Hello everyone my name is John and I've been an episodic sufferer for the past 6 years. I am a nurse, so some of the abortive remedies are close at hand. My CH's began 6 years ago, i went through all the CT's and MRI's and even an Ophthalmologist to be told at the end by a general practioner that i was experiencing CH's and to prepare myself for a long road. He offered some free samples of Zomig and recommended a prophylactic treatment with verapamil. Being knowledgeable of this med , I quickly rejected it. After further research, i stumbled upon this website and learned about the 02 therapy and quickly began used it at work. It worked!! well it worked while I was on shift, because in the middle of the night around 2-3 am at home, only my Zomig was at hand and that only took the edge off. Well to make a long story short, several years passed and throughout those years my headaches would come during the spring or summer seasons, lasting from 2 to 3 months and averaging a daily headache. Fortunately and inexplicably I've been in remission for the last two years..until 3 weeks ago. I dusted off my old 02 tank and got a hold of some triptans. I came back and visited this website to see if I could learn of any new abortive techniques or meds. I read on another site the possibility of aborting an attack through exercise. So far this year i've had 3 attacks, one major one that lasted 3 hours! I think I exacerbated that one by popping a vicodin out of desperation(bad idea), I think it rebounded my headache. Anyway, 3 nights ago I started to feel the sharp stabbings coming 3 minutes apart( I call them my brain contractions), they got 2 minutes apart and I decided to run in place at a fast rate for 3 mins. The pain seem to dissipate and the stabbings got further apart. I ran in place again for another three mins, noting that my pulse rate was in the 140's. To my amazement the headache left but just to make sure, I did another vigorous 3 mins and I was able to abort the attack completely! the next night at 3am the same scenario came about and I did my running in place and was able to abort the attack without the use of my 02 or my triptans. Last night it hit me again at 2 am, this time I was in a full sleep and the stabbings were about a minute apart, after two sessions of running in place, the pain was still there just as strong as it began, this time I put on my non-rebreather and set the dial to 15L on my tank, after 5 mins of exercise I was able to abort the attack. To all those who are reading this post, you just don't imagine how elated I am to know that vigorous exercise is working for me at this time. For all of you out there who have not tried this, please give it a shot. Try running  3 mins at a time and attempt to bring your heart rate to the 140's or 150's, rest for 2 mins and then repeat it until you abort that monster! If after two sessions the attack still seems imminent, put on that face mask if you have tho 02 available. Good luck to all and I wish you the best. I thank God for this site, because through it I have found a lot of support.

In my 20's vigorous exercise would lessen an attack, but never abort it. :( Glad it's working for you. If the 02 starts to lose it's effectiveness, don't hesitate to dial it up. Some go up to the 25-45 LPM range, and find they shorten their abort times.

Verapamil does have some side effects, but is still a front line prevent as it's effective for many. I use lithium as my prevent, at 1200 mg it used to block 80-90% of my attacks, as I've aged it's lost its effectiveness, down to about 60-70% now. (I'm 50 now!)

Sorry you got the black marble but good to hear another health care professional is spreading the information about CH to others in the field. Glad you found us, hope we can help you a bit!

Joe

Thanks for the welcome Joe, I will definitely try out the Verapamil if it becomes necessary. I just worry about hypotension and getting lightheaded at work or even worse...hitting the floor or passing out while driving. Those of us in the medical profession worry too much about these side effects. Another thing Lithium really scares me!!

I did 30 years in law enforcement, so lithium scared the hell outta me too, on reputation alone! ;D

At 1200 mg a day, my beat partners and even my wife couldn't even tell I was on it. I've been using it for my episodes for over 20 years, still haven't suffered any side effects. Your mileage may vary! ;)

joe

Hey John, glad to see the exercise is working as an abort for ya!

This has been discussed on many occasions here, and yep for some of us, vigorous exercise can abort an attack.

I find that during the first "ramp up" week of an episode it can work for me, as can deep breathing of freezing air through the nose. So theoretically going outside and and exercising in the feezing air (if available) can be an effective combo.

Alas, after that first week it fails me but I'll take every week I can get!

Here's hoping it continues to work consistently for you.  :)

JOHN J wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2011 at 12:27am:

Thanks for the welcome Joe, I will definitely try out the Verapamil if it becomes necessary. I just worry about hypotension and getting lightheaded at work or even worse...hitting the floor or passing out while driving. Those of us in the medical profession worry too much about these side effects. Another thing Lithium really scares me!!

I get it; but I have to tell ya, the idea of unmanaged CHs at the worst times scares me even more. Pick your fiddler and call out the tune, or dance to the beasts beat. I don't like the "feeling" I get from the verapamil, but it's better than the feeling I get from a Kip 10. Good luck, and I pray the running keeps working for you. Blessings. lance