So I was at 320mg Verapamil for about 1.5 months.  I have also been on the vitamin d3 regiment ( I Know big no no to figure out which is working) - But my headaches were not completely gone - still had really bad shadows.  Well recently I have been feeling much better, and I want to see if I go off the Verapamil what happens.  So I started tapering off with my doc's consent about 11 days ago.  I'm down to 80mg, and plan to stop completely tomorrow.  Any know how long it will stay in my system after I stop completely?  Wondering when I will know if I'm out of cycle or if the Vitamin D has vanquished the beast.

FYI - This has been my first cycle ever - So I have no idea how long my cycles normally are - never had CH before the saturday before this past memorial day.

An individual dose has a half life (the time take for the dose in your body to drop by half) of about 8 hours. So it will drop off quite rapidly, however there is the cumulative effect of 1.5 months of doses. So I'd expect that it will take a similar time as it takes a dose change to take effect, which will be about 10 days.

Since you've been using verapamil and D3, it is possible that either by itself or in working together have prevented the CH or that your CH cycle has just ended or some combination of all of them put together.

At least you know that the combination works, which is great for when the next cycle comes, hopefully in a long, long time.

If you are down to only 80mg daily and have absolutely no pain at all, then drink a beer and put it to the test ;)

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Thanks Gregg and Mike - I've been able to drink beer for a few weeks - had about three in a sitting and no adverse affects - of course I put a few coffees after each one to make sure no surprises. 

I do notice more cheek and jaw pain (on my CH side) recently (since I started tapering off my Verapamil), but naproxen seems to knock that back, but no full blown CH...

wrote on Sep 10^th, 2013 at 4:35am:

Any one have ideas for increasing BP while taking verapamil? So far controlling the headaches well, but BP is low and keep getting dizzy spells. Dr is keen to switch to something else, but while the headaches are under control I'm very hesitant to change anything.

Great question!  Increase cardio exercise is the only activity I can think of to raise BP or get in an argument with a loved one ;D

But seriously, you might want to just be honest with your doctor of your very valid concern and ask his/her medical opinion of the safety of doing this and what you can do.  That's a tough one, good luck!

-Gregg in Las Vegas

Been about a week and half since I took my last verapamil dose - so far so good.  Either my Vit D3 levels are where they need to be (more test results soon I hope!) or I am done my cycle (3 months - Saturday before memorial day, to just about mid August is where I felt much better)  Still this was my first cycle so who knows what will happen down the line. I am sticking to the D3 regiment as I truly hope/believe it will prevents my CH going forward. 

Truly appreciative of everyone on this board - its been a wild first ride with the beast, but I learned much here and gained a lot of hope from your support.  I will keep in touch.  Pray I don't have to worry about the beast ever again.

PF days and nights folks, keep your heads up and keep fighting!

3 years pain free on the D-3, hoping you catch a similar ride!

Joe

Three years is awesome.  I started the D3 regimine about three weeks ago.  Still not pain free (currently in the ninth week of this cycle) but I have high hopes.  Just hearing you say that you have been three years and you believe that the D3 is the reason gives me even more hope for future.  Thanks for sharing that

RE: increasing blood pressure while on verapamil

I spoke to my neurologist about this after a few episodes resulting from hypotension.  He basically recommended to do the opposite of what we're prescribed for healthy lifestyles.  Eat salty/fatty foods and ease up on exercise.  It's worked well enough for me (I take 240mg/day) but don't tell other middle-aged men, they'll hate you for it.