I have lived with and suffered from cluster headaches for 26 years . They started at age 26 and I am now 52 year old male. Evidently my grandfather suffered also but no one knew what to do. My father told me he would stand in the doorway with a bag of peas on his neck or temple.I did not receive a proper diagnosis for 8 years. my cycle is usually 14 months pain free and then 8 to 10 weeks of hell. Precursors start and last 1or 2 weeks and then they get worse for 7or 8 weeks and then I sleep 10 hours and they are gone until the next cycle. I have tried every med, oxygen, accupuncture chiropractic, naturopath without success.Out of the 5 books I have read and various websites 2 years ago my sister a Nurse sent me a book called how to "How to Heal your Headache" I have abstained from alcohol during Cluster cycle for years and ate what I thought was a "CLEAN" diet. What I learned from this book was a great list of "Trigger" foods the ones that stood out for me was CAFFEINE,EGGS, CITRUS FRUITS and CITRUS JUICES and the list went on to reveal a lot of fodds that I did not know could trigger Cluster headaches. Like most books I have read the info on clusters is brief. I ELIMINATED CAFFEINEand ALCOHOL and used the NICOTINE PATCH to STOP SMOKING and other trigger foods and almost immediately the frequency and intensity of my Cluster headaches was greatly reduced. I went 23 MONTHS CLUSTER FREE before they started up.I had started SMOKING again drinking 3 to 5 cups  Of COFFEE DAILY and eating "TRIGGER" FOODS" BANG!!! thet were back. It is not EASY to EAT A CLEAN DIET AND to GIVE UP SMOKING
DRINKING and CAFFEINE. I would HIGHLY RECOMEND to              ANYONE to buy, borrow and pass on  "HOW TO HEAL YOUR HEADACHE" and ELIMINATE CAFFEINE, ALCOHOL And TRIGGER FOODS. IT is NOT EASY to do this but it is the only thing I have FOUND in 26YEARS that HELPS.When I go on this DIET the FREQUENCY,SEVERITY INTENSITY of my Clusters is GREATLY REDUCED. I still get clusters BUT I SLEEP 6 or 7 HOURS a NIGHT I never NAP but I keep 1.5 liters of WATER and GREEN APPLES beside my bed. I take 2 MELATONIN 15 minutes before bed time and when I wake up with a CLUSTER I immediately drink HALF the WATER and EAT the APPLE. This usually cut my morning Cluster down to 10 or 15 minute instead of 45 MINUTES of PAIN. WE can only HELP to HEAL EACH OTHER doctors Can"t HEAL US. I HOPE this information helps you  and everyone who suffers from CLUSTER HEADACHES.PASS IT ON

Who's the author, and are you in any way connected to him or her?

Quote:

when I wake up with a CLUSTER I immediately drink HALF the WATER and EAT the APPLE. This usually cut my morning Cluster down to 10 or 15 minute instead of 45 MINUTES of PAIN.

We are happy to hear this has worked for you.  For the rest of us who have tried everything...well, we'll stick to our magic bullet 02. 

Is it just me? Whenever I SEE WORDS IN CAPS in a post, I IMMEDIATELY THINK sales pitch. MAYBE IT ISN'T but it feels like one TO ME.  lance

Not everyone is thrilled with this book.  It is also directed at people with migraines, so maybe JD doesn't have clusters?

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A few excerpts.

"I know David Buchholz’s treatment approach is effective for a lot of people. I am truly happy for them. Buchholz’s snarky attitude and shaky underlying evidence is the problem."

"His conviction that that people who “fail” with his approach likely don’t follow it to the letter or are attention-seekers is offensive. And, oh yeah, he dismisses scientific research that he doesn’t agree with and blames other doctors for making themselves not believe in food triggers."

'As you already know, I can’t stand him or his self-important book. I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s so money hungry and in love with himself that he can’t see straight. He does us such a disservice with his blathering."

"Then there are his absurd comments about medications…

“Acetaminophen, aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium do not cause rebound headaches.” Yeah, right. All of the true clinical trials on rebound and the peer-reviewed journal articles that say they do cause rebound are wrong, and he’s right. I think not.

Plus, he says that triptans and opioids have to be limited to two days a MONTH to avoid rebound. No, two days a week will keep most people out of rebound. Wouldn’t you hate to be one of his patients with frequent Migraines? What does he tell them? To go home and take acetaminophen or ibuprofen?

Ugh!
Teri"

Apparently JD was a one and go.    Oh heavy sigh.. ;)

Gosh. I was really looking forward to spending money on a book from which he stood to gain nothing.

Telling most people around here to quit caffeine is a waste of time.
I also would encourage people to quit caffeine, to see if it does help reduce the # of hits they get.    

I'm also thinking JD doesn't have Clusters.
I've tried giving up caffeine. I also did a cleansing diet, gave up red meat, did a colon cleanse.... you name it. Nothing helped. I've eliminated every "trigger" food I've read about and even temped fate by eating them on purpose but found no difference.  The headaches kept comin' on.

The one thing that does seem to trigger them is alcohol (while in cycle).  Oh yeah, the other certain trigger is deep relaxing luscious sleep filled with vibrant dreams, but unfortunately I can't control that.