54 yr old with 32 years of CH cycles every 18 months for about 4-6 weeks. Last several cycles manageable, Verap (160mg per day) and O2 gets me thru (I have a 50L bottle delivered 1x per week and a smaller backup). After 4 PFDAN's leading up to xmas I tried a few beers and some local Rakia to no effect. Excited, I dropped the Verap straight away (I hate how it makes me feel, even this relatively light dose). I must have been too greedy since a few days later another/same cycle started. I started up my Verap to 160 right away to no effect and pushed it to 240 the next day (40mg x6). This seemed to settle things down slightly after a few 6's & 7's. Getting hit every 1-2 hours during the night (but oxygen normally takes care of these pretty easily) and a few mid to late morning every 2nd -3rd day. Not horrible right?

Well adding the first cycle together, I just passed week 7 when normally I would be PF by now. I decided to try the D3 regimen (which I avoided since it seemed most people reacted after several weeks which I optimistically thought would be too late to really help me).

I'm on Day 6 of D3 (10k D3 day 1, 20k day 2-5 plus 50K day 5)
No help yet and then last night at 2 & 4am 2 level 7's and a level 6 at 6am
.
Here is the list of supplements:
1. I'm using Liquid D3 (I assume this is fine/better?)
2. 2-3K Omega 3
3. No calcium yet (verapamil)
4. Magnesium 400K + Bcomplex +Vit E (German brand can't find the details of which form of Magnesium)

Trying to work through the variables for yesterday
1. Is the 50K (+20K) dose related to the bad night?
2. Took the Magnesium for the first time. Could that be it?
3. Had some chocolate last evening (Paranoid?)
4. I switched my Verap to 80mg x 3 (instead of 40mg x 6) which means I took 80mg at midnight just before bed. I already have low blood pressure (100 over 60). Did the Verap slow me down so much it impacted the severity of the headache (ie. not deep enough breathing)? I know this dosage seems very light for many of you but Verap seems really strong to me.

I usually sleep fairly lightly and the first sign of pressure I almost auto wake up, hit the O2 and 5 minutes later I can try to get back to sleep.

Any ideas?
1. I will keep up the D3 regimen (no super dose for a week anyway).
2. Go find a new Magnesium (citrate I guess?) 400mg source.
3. Go back to 40mg of Verap at a time.
4. I'll also look for the other Supplements. I have a bunch of Megs Men 50+ but I don't regularly take and not at all during the cycles. Too many variables and not the right mix for the regimen I think.

By the way, my Vit D blood test showed 38.8 mg/dL in late August. I'll check it again next week.

Mark

Hey Littlee,

Welcome to CH.com and the anti-inflammatory regimen.  The following chart illustrates response times for a significant reduction in CH symptoms in days after starting this regimen as reported in a survey of 127 CH'ers taking this regimen.

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As you can see, some CH'ers start responding to this regimen with a significant reduction in the frequency, severity and duration of their CH within the first 24 hours, the majority respond by the end of the first week and some CH'ers take up to a month or more to respond.

The 25(OH)D response to dose of vitamin D3 varies between CH'ers based on a number of factors but the average responses for selected doses of vitamin D3 are illustrated in the following chart.

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The rationale for the accelerated vitamin D3 dosing schedule is illustrated in the following chart.

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As you can see, the time required to reach an average 25(OH)D serum concentration of 60 ng/mL is much less using the accelerated vitamin D3 dosing schedule than taking 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3.  That translates to a faster response to a pain free state and less time suffering from frequent attacks by the beast.

You appear to be taking the needed supplements although you may be a little light on the magnesium intake during the vitamin D3 loading schedule. 

Accordingly, sticking with this regimen and completing the loading schedule should have you experiencing a favorable response in a matter of days.  If you still haven responded by the end of the second week, please let us know.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Thanks for the info Batch.

I added the Magnesium (citrate) the last two days and went back to 40mg x 6 Verap (vs. 80 x 3) to keep my blood pressure up a little bit more during the night (only guessing here).

So far 2 PFDAN's in a row. WOOOOOOP!! Actually slept over 6 hours in a row both nights. Fingers crossed.

I will look for the Super K and B50 but for now just the D3, Magnesium & Fish Oil. No calcium due to Verap. Hope to work it in slowly.

littlee