Since energy drinks are my constant companion at the moment, I was curious about the origin of how they became a treatment for clusters.
I did try looking in the archives but didn't have any luck.

Was it by pure accident and then backed up by science or did someone see the ingredients and thought it could be worth a try ?

Hopefully they will be used less frequently soon as I will be picking up my D3 supplements on the weekend.

I will so miss that blackcurrant taste (not!)

Gosh SS, I don't remember who started that. But, as with a lot of things here, someone tried it and it worked for them, they posted it and someone else tried it, and... didn't work for everyone, but did for a lot of us.

Now the tabasco under the tongue is another story entirely ::)
:-*

It's as Barbara said. Trial and error. Someone tried a ice pack and it helped but someone else found a heating pad was better. No science involved. Before energy drinks came along many folks used black coffee. Science had zero to do with treatment via energy drinks and relief of clusters. Imitrex was a migraine med until someone tried it for cluster attacks and found it worked. A little bit of science there but mostly just a clusterhead taking a chance and tried it. The proper use of oxygen was developed over time, trial and error by the sufferers on this site.  Thanks to our webmaster, DJ, we have been able to pass along the tips and tricks that helped and those that failed to help.

Sorry BobG, science was not the right word, I meant that it was supported with a medical reason why it helped.

shortstraw wrote on Aug 14^th, 2014 at 10:00am:

Sorry BobG, science was not the right word, I meant that it was supported with a medical reason why it helped.

A lot of guesses about the action and interaction of Caffeine and Taurine - after the positive effects were stumbled upon.

That's how LSD and Magic Mushrooms came to the forefront. The CH'rs who used that stuff for fun, reported essentially full control of their Clusters.

I'm still not sure about the claims that the taurine is whats effective and until someone can actually come up with evidence I'll stick to black coffee :) BarbaraD I'm with you on the Tabasco  ::)

Actually instead of Tabasco, I use Atomic Fireballs and have for several years. They work 70% of the time to either stop one or lessen the pain.

I also use peppermint oil on the affected eyelid and with about the same success rate.

I learned about both of those from Ricardo, I believe.

Energy drinks are another route I take and again about the same success rate.

zanychef wrote on Aug 14^th, 2014 at 3:28pm:

I'm still not sure about the claims that the taurine is whats effective and until someone can actually come up with evidence I'll stick to black coffee :) BarbaraD I'm with you on the Tabasco  ::)

Try Vitamin D instead. The guy who originally pushed the idea hard here, was essentially driven away as a heretic. Then people found out that it worked amazingly well and forgot all about the guy that they had bashed so badly.....

Wow, what a great "new" idea! 

Marc

Marc .. if you're talking about Batch.. he's MY hero..

First he introduced me to the Demand Valve for my O2 and I had high praise for that and then got me on the Vitamin D3 regimen (actually came down and spent a week with me and made sure I took the RIGHT vitamins - checked under my tongue to make sure I swallowed them and everything).

I was unaware that anyone would EVER bash him and if I do ever hear of it ... well I have a size 5 1/2 shoe that would probably go right into someone's rear end.

But to SS... my best advice on too much thinking about what works... Don't knock it till you try it... It may not be scientific, but if it works for you... then go for it. Remember we're all different..

And about those atomic fireballs... :o :-/

:-*

Barbara, it was a guy named Niels, and he kept coming back under several other names after being run off the board several times.  Admittedly, he did come across like an acre of garlic trying to spread the word, but he was spot on with what he was pushing.

Jerry

Jerry,

He finally gave up and told us to go ahead and suffer because we wouldn't listen. Niels pissed off all of the "gatekeepers" here because he was VERY passionate, persistent and persuasive about how well Vitamin D worked. "The board" drummed him off the site with insults and ridicule. He finally told us all to go ahead and suffer needlessly, and went away.

Not too different than how "we" treated Pink Shark Mark, "Q" and the other pioneers - waaay back when - on the original board. Been here since 1999 and seems like the true pioneers are relegated to third string.

Long, long ago there was a guy here named Jonny who pushed high flow oxygen as the best abortive. While he wasn't the first to suggest it, he was the clearly the leading champion in helping hundreds of sufferers get hooked up with O2 - with or without a prescription. All members of this board back then automatically connected "Oxygen Therapy" with Jonny in those days. He pushed "very, very high flow' oxygen consumption using a demand valve if you could afford one. If not, he would send you a welding regulator and tell you how to get 45lp flow to stop the real monsters.

Today, we have some members who silently send O2 related stuff like regulators, to other sufferers, behind the scenes. No glory, no public acclaim - just helping people at the end of their rope. 

Yeah - the real history of this place is no less than incredible - but it is all but forgotten now.

However, if you are as old as you or Bob P all of this will seem as old as breakfast :-)


Edit to add: If a certain Mr. Johnson hadn't spooled this place up and taken all of the crap that goes with that - we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Thank you, Sir DJ!

Marc, you're spot on.. I've been here since 98 and have seen everything you've mentioned. We've come a long way since the early days....

But we have spoofed a lot of ideas and a lot of people because of "new" ideas. Sometimes they just sounded too good to be true and the said the word "cure" and that was a turn off.. but "live and learn"..

But thank goodness for the pioneers who finally got some of the "new" ideas thru our hard heads and things that DO work to help us deal with the CH a little better. I know my life is a lot better for it.

:-*