Hello Everyone,My name is Vanessa,Im 36 and began suffering just migraines at 13,yet over the years they progressed to episodic CH and have recently became chronic w/ no relief in sight.I was tking Topamax n Wellbutrin300xl and that gave me some relief,but insurance dont like to pay for name brand of either of those and generic dont help at all,besides that a month ago I lost all ins.and now am taking nothing becuz I can afford the medication that only partialy helped w/ the frequency.So here Iam waking up between 2:30 to 4am w My horrible pain,this morning it was 3:45 to be excact,My Eye tearing,sweating the left side of my head in so much pain I jumped up and paced the floor as it intensified,I considered banging my head thru the glass window,holding my temlples like my hands were a vice grip,to no avail.the pain was horrible I swear it must be like my brain is exploding.my left eye on fire.After an hour it was gone.Only to return at 2pm.And probally again if I sleep tonite....So Im afraid to Sleep,but Im so drained,I feel tottally wiped out after evry attack,the worst of it is I have a 3yr old 3month old and five year old.Im consumed w/this pain.How am I supose to be a good mom,I feel so hopeless I read some of these post and tears rolled down my face I can so relate to you all.Thank you for being here!Love and Pain,Vanessa :'(

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Thank God you found us Vanessa.

It's nice and all to find others that know what you're going through, but much more importantly IMO, CH'ers (myself for example) often find significant relief with the help of info and advice found here.

Although your loss of insurance may feel like a disaster for your CH, it turns out some of the very best, most effective treatments don't require a doctor.

Take this seriously and you could be finding some real relief soon. Really.

High flow, 100% oxygen (which is NOT how doctors usually prescribe it) is an excellent abortive and can be rented cheapest without a prescription from welding supply places. The oxygen info link to the left of this page is a must read.

A relatively new hot topic here is a high dose vitamin D3 regimen which has some chronics reporting going into remission. Here's the link: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Then there's the very successful clusterbusters approach. There are chronics over at the clusterbusters.com message board who are chronic no more thanks to this most powerful preventative, in use by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Please read this Newsweek article about clusterbusters for starters: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Melatonin - doses from between 9 to 18 mg before bed will prevent the night hits for some of us.

Meanwhile, tonight, before you're able to take action procuring your new CH fighting arsenal, have you tried the trick where you run to the car at onset of an attack and deeply breathe the freezing air with your nose up to the blasting A/C vent? That can abort an attack for some of us some of the time.

Welcome home, and here's to a whole new, much improved chapter in your CH experience. :)

Some relief can come from drinking an energy drink with caffeine and taurine in it at the onset and holding an icepack to your affected temple area.

Bejeeber and Kevin have given you some excellent advice. I'll repeat pone of them......

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

Read the oxygen link. You can get welding oxygen dirt cheap, it's the same stuff as the medical grade oxygen. My aborts run 6-8 minutes using 02, great stuff.

And really check out the clusterbusters site.....non traditionl medicine and their success rates are phenomenal. Keep reading, we need to get you back to being a mommy again. Welcome home.

Joe