accurate information, grounded with facts and references.

As far as helping someone see the light who refuses to listen to reason, well, sometimes all we can do is keep trying. We all know that staying on opiates and narcotics is not healthy and can form addiction. In some cases, it can become out of control, akin to heroine or crack addiction. "Tough love" only really works when it represents the potential of deep personal loss, which I don't believe we have the power of. We do have the power of caring, nurturing, and educating.

-Chris

The problem was not oxygen.  It was an adverse reaction to lithium--which I had never taken before. It was prescribed by my neuro for clusters but led to hellish symptoms.  As for narcotics, I started rebounding to them back in early September, so I haven't been using any since then.  Because I am not an addict and can use these meds as prescribed, I am able to take them when they are useful and not take them when they are not.

Potter, for some reason, has taken a dislike to me and when, as here, I ask a reasonable question about oxygen tanks, chosen to attack me about narcotic use without stopping to ask whether or not I am even taking narcotics now.  Lawyers call this "assuming facts not in evidence."  I call it unfriendly.

More pertinently, folks might want to take a moment and look up side effects of lithium.  I had some (emotional lability) right away.  But only after 3+ weeks did it get really intense.  Much like a nervous breakdown.  Luckily, I had my sister and mother--both neurologists, as well as my neuro of 22 yrs to consult with and figure it out. 

Thanks to the folks here who responded with thoughtful answers.

the reptile

reptile wrote on Oct 7^th, 2010 at 4:22pm:

To Potter: I never leave home w/ Vicodin just like I always have O2 in the car and in my office: so that my tools are always available.  I set forth how often I use Vicodin in my post: that you chose to ignore that information (which works out to maybe once for every 5 or 8 times I have it with me, something like that), and told me I have a "problem," choosing to judge me rather than looking at the data I presented.  Who has a problem?  In this case, about judging. My Neuro has been closely monitoring my Narcotics usage (she has written every script I have ever had) for 22 years.  She knows my brother is an addict as does every one around me, including my wife.  As I said before, my Neuo believes that I am among the small percentage of CH sufferers who can use narcotics as a tool with CH. My mother and sister, both neuros (who both have been, obviously, intimately involved in the horrors of my brother's addiction for many years), follow all of this closely. And yet you judge me.  How do you know more than everyone who is involved in my care and care's so much about me?  How is it that I can go 8 months (like I did until my cycle started 7 weeks or so ago) without taking any narcotics) if I have such a "problem?"  Who the hell are you to talk to me the way you do? Ten days or so ago, I expressed some misgivings about how I was being responded to on this site.  Some folks have been warm and welcoming.  Others . . . well. I guess it takes all kinds. peace on the planet, thee reptile

         This is from October seventh.  I don't have feelings toward your computer one way nor the other.  I know how junkies twist the truth.

            Potter

Potter, who has never met me, has decided I am a junkie.  My wife, family, doctors, all those that live and work with me and have known me for many years know otherwise.

That Potter apparently is helpful to people on this site is good thing.

That he cherry picks some of my comments (in a way that would make him the laughing stock of courtrooms I frequent) to make the argument that I abuse narcotics is silly and without merit.  Why he has made a crusade of it, I have no idea.  As I have said, I use those meds as a tool like others.  Sometimes they work for me, sometimes they don't (like when they rebound). Like when they started in September of this year and I stopped using them.

My main tools are oxygen, triiptans and verapimil.  When I am away from home and not near the oxygen (it happens), I use vicodin and sometimes demoral or oxycodone.  Get over it, Potter.

thee reptile

You're absolutely right about my lack of skills concerning lawyering.  I have never won one argument with a narcotics user  even when I argued with myself about my abuse. So laugh me out of court. We always got an excuse to use.

             Potter

Quote:

My main tools are oxygen, triiptans and verapimil.  When I am away from home and not near the oxygen (it happens), I use vicodin and sometimes demoral or oxycodone.  Get over it, Potter.

O2, triptans, verapamil, add to that lithium and using vicodin, Demerol and oxycodone....whew, that's a lot of stuff in your system at once, man. I remember your posts, too, and yes, we have occasional discussions about the use of narcotics and chs. When I was getting hit so hard every day for so long...I did ask for some narcotic help (oxycodone) to assist with the aftereffect pain that made my eye and head throb between hits, but used sparingly and carefully. I don't ever remember refilling a RX though, just having it around was helpful, maybe more so than actually using it.

My point is: you've got a lot of stuff going on inside of you. I wonder if perhaps it isn't time to wean off a bunch of it, and try something else? I was taking cafergot for years and finally just broke off of it with no increase in hits. I was taking it because I used to take it, and it was doing far more harm than good.

You know best about your body, reptile, but it sounds as if your body is reacting and I think that should cause you to ask...is what I'm taking really working?

Just musings. Blessings! lance

Lance, Great point! I've gone through a few rounds, when I look at my daily pills piling up, of reviewing everything with my doc and knocking out everything I don't absolutely need. At the end of the day, prescription meds are poison to the body given in measured dosages. The fewer the better. -Chris

I felt similarly when on lithium and i was on a relatively low dose.
I developed toxicity....tremors, slurred speech, bells palsey like look, flat affect.
Once off it reversed.

Quote:

We always got an excuse to use

Amen to that brother!!!