Friends,

25 year survivor here - back for the first time since December 2011.

I thought that getting a prescription for Oxygen would be too difficult in previous clusters. I thought that by the time I finally got the oxygen, my clusters would be gone. My clusters run 12-19 months apart, last 6-8 weeks. They ramp up quickly from 1-4 per day. This time I decided that I would see a neurologist and force the issue. Imitrex gets scarier as I age with the potential side effects and risks.

Anyway, my neurologist was in full agreement about the Imitrex - I cut the 100's in half to limit my intake, but still found myself up to 400 mg's in the middle (worst part) of the cluster. He prescribed me oxygen (although he didn't give me the LPM I asked for, the regulator goes to 15 and I ordered a rebreather mask)  Last night was the first time I used pure oxygen - 100% @ 15LPM - deep, calm breaths (as opposed to hyperventilating as some recommend) Well let me tell you - I was rocking out 4 headaches a day until last night. I aborted a cluster at around 7:00 last night, within 10, less than brutal, minutes, and then again around 3:30 a.m. 15 minutes of the breathing I described above.

Today was the best day I have had in 2 weeks, I haven't used Imitrex in 24 hours and have been able to abort 2 clusters today just by using oxygen. My head is clearer and I don't feel the gunshot pain in my right shoulder / neck or the fuzziness / hangover / post thunderstorm feelings I attribute to Imitrex.

Please trust me - oxygen is the most effective and quickest relief I have ever had in 25 years of clusters. Find a way to try it. Don't be intimidated by tanks / liters per minute / masks. Just find a way to get a prescription and start!

That viscous cycle of Imitrex / rebound / cluster / hangover has been broken (for now) I am not afraid to go to bed tonight.

CJ

That's awesome news, I'm like you in that slow, deep breathing is a more effective way to abort, typically 6-8 minutes or so. Another case of your mileage may vary, trial and error is your best guide!

Delighted to hear the 02 is beating the beast back. It's a hell of a lot easier to live with the beast when you know you can beast his ass down! ;) When you get a chance......

Follow this link to the medications section of this board and read the post 

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

It’s a vitamin/mineral/fish oil supplement, all over the counter stuff. It’s up to an 81% success rate of those who try it and respond to the survey so you’re just shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t give it a shot. I’m 3 years pain free on it after a 35 plus year track record with episodic CH. Best of all, it’s healthy for you even without CH!

As of January 20, 2013, the compiled raw data indicates an efficacy of 80%. 240 out of the 300 CH'ers who have started this regimen and stayed on it for a month or more have experienced a significant reduction in the frequency and severity of their CH... 78% of the 300 CH'ers experienced a pain free response and 60% of the 300 have remained essentially pain free. Episodic and chronic CH'ers respond to this regimen at roughly the same rate.

Preliminary survey results indicate most of these CH'ers were pain free before the end of the third week with some responding in a little as 12 to 24 hours. The average time to respond is five days

My 02 tank has been collecting dust for 3 years since starting this regimen...after over 30 years of episodic CH. Can't bear to turn the tank in, it's still my security blanket!!!! But just haven't needed it. ;D

Joe

Great to hear you're loving just what oxygen can do. It's amazing how when I first came here I never belived what people said about oxygen until I tried it and it transformed things giving me my life back. You see so many people who are skeptical too until they try it.

Do experiment with how you use it until you find what works best for you. Whilst hyperventilating at a high flow rate works well for some, you're not alone in finding something different for you.

And do try the vitamin D3, I too love what it has done for me and I have dust gathering on my tanks, but I'm still reluctant to return them, yet...

I couldn't agree more.   If Oxygen works for you (and it does me), the Cluster Headache Condition immediately goes from being a God-Awful Condition to in Inconvenient Condition.   Oxygen is a miracle.  If I only knew about it when I was in college, I might have made it thru my 10 am class more often (after a 10 minute break in my car).

My problem is that I travel to 33 states, regularly, and coordinating Oxygen is not the easiest thing to do (vs. carrying injector pens).

Thanks Friends - always appreciate the interaction and positive comments.

Guiseppe - thanks for the link on the vitamin regiment. I am heading out soon to stock up and give it a try.

CJ

CJ and any others,

Don't assume anything about difficulties in getting oxygen (I need to get a tank refilled). I assumed that since my insurance would not cover it that it would be too expensive. Apparently if you push hard enough in the U.S., insurance will cover oxygen. Anyway the potential cost put me off til I learned that it only cost $20.00. At this cost I jumped at getting oxygen. I don't use it often, today was the first time in 6 months but it is comforting to have it sitting there. So I would encourage anyone with CHs to have oxygen on hand. As an aside, there are a number of places on this site that points people towards ebay for regulators. I could not find one there when I needed it and so went to Amazon. It was about the same price and was brand new. Supposedly they are to require a prescription to purchase a regulator but this was not a problem. So this maybe an option for someone needing this equipment.

Lars

While O2 has a broad following among users and docs, the issue of lugging the gear with you while traveling is a limitation. I see the use of other abortives as a useful option.

You are using Imitrex pills, I understand. The least effective form for Clusters and so feeds you anxiety about overall dosing. Injection form is best and dosing is adjustable withs many finding 3mg is quite effective (and now being approved in medical literature).

For convenience, other triptans which are effective come in pill form and Olanzapine is, for many, almost as rapid an abortive as Imitrex injection--and much cheaper!

My point: you can tune up your treatment program and get good results, AND resolve your anxiety about age/Imitrex dosing.