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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1211397492 Message started by boxseller on May 21st, 2008 at 3:18pm |
Title: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 21st, 2008 at 3:18pm My boyfriend of 2+ years has been having cluster headaches for almost 25 years. The headaches started last week, he's been having anywhere from 3 to 6 per day and they last for up to three hours. These are the first one he's had since I've been with him. He does not and will not take any narcotics. Is currently receiving Steroids and a medications that helps with dialation of his blood vessels. As you are all aware the pain he suffers is horrible. Please give me some suggestions on how I can help him or any new treatments that you have heard of. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Charlotte on May 21st, 2008 at 3:24pm
Just wanted to say "Hi and welcome aboard."
It sounds like he is on the right path. Charlotte |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 21st, 2008 at 3:27pm
Thank you
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Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by MDR on May 21st, 2008 at 3:51pm
look to the left and read
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Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Brew on May 21st, 2008 at 3:59pm |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Linda_Howell on May 21st, 2008 at 4:37pm Quote:
He is correct to not take narcotics for CH. They can and do cause rebound headaches and really don't help the pain very much. Even if it helped more...he'd have another problem to deal with anyway. Addiction. However you say he's using Steroids????? and medications that DIALATE his blood vessels? That is incorrect and I hope you were just confused. When he is having an attack the vessels and arteries swell up to 20 times their normal size and what we need then is a vasoconstrictor not a dialator. Can you tell us what meds he is using? oh yeah....and read read read here. Sounds like he has a wonderful supporter in you, so give yourself a pat on the back from all of us who treasure our supporters. Linda |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by BarbaraD on May 21st, 2008 at 5:30pm
What Linda said about the narcs. They don't help and do more harm...
Try a can of Red Bull at the onset of the headache. And melatonin at bedtime. If he's not on O2 - that's our FIRST suggestion - helps about 70% of us. Read up on the use -- has to be at least 15lpm and a nonrebreather mask. Heat or cold packs (which ever one works for him) help sometimes. Read read read.... we all react differently to different things. But you're on the right tract by being here. Welcome to Clusterville. If you can manage it get him on this site too. We DO understand the pain he's going thru and nothing he can say will be a shock to any of us. Hugs BD |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 21st, 2008 at 8:22pm
Thank you all. I have a lot to learn.
He did try O2 but not with Imitrex as I read in one of the articles. I will have him ask his doctor if he can try it again. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by chefjohn on May 21st, 2008 at 8:45pm
He shouldn't need both O2 and Imitrex at the same time. They are both abortives. He should get a perscription for O2 fromthe doctor and have a tank at home that delivers 15 liters per minute with a non rebreathable mask. Try it for 10 to 15 minutes and see if that works. If it doesn't work then try the Imitrex. I have both and I use the O2 at home and take the Imitrexwith me when I go out. If both work on their own he shouldn't have to use both together. Besides the Imitrex is expensive and you don't want o waste it if O2 will do the trick. Besides these abortives he should be on some preventive medication too. Consult your doctor and read info here on which meds are best for him. Also red bulls or other energy drinks help some people and melatonin at bedtime can be helpful with your sleep and can be purchased over the counter. Hope this info helps you. John
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Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Linda_Howell on May 22nd, 2008 at 12:01am
I really feel I need to re-iterate this:
Quote:
Vaso-constrictors are any of the Triptans. 02 is a vaso-constrictor also...Please read read read... |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 22nd, 2008 at 6:49am
Hi:
I will keep reading everything I can, I have learned a lot already from all of you. He would not do anything without his doctor's consent so that's not a concern. He has been suffering with this for 25 years and has been to several headache specialists around the country, two that I know of were in MD and WI. If there is a new treatment that works we would run it by his doctor. I know a lot of you mention cost, we are very fortunate that money isn't an issue. But, so far all he has tried haven't worked for him. He has been hospitalized many times over the years when the attacks are especially severe and the times in between are short. As far as not being there to support him, that's not an issue he is a wonderful man. His suffering breaks my heart to see but I will be there for him whatever way he needs. Again, thank you all. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 22nd, 2008 at 10:18am
Linda:
The medication he takes takes care of the dialation of the blood vessels it does not dialate the blood vessels, I worded it badly. Thanks for your concern. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Bob_Johnson on May 22nd, 2008 at 10:36am
MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D. Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $50 at Amazon.Com. It covers all types of headache and is primarily focused on medications. While the two chapters on CH total 42-pages, the actual relevant material is longer because of multiple references to material in chapters on migraine, reflecting the overlap in drugs used to treat. I'd suggest reading the chapters on migraine for three reasons: he makes references to CH & medications which are not in the index; there are "clinical pearls" about how to approach the treatment of headache; and, you gain better perspective on the nature of headache, in general, and the complexities of treatment (which need to be considered when we create expectations about what is possible). Finally, women will appreciate & benefit from his running information on hormones/menstrual cycles as they affect headache. Chapter on headache following head trauma, also. Obviously, I'm impressed with Robbins' work (even if the book needs the touch of a good editor!) (Somewhat longer review/content statement at 3/22/00, "Good book....")
HEADACHE HELP, Revised edition, 2000; Lawrence Robbins, M.D., Houghton Mifflin, $15. Written for a nonprofessional audience, it contains almost all the material in the preceding volume but it's much easier reading. Highly recommended. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by boxseller on May 22nd, 2008 at 10:42am
Thank you, I'll order both
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Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Qazpur on May 22nd, 2008 at 8:03pm Linda_Howell wrote on May 21st, 2008 at 4:37pm:
I hope that only happens in horror movies - surely an artery or vessel dilating up to 20 times its normal size will in most instances do some serious damage? |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Brew on May 22nd, 2008 at 9:40pm Qazpur wrote on May 22nd, 2008 at 8:03pm:
Nope. Happens in your head multiple times during a cycle. Your guts are pretty flexible. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Balanchine on May 22nd, 2008 at 10:57pm
I'll add my appreciation for your support too. I live alone, no family, and often wish I had someone to hold my hand... but that's where the people on this board come in. They're the best in the world! Sounds as if your partner has a terrific shoulder to lean on. Good luck to you both.
David |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Annette on May 23rd, 2008 at 3:18am Qazpur wrote on May 22nd, 2008 at 8:03pm:
I am sure Linda meant it metaphorically, no blood vessel can dilate up to 20 times its normal size or your head will be the size of a football field. The average diameter of a main cerebral artery is about 4mm, 20 times that would be 8 cms in diameter. You wouldnt be able to fit 3 of those inside your skull. Its simple math really. |
Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by Brew on May 23rd, 2008 at 7:30am
If it were 20 times its circumference, that's another matter entirely. The point is that it dialates enough to cause severe pressure on the nerves that surround it. This, in turn, causes the severe pain we know as CH.
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Title: Re: New to Cluster Headaches - Have questions Post by johnp on May 27th, 2008 at 1:38am
I get my most relef from DHE injections once a day but i have cronic cluster migrans , also migranal i use when i dont do my shot 2 spays in each nostril at night an in the morning
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