My name is Brandon, and I thought I was going through this alone. I have some sense of sanity now knowing I'm not the only one. I am coming off a 5 week chronic cycle.... I hope.I am a husband and father of 2. I have been suffering for almost twelve years. Prior to this cycle I was 2 years PF, that has been my longest relief. If I can help anyone in any way please let me know.

Hi Brandon and Welcome to this community!

We could all do with a sense of sanity here! The more the merrier Ha!

Can you tell us what meds you are currently taking and do they suit you?
Are you on the correct use of O2?
(have a look at the pane in yellow re oxygen info, on the left)

The Cavalry will be along soon with more questions and advice for you....

In the meantime, pull up a chair and make yourself at home!

Regards

Gary

Hey Brandon,

Well I think you'll be happy to find that folks around here have taken matters into their own hands, as you are now doing, pooled their knowledge, and actually compiled some info on ways that many of us can achieve some significant relief. Hell I know I was overjoyed when what I learned here revolutionized my experience!

There are some very good people like Batty who has already pointed you at the #1 most ultra popular abortive 'round here. If you're not already aware of it, we're not talking about the weak, ineffective old school method of O2 use that most doctors still prescribe, we're talking power user CH aborts for those who have had enough of this s**t!!

Please read up so you'll be as prepared as possible to lay a max wallop on the beast next time he comes a knockin'.

[technical note: it sounds to me like your CH would be categorized as episodic. Chronics have have CH year round with little or no break, if you can imagine such a thing.  :(]

Welcome Brandon!
This message board has been a second family to me and I believe my wife is somewhat jealous of the time I've spent here!   :)
There are many suggestions you can find by cruising the posts.  Try them all and see what works best for you. 
Oxygen is a wonderful thing and was a great help to me during this last cycle.  There's also a great anti-inflammatory vitamin supplement regimen under the post "123 days pain free and I think I know why" some of us have used that with excellent results.
Keep us posted on your progress.
Take care!
-Gary

Welcome to the board, I hated how the beast used to screw up the time I had with my girls when they were little. You never get that back. >:(

peruse the following 2 links:

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

The first details how to best utilize oxygen. I have my abort times down to 6-8 minutes. Really miraculous stuff considering the 90-120 minute rides I used to take!

The second discusses alternative therapies that have shown great success, especially for some of our tougher cases.

When you get a second, detail your prevent and abortive strategy, we just wanna make sure you're not missing out on some of the latest and greatest stuff...give you a little more quality time with those kids! ;)

welcome home.

joe

I am currently uninsured and paying cash for my meds. I am taking 100mg sumatriptan tabs and 40mg of inderal twice a day. I am taking no preventatives and have basically been shrugged off by every doc I have seen over the years. I am certainly open to suggestions and appreciate them. I said I was having chronic cluster headaches because I have been having roughly 5 per 24 hours and they have been ranging from 6-10 on the kip scale, I am sorry if I misappropriated the term. I am going to try to sleep now. Goodnight all

Don't sweat the technical details, you're head hurts, that sucks, we want it to stop!

Since you're uninsured, pay special attention to the information on welding oxygen in that 02 link. It's dirt cheap, and it's the same stuff they put in the medical tanks. Welders require the same purity of 02 the medical community uses, otherwise their welds fail. Many on this board have been using it for years.

Also, really check out the clusterbusters site. The link I gave you goes right to a posting detailing the different strategies available. Everything from mushrooms to RC seeds. While not traditional medicine, their success rates are tough to argue with.

Wishing you some peace and pain free time soon, high cycle sucks. :-/

Joe

Hope you got some sleep, man. And since you're awake and reading this, I second everything you've been told so far. And I would add just a couple of insights: first, I hope the tabs are working for you, but they don't seem all that effective for most. Are they that much cheaper than injections? And if you're seeing a doc, is he/she a headache specialist? They can give you samples, and the drug companies might as well if you wrote to them. Also, you can research on this site things like melatonin, kudzu, energy drinks and vitatmin D3/fish oil/ph diet stuff that is nonprescriptive and has helped many of us a lot. So heads up, read much and quickly, take notes, and get back to us on what's working and what's not. Blessings. lance

Hi Brandon - the imitrex injections are so much more effective than the pills, but very costly indeed.

One important thing to be aware of is the imitrex tip that details how to stretch injection doses in a way that will save you 50% to 66% expenditure while lessening the side effect risk.
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I think I have used a couple metric tonlaods of trex injections over the years  :P but like so so many here I've been very happy to have switched to high liter flow 100% O2 as my first line abortive (personally I do still also keep trex injection$ on hand as a backup just in case).