Hi to all..i'm a CH sufferer,first time was about 11 yrs ago. Just a one-off,woke with the Ch about 2am n it went off suddenly! After that it was 2005,about 2-3 episodes a day for maybe 6 weeks.I was given low-dosage Anti-depressants,Beta-Blockers,offered Acupuncture,etc..all to no avail.And as suddenly as they started,they were gone.

At the time i was Given 2 x CAT scans and 1 MRI scan,all normal [for an unrelated medical issue,i should add]. Upon meeting with the Neurologists to discuss the results,i mentioned the symptoms,etc of the headaches and he diagnosed CH,tho' said that the cure could be worse than the pains! Needless to say,i didn't pursue the treatment!

I started suffering a sore neck/shoulder yesterday and recognised it as a warning of CH returning..seems ok atm,only 1 small headache so far [this evening] and after looking on Wiki i've treat it with some adult "activity",it's alleviated it by 90% at least! :D

Obv it's on my profile,i'm from North East England in the UK...is that enough info? Probs too much! ;D

Yuri

Yuri,

Welcome aboard.  You've come to the right place.  Lots of CH'ers here with lots of experience having spent thousands of years collectively in your shoes...  They've been there and have the T-shirts, old bottles of ineffective medications to prove it.  They will be here to answer your questions so don't be afraid to ask them.

The best thing going as a cluster headache abortive is oxygen therapy.  To be really effective, the oxygen flow rate needs to be at least 25 liters/minute.  That's a flow rate high enough to support hyperventilation.  Sounds wild...  but it's not.  A flow rate of 25 liters/minute is very safe and very effective with abort times two to three times faster than aborts with a flow rate of 15 liters/minute. 

BTW, an Rx for oxygen therapy at 15 liters/minute is about the highest flow rate you'll get prescribed for a while so you're going to need to buy your own 0-25 liter/minute oxygen regulator or better yet, buy one that's capable of 0-60 liters/minute.  Again, flow rates this high sound scary but they're not...  If you ran up a couple flights of stairs or did jumping jacks for 30 seconds, your level of lung ventilation would be pushing 50 liters/minute and you probably never gave that a second thought...

Many of us have been using the anti-inflammatory regimen as a CH preventative... To date, it's proving to be 75% effective.  Many if not all of the CH'ers who've posted favorable responses have gone pain free...  It took a few only two days and most two weeks to finally go pain free while taking this regimen.

You can read their posts on the thread titled 123 Days PF and I Think I Know Why at the following link:

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It's a long post so take the time to read all the responses.

If you want to see the leading Standard of Care recommendations in treating our disorder, take a look at the following link:

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It will take you to the EFNS guidelines on the treatment of cluster headache and other trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias.  The team of neurologists who prepared these recommendations see more CH'ers in one week than most neurologists see in a lifetime.

You'll also note the following chart when you go to this thread:

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Check the top of the list for the first acute treatment and abortive of choice...

Take care and again, Welcome Aboard.

V/R, Batch

Quote:

he diagnosed CH,tho' said that the cure could be worse than the pains! Needless to say,i didn't pursue the treatment!

I don't know about anyone else but this set off a whole set of alarm bells for me. First, I cannot imagine what cure could be worse than the pain of unmitigated Cluster attacks. Second, what "cure" did he have in mind? Even something as drastic as occipital nerve stimulation is preceded (one would hope) with a host of tried and true prevents, intermediates and abortives prior to making that decision. So what was meant here, if you don't mind sharing? Just wondering. We run into so many malformed medical opinions around here, from doctors as well as lay folk. God bless. lance

Oh yeah, I forgot to add: third, there is no cure, just managment. blessings. lance

Welcome to the board Yuri. There are numerous treatments available to substantially reduce the impact CH's have on your life. There are preventative meds, Verapamil, Lithium and Topomax. There are abortives available, Oxygen, Imitrex injectables and nasal sprays, there are alternative treatments that are helping many of our sufferers, visit our sister board   clusterbusters.com

I'm glad you found us, it's the first step in getting yourself educated on CH. An educated CH'er hurts a lot less. ;)

Joe

Welcome Yuri,

Plenty of support here and plenty to learn. I know I personally have found relief, experience and help on this site, great group of people here.

Read all you can and familiarize yourself with the site and all it has to offer.

I agree with Joe, knowledge and education is our greatest power when it comes to the Beast.

All the best,

Baer