After about a month of lobbying with the Gen. prac. docs here on base, i finally got a referal to go to the neurologist.  What a world of difference it makes to speak to a doctor who understands the type of pain you are going through.  So i got officially diagnosed with clusterheadaches and she gave me anything and everything i needed.  My current cluster attack is over, ended on the 16th, started on the 18th of december.  So she told me to call her when my next attack starts and she'll start me on a tailored dose of steriods(prednasone) and then follow up with verapamil.  Also she said she would get me oxygen if needed.  I left the office with scripts for nasal imitrex and injections with basically unlimited refills(just spaced out time wise, you know how that goes).  It was probably the happiest day of my life next to my children being born.  For anyone who has not seen a neurologist i can not stress how important it is, i know not every one will be as good as this one, but it is absolutely worth the try.  Speaking to regular general practice doctors for something like this is a nightmare and it really just stressed me out and my attacks even worse.  I feel like a hundred pound weight was lifted off of my head.  I should be good until the november/december time of year because thats when mine always start, so i always dreaded christmas, now i feel for the first time like i'll be able to enjoy the holidays! ;D

I'm so glad you had a good experience. My advice to you would be to refill every imitrex injection prescription every month. Get the max amount your insurance will cover each month & just stockpile them. I promise you, there may come a day you will be glad you did that. And don't worry about them expiring, I've used expired imitrex injections & never had a problem.

What she said!  ;)

So glad you hit the jackpot with this neuro, that's awesome news!

Joe

Yayyy! I know what you mean. I would add one more step, and it's one you already found: get a neuro who understands CHs. I had a local sympathetic neuro who was helpful but not very aggressive, or motivated to inrease her CH experience beyond having me as a patient. She gave me the right stuff, but not in the dose levels I need. Then I got me a headache specialist and what a difference. Just as you describe! He understood the intractability of a chronic sufferer and "trusted" me to use wisely the effective interventions. It was such a relief to not have to battle my way through explanation after explanation. Good luck, stock up against the day, and face the morning with armed confidence. Blessings. lance

I also second stock piling your imitrex even when not having a cluster. I recently had this happen. We needed more imitrex and the insurance would only pay for one box per month ( ha we go through that a week during a cluster if not sooner). I only wished that I had stock piled his meds through his off months cuz you don't want to pay for that stuff out of pocket nor go without. Good luck...its a great feeling to have people understand what your going through and support you!