Have been having pretty good luck for past 2 years with Verapamil, but wondering what I may wanna try next when The Beast figures a way around it. My doctor is usually open to suggestions. (go figure)
Someone mentioned Prednizone? They said it can actually break a cycle sometimes. Any more info on this drug?

DAVE :-[

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For a small percentage of CH'ers, a short prednisone burst will abort an entire cycle. For most of us it just provides temporary relief while we wait for our prevent to kick in. Should verapamil begin to fail as a prevent you have a couple of options. Do explore the site Brew posted, non traditional methods which work quite well for many.

Lithium has been an effective prevent for me for many years. I started at 900 mg a day when on cycle, would block 80-90% of my attacks. As I've gotten older I've had to increase the dosing to 1200 mg a day, and it now blocks only about 60-70% of my attacks. Typical of the beasts ability to get past our blocks! Even at 1200 mg a day, if i didn't tell you I was on it you'd never know it.

Some have found success combining lithium and verapamil, we used to call it the chronic cocktail, when one or the other failed as a prevent.

Crossing my fingers verapamil doesn't lose its effectiveness for you.

joe

In the trade we call it, "anticipatory anxiety": fretting about something that may occur at some unknown time, thereby, inducing real, even disabling anxiety in the present.

Consider toying with "anticipatory relief": imaginging a new med, better than Verap.

Neither approach, of course, will change our lives but at the least the second one is not damaging.

Just musing.....

you guys dealt with any of the side effect of verap??

Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:22pm:

you guys dealt with any of the side effect of verap??

You mean like lethargy and impotence?

Yeah. Been there, done that, outgrew the t-shirt.

ImOnlyHuman wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 11:43am:

Have been having pretty good luck for past 2 years with Verapamil, but wondering what I may wanna try next when The Beast figures a way around it.

Hard to want to rock the boat when something's tried and true for you, but sometimes we have to not get complacent and have a next avenue explored. 

A usual change when using verap for the worse times is to increase it, and this may work.  Side effects will come into play more, which can affect many differently although there are many of the same general effects common, some can be managed, some not.

A general guideline with me is I don't mind verap up to 240mg a day and feel no side effects.  If this is similar for you, but as usual it may become insufficient, this would be a time to try and work in a regime of taking an amount seeds -- info from the clusterbuster's website.  This may make up the difference in needed preventive protection. 

In time you may find the verap may be lowered if they work well with you.

It's a combo I've done that was ok, as long as the seeds are consistent in amounts ranging from 25-45 at an interval that will need to be worked out to each individually.  It's good to start with less when first experimenting.

If episodic and cycles have been fairly predictable, starting the seeds before the cycle may even pleasantly surprise to help curtail that cycle altogether with their use. 

Something to look into.     :)



 

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Brew knows what he is talking about....   Do yourself a favor and check it out. ;)

Jeannie

Jeannie wrote on Apr 11^th, 2011 at 11:26am:

[quote author=0B3B2C3E490 link=1300031010/1#1 date=1300031976]START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE Brew knows what he is talking about....   Do yourself a favor and check it out. ;) Jeannie

I'm with Brew, if you want to do something that'll kick the beast's ass, this is it.

Mystina

Bob Johnson wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 1:22pm:

In the trade we call it, "anticipatory anxiety": fretting about something that may occur at some unknown time, thereby, inducing real, even disabling anxiety in the present. Consider toying with "anticipatory relief": imaginging a new med, better than Verap. Neither approach, of course, will change our lives but at the least the second one is not damaging. Just musing.....

Bob J - as usual, your wisdom has come to the fore...

What a wonderful thought!  Reframe the mental fear!  No, it may not always help; nor, may it remove all anxiety, but it would be a start to a healthier mind-set - which is something, I know at least that I suffer with when hit with this condition.

Thank you!

Bob Johnson wrote on Mar 13^th, 2011 at 1:22pm:

In the trade we call it, "anticipatory anxiety": fretting about something that may occur at some unknown time, thereby, inducing real, even disabling anxiety in the present. Consider toying with "anticipatory relief": imaginging a new med, better than Verap. Neither approach, of course, will change our lives but at the least the second one is not damaging. Just musing.....

Clusterbusters has enabled me to completely eliminate any anticipation, be it positive or negative. Granted, it took some time getting used to just living again without any type of CH anticipation - lessons that keep getting reinforced over a 20-year period can take a little time to get rid of. But it sure is nice not having to play these f*cked up mind games with myself anymore.

I get up in the morning and live, and I go to bed at night and sleep. Extremely beautiful in its simplicity.

Just started a cycle 1 week ago.   Predisone starting at 60 mg for 3 days and then  tapering works great at the beginning.  I also start Keppra at same time.  Is generic now and not very expensive.  I also take verapamil.  The Keppra does not stop the cycle but it sure cuts down on the pain.  It takes 1-2 weeks to kick in.

I'm with Brew and others in recommending you check out Clusterbusters.  If you are one however who cannot go that route for one reason or another as some of us cannot Kudzu might be an alternative for you.  I found Swansons Vitamins to be an excellent source, and used them for several years.  I got as results as good as Verap and without the side effects I got from it and Lithium.  I like the idea of one treatment every 3-6 months found at Clusterbusters over taking multiple pills every day and dealing with shadows and occasional breakthroughs.  Hypothetically speaking of course!

Jerry