Hi Im new to this and are asking questions for my husband, who is suffering from ch.

He has been prescribed Maxalt but advised not to take more than 3 per week, which is not enough when he is suffering everyday. Have asked doctors for oxygen which as yet they have not agreed to prescibe.

Also have read that injections are better than Maxalt.

Would love some help for hubby ::)

My wife went into the docs office and demanded O2 for me.  My doc did not want write the script either.  But after reading the info on this site,  she was determined to get it for me.  He wrote it and it has been the best thing yet for my headaches.  Go in and refuse to leave without it!!!  Let him know you got to have it.

Good Luck, O2 will be a life changer.  Be sure to read about the High Flow and Breathing techniques as they make it work the best.  Also order the mask for sale on this site (to the left of the page) it is a must as well.  Trust me your husband will suffer a lot less with these items.

What is needed by us CH'ers are the injections (best) or naisal spray preps (those take a little longer).
And yes demand oxygen, go to the oxygen info section on left menu and print it out for the doctor. The mask sold here is a must, you won't get it from your oxygen supplier... trust me just buy it.

Oxygen is the most important thing you can do right now. Doctors and meds can be slow, but with the right oxygen set-up he will be able to abort the headaches in 5-15 miniutes, It is freedom, a game/life changer. If your Doc isn't up to speed on CH it can take time to find one that is...
I guess my point is if your doctor refuses to give you O2 then...
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Edit: Once he has gained a little stability with the O2 you can really spend the time to find a good doc... I'm sure Bob will follow with details.

While there is no cure, there are effective ways to manage the beast:

1. Find a good headache specialist-this is imperative. You don't say if you are seeing your GP, a general neuro, or a specialist. In the long run, you want the specialist.

2. Start a prednisone taper (starting around 80mg/day) You don't say you tried this but a bunch of us found good relief this way while waiting for a longer term preventative to kick in.

3. Start a preventative working up to a high enough dose to be effective in treating CHs, like 240mg/day verapamil increasing as directed up to 960mg/day. Other preventatives include Topamax, carbomazapine, oxycarbomazapine, and more. Pay attention to the doses-often we hear I tried that but the dose was too low to be effective.

4. Get an effective oxygen setup: a nonrebreather mask and a regulator that will go up to 25lpm along with a 3 liter bag. See optimask.

5. Get effective abortives, like imitrex injectables-pills are too slow-or Migranal nasal spray, it's an alternative to triptans. I use both.

6. Keep a log or journal of your attacks, and learn to use the KIP scale at left. This may help to identify some triggers for you. Some are fairly common to all of us, like alcohol, but even that isn't universal.

It's a long list, but it returns to you the power needed to manage the beast. Good luck and God bless. lance

Welcome to the board and thank you so much for taking the time to do the research for your husband. If my tenacious wife of 30 years hadn't found the original streaming CH board for me all those years ago I'd still be snorting lidocaine and popping fiorinal to treat my CH!

As scary as it may all seem right now.....and as bad as it is for the sufferer I'm sure I can't imagine what it's like to see someone I love suffering with this......there is a light at the end of the tunnel for you. AS Lance so eloquently wrote above,  ;) there are numerous effective treatments for dealing with CH.

CH is NOT a condition you sit back and passively accept the doctors opinion on. You MUST educate yourself, and work in partnership to educate your doctor on what the current treatments are. If your doctor will not prescribe oxygen, find a doctor who will. It's malpractice to refuse to prescribe the safest, most effective treatment for CH.

Let us know where you live, maybe a fellow sufferer can refer you to a neuro who is up to speed on CH.

Joe

cris, regarding getting O2 prescribed, doctors usually trust the opinions of other doctors more than their patients, so printing this article "Rozen and Fishman final r4 CH survey O2 focused abstract IHC 2009.pdf" may be helpful persuasion for your hubby's doctor. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

If the doctor agrees to prescribe it at a lower than recommended flow rate, take it anyway... the important thing for now is to get the O2. Then you can purchase a mask and high flow regulator and use as much as you wish.