Hi all.  Just wanted to share my story for anyone who is looking to try anything.

The demon started for me about age 19.  I'm 40. About age 30 i went to a specialist.  He gave me Fioricet.  Changed my life.
two years ago i found the term Cluster Headaches, and went to another specialists for a 2nd opinion. He suggested I stay on the Fioricet and he write my scripts now.

He doesnt confirm or deny that is what I have.  But it is.  I know it from reading on here and what docs have written about them.

My demon comes in cycles.  usually 2 cycles a year, around the seaon change(i'm in Chicago)

My cycles last 6-8 weeks and at the peak, I get 3 a day.  My demon stays for about 1 hour, but during peak I can have shadows that last for hours.

Anyway, if nothing else has worked for your demon, I'd highly recommend talking to your doc about this option.  Like i said, changed my life.  I would have cut my eye out with a fork if I thought it would help me.  Good luck

jrock wrote on Nov 15^th, 2011 at 6:22pm:

Hi all.  Just wanted to share my story for anyone who is looking to try anything. The demon started for me about age 19.  I'm 40. About age 30 i went to a specialist.  He gave me Fioricet.  Changed my life. two years ago i found the term Cluster Headaches, and went to another specialists for a 2nd opinion. He suggested I stay on the Fioricet and he write my scripts now. He doesnt confirm or deny that is what I have.  But it is.  I know it from reading on here and what docs have written about them. My demon comes in cycles.  usually 2 cycles a year, around the seaon change(i'm in Chicago) My cycles last 6-8 weeks and at the peak, I get 3 a day.  My demon stays for about 1 hour, but during peak I can have shadows that last for hours. Anyway, if nothing else has worked for your demon, I'd highly recommend talking to your doc about this option.  Like i said, changed my life.  I would have cut my eye out with a fork if I thought it would help me.  Good luck

Not a chance.

     Potter

Barbiturate drugs are counter productive to effective CH treatment. 

I think when I was first diagnosed correctly, Fioricet was one of the prescriptions I had written for me. Honestly, it's been so damn long, I don't remember what happened with that but I'm guessing I had short term relief but eventually my straw house caved in again. Granted, even my shortest cycle was over three months so it could have had something to do with that.

My philosophy about treatment is simple; if it works for you, it works. There are treatments that work for dozens of people on the site that don't do a thing for others...hell, even the tried and true O2 methods don't work for some. I'm sure, outside of lack of numbers, research and the obvious factors, the hardest thing about tracking down relief for the symptoms is that there is very little consistency from one person to the next...or even crazier, one cycle to the next with the SAME person.

I do have to agree with what LasVegas said about barbituates, however...especially over the long term. Definitely be careful, whatever you choose.

Un

Works well on my tension headaches but doesn't touch my ch.

I was given fiorinal in the early 80's. It was the first medication I'd been given which actually seemed to attack the CH mechanism, and not just address the pain. I was ready to go screaming in the streets to proclaim this as my "cure." Cut my 90 minute hits down to 30 minutes, kept the KIPS down below 7-8.

Since then I discovered Lithium as my prevent, Oxygen and the occasional imitrex jab for my aborts. Now my aborts run 6-8 minutes, my wife and I were recently joking we can't remember the last time I really got creamed by the beast.

A long way of saying I'm glad the fioricet is helping, but don't let that prevent you from further research to see if your quality of life can be even better.

Wishing you peace and some pain free time.

Joe

Isn't there a cafergot that also has a barbituate in it?  Cafergot PB or some thing like that.  I think Barb from TX used to take this.

i took Fioricet for several years before i was properly diagnosed.  they sorta kinda seemed to sometimes help.  nothing compared to trex. they never actually aborted a single hit, just knocked them down a couple numbers, sometimes. 

AubanBird wrote on Nov 16^th, 2011 at 6:21pm:

i took Fioricet for several years before i was properly diagnosed.  they sorta kinda seemed to sometimes help.  nothing compared to trex. they never actually aborted a single hit, just knocked them down a couple numbers, sometimes.

Pretty much my experience with the Firorinal, the first thing that actually helped at all! :)

Joe

For me, it's like throwing a glass of water on a towering inferno !

CH's ?? Not a chance IMO.

No offense intended !

They actually have been proven to cause rebound headaches and not to mention habit forming.  ;)