once again I have been beaten by these bastards. I will make an appointment to go to the doctor and try it his way. I have made it 5 years without 1 single pill or shot, just hot showers and the patience needed to just hang in there. Have had these for 22 years. Tonight was my first strong seven in over 3 years, no idea why but god gave me a nice little 2 year break. A well deserved one that made me start to forget what the bad ones felt like. Well this 7 got me to wake up my wife to just sit with me while the worst was happening, I usually battle these on my own, in my own way. But this one reminded me that I do not have anything figured out and it may be best to start the oxygen and imitrex again. Anyone have luck with immediate caffeine or something natural that won't make me feel like I am relying on medicine? I know it's a control thing but I went way too many years medicating and I don't like the mental feeling the next day.

Sad when they come roaring back, isn't it? We have found slamming an energy drink (Red Bull, Rock Star, Monster...) can dramatically reduce abort times especially when coupled with high flow (25+lpm) O2. Read Batch's 123 days pain free...thread for some OTC preventatives and many of us have found high doses of melatonin (5-18mg) at night can be very helpful. But having said all that, we encourage you to visit your headache specialist. May be other reasons the pain has returned. Good luck and God bless. lance

What Lance said. Oxygen combined with an energy drink has proven a very capable 1-2 punch to abort the vast majority of my attacks in 6-8 minutes. 33 years of dancing with the beast and this continues to be my most effective weapon.

That being said, have you ever explored the "alternative" non main stream treatment approaches? Read this link, it gives a quick run down of the various options, most are illegal which is why we have  a seperate board dedicated to this. They are turning out some absolutely amazing success stories.

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Wishing you a short cycle this go round.

Joe

Thank you fellas, I am armed with some red bull and oxygen and hoping for some sleep tonight. I appreciate the advice and support. Be well

So.. Woke up to shadows, slammed a cup of dunkin doughnuts coffee (wife left me a thermos to try) grabbed my ice water and a shower. 10 min later, I'm good and never really went over a 2 or a 3. Going to bed again, I think the coffee helped tremendously. Saving the redbullmfor a big one..

Good to see that this is helping.

You might well find that caffeine in the middle of the night will stop you getting back to sleep, but you'll quickly get used to this, plus I'd take a sleepless night over a bad CH anytime.

Do experiment too, see what works best for you.

"Anyone have luck with immediate caffeine or something natural that won't make me feel like I am relying on medicine?"

This link will take you to a thread on Licorice Root Extract that you might find helpful. Some people have had success with it: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE


There is also a thread on Kilowatt3 here at CH.com that you may not have looked at... hope these are helpful,
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Wishing you PFDAN...
Dereksgirl

HATE it when 'he' comes slamming back (ghrrr)... I myself had a 4 yr break, it was wonderful.. but the beast is back.  Verapamil used to work as a prevent, but I found each time I took a dose (can't explain it), I was getting a TEN!  I have backed off to just 120m at nite for now.

I started Batch's 123 pfd remedy and also melatonin at nite (5mg reg, 5 mg extended release)... it seems the severity and duration, not to mention the frequency has been greatly reduced...  I've had only one 6 at night.  I do use 15lpm of O2 also.

I'm sorry the beast is back and I wish you a quick cycle... hope one of our tricks works for you... hang in there and best of luck.

Wendy