Wondering if fellow sufferers here have accumulated a list of signs of the end of a cycle.  I know the simple answer is "no more headaches" but are there advance indications or trends that indicate a cycle is winding down? Also, how many pfd's at the end before you begin tapering off the meds?

I have been on Verapimil (3x120) and Indomethacin (2x120) for 6 weeks now, and these have prevented serious attacks for the past 3 weeks.  For most of this period I could feel attacks "trying" to happen (stuffy nose, eye droop, mild pain) but they never managed to kick in full throttle. 

Now the last two days I find almost no shadows and very little pain.  Do I dare believe that I might be nearing the end here?  Will be seeing my Neuro on Friday and I am pretty sure that the will want to start working me off the meds on the basis of his previous questions.

Some lke me, taper down with the attacks getting less severe and less often. Others have a glorious fourth of July grand finale where they just get creamed, then the attacks stop completely. So experience is the only indicator there.

As to stopping the meds, my rule of thumb has always been 2 weeks pain free, I start to slowly taper off the prevent, keeping the oxygen bottle close at hand. I've seen the 2 week rule of thumb mentioned by others so i guess it's as good a standard as any.

Work closely with your neuro as most of the meds we take do require you gently taper off as opposed to just stopping them suddenly. Hoping beasty is done with you this go round.

Joe

Agreed with what Joe said.  Don't rush off the meds just yet, wait at least 2 weeks of complete PFDAN then taper and smile :)

Good Luck!

This is one of those good news, bad news thingies. Good news=pfds, hope for a cycle's end, titration off meds. Bad news=uncertainty, possibility of a fireworks display, return to normal horrors of an active cycle. Enjoy each pfd, maintain hope, and if after a couple of weeks you are still free, talk with your doctor about coming down. Slowly. If there is a return you can always go back up. Blessings. lance

Two weeks without pain for me too.

Perhaps a silly question, but by pain free do you mean no serious attacks, or no shadows?  Doc wants me to lay off the Indo now and cut back Verap to  2 x 120 /day.  Am inclined to follow his advice as the "drag" of the Verapimil now seems to outweigh the minor and occasional shadows that pop up from time to time.  Kinda looking forward to being able to walk around the block again soon.

I go 2 weeks pain free, that includes shadows as I count those as "small" CH attacks. Follow doc's advice, but can you talk him out of oxygen or at least a couple of imitrex injectables? That way if beasty tries to cream you, you're not caught with your pants down.

Joe

Thanks G.  I have the O2 at the ready (ordered proper mask) and a good supply of Zomig spray.  So far, the best therapy I have found is to spend $230 on a box of Zomig -- haven't had an attack since I stocked up!

Clearly it scares the beast! ;D

I do not have anything that tells me it is time for them to quit but if i get a headcold with lots of sinus drainage and a sinus headache . they will go away anyone like that??

New one on me Slim, welcome to the board! I get the runny nose during an attack but no cause/effect with headcolds starting or ending a cycle.

Joe

I just had (what I hope is) a strange end to a cycle...and I say this because 2 years ago one reached it's grand finale in this way also.

I had my "usual" cycle from October through early January. A couple of weeks later, another cycle began, but this time on the other side! That was a new one for me, and it was not trivial. 2 attacks per day, around 11:30am and another around 5:00pm, both pretty severe. This past weekend, the 5:00pm attack did somethign unexpected - it morphed into something more like a migraine. It was an "all over" headache, throbbing and pounding. The typical cluster was still going on too around the right eye region, but this all over HA lasted for 5-6 hours. I had some Lortab the HD Doc had prescribed, so that took the edge off it and when it went away, I felt somehow different. I've now had almost 2 complete PFDs, and in thinking about it I recall my 2010 cycle (or was it 2009?) ending in the same weird, "going out with a bang" way.

Anybody else experienced anything like this? I always like to look for any clues that a cycle might be ending (hoping, praying) and if this big mutha of a HA actually signals the end of a cycle for me, it would be a welcome additional piece of info for the arsenal. Not that it does much good until it happens, but if it is consistent it would bring me some sense of relief while struggling with the migraine/cluster abomination that may be the harbinger of PFDs to come...

...when episodic...a cycle was consistently bell curve shaped...slow ramp up....weeks of brutal hits...slow ramp down...AND then, what Aussiebrian once described as the "most exquisite pain" (either you have to be a clusterhead, nuts, or a beer lover to understand and appreciate that reference) of a killer finale...THAT'S when I knew the cycle was over. I used to pray for that exquisite hit...............

two weeks later....the beer test

Best,

Jon