Question for the Episodic Vets -- when your cycle ends are you completely 100% free of all symptoms, ie. life is perfectly normal, no hints, suggestions, or mild, not-to-bother pains?

I ask because I have now cut my Verap dosage to 120mg/day (under doctor's care). I am essentially free of symptoms (no attacks since mid-November, no shaddows since mid January ), but every now and then when I am exerting a bit, I get a quiet little reminder twinge in the usual places.  Only lasts a few seconds, and happens only rarely.  Next step in another week or so will be get off Verap totally and I think I am ready, but I am curious if others have found the beast offers gentle reminders even when we are not in cycle?

Obviously everybody is unique, but I have experienced that "gentle twinge in the usual places" when off cycle you are referring to.

I view it as a reminder that I am still enslaved til death do us apart and to be extremely grateful that I am not in cycle. ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Off cycle I don't even get what people call normal headaches! ;D As Vegas mentions, we're all a bit different.

Joe

Joe,
Interesting you say that.  I do not recall ever having a "regular headache."  I have felt head pain from a long day/night of excessive drinking resulting in a hangover hundreds of times; but truly don't recall ever having a regular headache, migraine, sinus headache, etc.

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Yeah, same here. If I don't earn a headache, basically a hangover, I don't get em! (I think it's natures way of achieving a harmonic balance.) ;D

Joe

For me, I just get migraines by themselves, instead of being mixed in with CHs.

We're all different, which shows the benefit of working with someone who can tailor a treatment plan to match your symptoms.

Traveller wrote on Feb 5^th, 2012 at 3:31pm:

when your cycle ends are you completely 100% free of all symptoms, ie. life is perfectly normal, no hints, suggestions, or mild, not-to-bother pains?

No. I don't think I, myself, have ever been 100% free since my 1st CH 32 years ago. When off cycle, it's not a clear shadow I often get (3-4 times a week I'd say) but uhhh... yeah, a reminder "that I am still enslaved" (hopefully not till death...), just a wink from the beast saying: I'll see ya later... then I usually drink beer to test if it was just a wink from the beast or if a cycle is actually starting.
Very rarely will I get a regular headache, even with too much beer or wine.

Purple (head404) wrote on Feb 5^th, 2012 at 6:43pm:

Very rarely will I get a regular headache, even with too much beer or wine.

I suspect that our tolerance to headache pain is such that if we do get a "normal" headache that it is below our pain threshold.

for me once its over, its over. I can usually get a few months of pain free-med free living in between cycles. Its wild, during those months everything is so 'clear'. Almost impossible to describe.

I was never a "headache" person. Only had them with flu or bad fevers, as well as the 3 concussions I've had. I now get them outside my cycles, but they come in bursts and more like migraine-type issues (barometric pressure changes, loud noises, bright lights, etc.). Doc says I have a combo of CH and migraine, which is wonderful to hear, because when the CH steps down for a while, the migraine kicks in. I also get triggers from seafood, dehydration, overheating, wine (never had an issue with sulfites before). Stress does NOT cause headaches, surprisingly enough.

I actually used to get bad sinus headaches and prob still do although I dont feel it as much due to aforementioned pain threshold post CH...

but for me I get incredibly nervous now... whenever I get a shadow or twinge....

I am episodic, and yes, I get those.  My theory is that those twinges of pain are just to torment us.   :)  I personally think it's what I know will happen if the twinges escalate to a full-blown cluster that makes me more aware that they are there, and they hit those areas where a cluster would.

I'm episodic, just came out of a bad 7-week stretch with 2 - 4 headaches every night.  I feel exhausted and still have some brain fog and occasional "reminders".  I was put on prednisone to break the cycle, seems to have worked with only a few bad nights following the pred. treatment.

This was only my 2nd bout with it, brand-new diagnosis after treatment for sinus pain.  I have so much to learn about this!  According to my neurologist, the short-term memory problems will go away, so will the fumbling for words - I always had a great vocabulary, where did it go?

I just now realize how messed up I was during the cycle, getting my February utility bills and noticed that I paid several of the January bills twice, others not at all.  OMG!  I do database administration from home, wonder what else I messed up if I couldn't keep track of my few household bills?

I'm keeping a headache diary and wrote myself a reminder to NEVER make any important decisions during an active cycle.  I'm terrified that I'm losing my mind!

It is good to know I'm not alone, I wish all of you a pain free day.   

Traveller wrote on Feb 5^th, 2012 at 3:31pm:

...but every now and then... I get a quiet little reminder twinge in the usual places.

Thanks to the delightful Bonnie Lee, many of us now call those things "devil pokes".