Hello, really glad to have found this site. I can tell it is going to be a great help to me. Great info and just knowing that there are people out there who go through the same issues I do.

Please take a look and give me some feedback if you can. I'm completely open at this point to try anything new. The inside of my bathroom door isn't going to make it past this cycle if I don't figure something out.

I'm 51 and in my second year of diagnosed CH. Last year my cycle ended right around the winter equinox, this year it started, much stronger, after the equinox.

I take a multi vitamin (old man vitamin), 5000 units D3, 100 mg Topamax twice daily, and have some serequeol on hand for sleeping at nite that I don't take when cycling since it's just wasteful. My O2 is the small 1742 liter size with the crappy mask (ordering one from the store soon); I swapped it out this morning. It lasted a little less than 72 hours. I hoard whatever migrinal I can get my hands on for when I'm away from my oxygen. Use ice packs with the O2 and standing under a very hot shower seems to help me quite a bit. I keep a log of headaches/details.

In the last seven days I've had from 3 to seven starts a day. I've basically been close to home those days and been able to handle all of these pretty well except the the waker uppers. Every nite I get one that is too far along to stop it. Nothing stops it. Migrinal is just a waste at these times.

I'm an insulin dependant diabetic. Have no health insurance at this time. Collect unemployment until June. A little bit of stress, but I'm actually in a great mental space for me. I pulled the bottle away from my lips on Dec 26 and weaned myself completely off the effexor I was taking (originally for anxiety) and have a clean and clear mind. I don't think the lack of these two items have anything to do with my CH?

Thanks in advance for your help.

You're on the right path with the oxygen, used correctly your abort times should be under 10 minutes. A not too lengthy read for you just to make sure you're getting maximum effectiveness:

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Non prescription abortive, energy drinks. Any containing caffiene and taurine, I prefer sugar free red bull just for taste. Chugged at the first sign of an attack many can abort or reduce attacks. I chug one when I fire off the oxygen. Seems to speed the abort and put off the come backer attacks.

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Click on this link and scroll to the top of the thread. It's an overview of non traditional meds for CH. They're not traditional medicines but it's hard to argue with the success rate they are having over there. Certainly worth a look and a read.

Consider the following supplement routine, got me through a tough stint during my last cycle. It alters your arterial PH to make you less succeptible to attacks. Magnesium, Zinc and Calcium with Vitamin D, washed down with fresh lemonade, up to 4X a day. I never went above 3X a day and it really helped me through a high cycle.

I use lithium as my prevent. I'm almost 51, a 33 year CH'er, episodic. At 1200 mg a day lithium blocks about 60-70% of my hits. I suggest it because even with no prescription coverage it's dirt cheap. Takes a little bit of blood work the first few weeks...which might prove too costly for you at this point, but a definite option to keep in mind.

I'm not one of the more educated on the chemical side of CH so I'll let someone else weigh in regarding the meds you've discontinued. Welcome to the board, hope we can help you a bit. What part of the world do you hail from?

Joe

HI JSM!
Welcome to the board!


Quote:

I'm actually in a great mental space for me

That's the spirit Mate!...a lot of this shit is fought from within too!

Are you using the recommended flow rate for your O2?

Partner in Pain

Respect

Gary

expert im not, but experience tells me, we become chemically unbalanced, biorythmically controlled. has to be.  stress affects so much in us- we feel what we think ,so critical to me, important more than medicine! stay consistant, avoid chaos ways and depressants, dont mess with nature! healthy foods with vitamins too much! one a day did not help but colored my pee, probably hurt more chemically. i know sleep at consistant time and amount helps there. try anything? free your mind before sleep-meditation-20mins. consistancy will reduce stress affect. we are same! brother!

justshootme wrote on Feb 21^st, 2011 at 4:13pm:

I don't think the lack of these two items have anything to do with my CH?

I don't think the lack of those two has anything to do with your CH either.  :)

The more you hang around with us here, the more you'll notice that Guiseppi/Joe goes right for the jugular :D. He will hit you right off with some tremendously good suggestions, gleaned from years of seeing what really really works for people, so I suggest absorbing everything he throws out there.  :)

Besides the high flow O2 and clusterbusters approach, both of which have made such a  difference for so many clusterheads now, you could consider melatonin (over the counter), starting at 9 mg, going up as high as 21 mg before bed. it does knock out the night hits for some of our CH brethren. And sistren.  :)

Thanks everyone. I think I've got a window for some sleep - I'm gonna take it while I can but be back soon. Man, feels good to have found this place. :)

Quote:

I pulled the bottle away from my lips on Dec 26 and weaned myself completely off the effexor I was taking (originally for anxiety) and have a clean and clear mind. I don't think the lack of these two items have anything to do with my CH?

By bottle I assume you mean alcohol? Most of us (but not all of us) find alcohol is an instant trigger for a hit. Staying away from it while in cycle, or if chronic, can at least avoid that triggering event. Stress can also be a trigger, and coming off anything to which we've become accustomed, or habituated, can be stressful. All in all, though, it looks like you're on the right path. Pleasant dreams, and blessings! lance