Hey everyone, I'm new hear but hears my background. I've been around ch for probably the past 15 years of my life. I am the son of a ch victim. My dad has battled them since I was Maybe 6. And I still remember hearing him in the shower screaming in the middle of the night.  So I used to lye awake listening to the pain and tears coming from the man who I thought couldn't be hurt.  It was a scary thing, my dad loved everyone and I had no idea what demon inside him could go from happy dad to get the hell out of my way or else dad.  But I learned to deal with his spells, his abortion was ice packs in a red washcloth.  But it wasn't till I was about 17 till I experienced the evil pain that I have been watching my dad go through all these years. My first sign was my left side of my top teeth started to go numb. Then my left eye, soon to follow my left cheek bone and to end up at my ear. My face started to droop, dazed and confused in the most pain I have ever felt in my entire life I run to my dad with a face full of tears begging him to help me with something or anything. I was convinced that I was suffering from a stroke. As a tear rolls from my dad's eye he informs me that this is a cluster headache. He tells me to stay calm and breathe. Easier said then done it eventually went away, I was so scared that it was going to come back and the next day it did.  This was four years ago and now I am 21 with two beautiful sons and a wife that has recently excepted his condition.  Unfortunately this condition has escalated into chronic ch. I now get about 2-3 everyday for the past year and a half. life was beginning to fade thin. All of you know these things are also called suicide headaches and there has been times where it just began to go over the top and I'm ready to do literally anything to make it go away and I see my boys who have the look of fear in their eyes to see daddy in such pain that even though I'm in agony it kills me to let them see me just like I saw my dad when I was young. And the fear the one day the hereditary part of this could be passed down to them.  But I recently was blessed with the luck to find my cure. Well Mabel not cure but abortian to make it leave the second i feel it start to come.  I've been online reading about all these remedies to abort them and 0 have helped. It must be different for everyone. Mine just so happens to be marijuana.  Haven't tried the stuff since early high school but I watched a documentary called Lynching Charlie Lynch. And he suffers from ch and marijuana is his only help.  So I talked to my wife and I tried it. It's amazing to know that I finally have the upper hand on this evil and one day they will find the cure. And when that happens we may all live in peace!    The issue is legalization. And my work. Both are prohibited but I have no idea what else to do. I'm more useful high on marijuana then when I'm in the middle of a ch spell but nothing else works. In my state it is not legal for medical marijuana. So please help me on what I should do. My wife is getting kind of tired of me smoking and I get ransoms at my job. Should I stop and just let these happen all day everyday? Or should I smoke? 

Hi and welcome

Have you tried anything else for CH?

What normally works well is a combination of a preventive and an abortive. A preventive will cut down the number of CHs that you get, something like verapamil or lithium. An abortive will rapidly kill off a CH that arrives with oxygen and injectable imitrex being good options.

There is also a more natural alternative based on using vitamin D3 which a lot of us are getting great results with.

Tell us more about what else you have tried and how well they worked.

You might also benefit from visiting START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE who can offer advice on a similar line of attack with perhaps fewer drawbacks.

Keep fighting always,

Brian.

Yes I have tried fioteral, oxygen, and another pill I can't recall the name. But I read something about a lady using ginger to abort them so I tried that and still nothing. Now I have never thought about preventative? Do you have any more info on this??

The only problem is that I get them so often it's ridiculas. And I can't let it happen when I know how to get rid of it

Tell us how you "tried" O2? Generally when we hear that someone has tried it and it didn't help, we discover it was not tried effectively: flow rate, 15-25lpm with a nonrebreather mask, promoting quick hyperventilation and even more effective when coupled with an energy drink. Quickest abort around, generally within 2-3 minutes. God bless. lance

If it's all possible, such complex cases require the attention of a headache specialisst.
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LOCATING HEADACHE SPECIALIST

1. Yellow Pages phone book: look for "Headache Clinics" in the M.D. section and look under "neurologist" where some docs will list speciality areas of practice.

2.  Call your hospital/medical center. They often have an office to assist in finding a physician. You may have to ask for the social worker/patient advocate.

3. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE; On-line screen to find a physician.

4. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE Look for "Physician Finder" search box. They will send a list of M.D.s for your state.I suggest using this source for several reasons: first, we have read several messages from people who, even seeing neurologists, are unhappy with the quality of care and ATTITUDES they have encountered; second, the clinical director of the Jefferson (Philadelphia) Headache Clinic said, in late 1999, that upwards of 40%+ of U.S. doctors have poor training in treating headache and/or hold attitudes about headache ("hysterical female disorder") which block them from sympathetic and effective work with the patient; third, it's necessary to find a doctor who has experience, skill, and a set of attitudes which give hope of success. This is the best method I know of to find such a physician.

5. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE NEW certification program for "Headache Medicine" by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties, an independent, non-profit, professional medical organization.
        Since this is a new program, the initial listing is limited and so it should be checked each time you have an interest in locating a headache doctor.
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WHY A HEADACHE SPECIALIST IS RECOMMENDED


Headache. 2012 Jan;52(1):99-113.
Cluster headache in the United States of America: demographics, clinical characteristics, triggers, suicidality, and personal burden.
Rozen TD, Fishman RS.

THERE REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT DIAGNOSTIC DELAY FOR CLUSTER HEADACHE PATIENTS ON AVERAGE 5+ YEARS WITH ONLY 21% RECEIVING A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS AT TIME OF INITIAL PRESENTATION.
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Print the PDF article, below. It's a good tool to use with any doc to discuss treatment options. These are the most commonly used meds to both prevent attacks, to treat those which sneak through.

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