God Bless mothers.  I am trying to get my mom on board with CH.  I sent her that wonderful letter Simon wrote, but she still doesn't quite get it.  She means well.  We live in two different states, she only saw the headaches when they were undiagnosed and only happened a few times while I was living with her in high school.  

She lives by Consumer Reports.  And this was her first reaction.  And as I read, I was concerned about the Botox part.  Really  :o, no way :D that sounds silly  ;D Consumer Reports, reports that?

Anyone tried this method with results?

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

"When is it worth trying Botox injections to treat headaches?

There's recent evidence that injections of botulinum toxin A (Botox), the popular wrinkle-reducer, also help reduce the frequency and intensity of headaches--possibly by blocking the protein that carries the pain message to the brain. In the largest trial to date, 271 patients with migraine or tension-type headache--three-quarters of whom had tried other treatments without success--received botulinum A injections in multiple sites throughout the scalp every three months, up to five treatments in all. Eighty percent of participants reported less frequent headaches, less intense ones, or both. Smaller trials have yielded similar results.

On the downside, each treatment consists of up to 30 injections. And while Botox generally produces fewer and milder side effects than oral headache drugs, doctors using the toxin to treat frown lines have reported rare cases of severe, continuous headache, sometimes lasting as long as a month. It's also costly--about $320 per treatment--and generally not reimbursable by insurance. For now, it's best considered a treatment of last resort."

angela

First resort should be oxygen.

         Potter

There have been a couple of threads on botox.  I don't recall anyone claiming success with it.  Just curiosity.  Probably folks trying to figure out how to get the insurance company to fund their wrinkle removal  ;)

To me it doesn't sound practical or cost effective and the patient population didn't include cluster sufferers.  Other than that it's a great idea  ;D

I'm with Potter on this one.  Oxygen is a better alternative.

-Dennis-

J Neurol. 2004 Feb;251 Suppl 1:I19-30.
Botulinum toxin in the treatment of rare head and neck pain syndromes: a systematic review of the literature.

Sycha T, Kranz G, Auff E, Schnider P.

Department of Neurology, Division of Neurological Rehabilitation, University of Vienna, Austria.

[90% of this abstract has been deleted because of the technical data ref. methods of study and data analysis. --Bob Johnson]

REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: There is convincing evidence for the effectiveness of BoNT in the treatment of pain associated with cervical dystonia. Due to the frequent adverse effects predominantly observed with higher doses, the trade off in risk and benefit should be carefully considered in each case. For all other rare head and neck pain syndromes we found no [randomized controlled trials for] (CLUSTER HEADACHE, chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, trigeminal neuralgia) and only a few small sized trials (cervicogenic headache, chronic neck pain, temporomandibular disorders). We were therefore unable to draw any definite conclusions.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 14991339 [PubMed]
==============

That the authors could not find reports about use in Cluster tells you a great deal. I look for reports from time to time and am not finding anything. A couple of early reports (3-4 years old) reported no benefit for CH although some benefit for migraine--but that inconsistent as well as being expensive & time consuming.

I dont know if it works or not but i aint gonna trust any site that says migraine is worse than CH, although migrains are painful and i hate them they are not even in the same legue as my CH apart from the fact they last for ages.

I suffer from both migraines and ch and I have had several botox apointments.  It stops the migraines but does not touch the ch.  I would recomend you fight to get the oxygen and a good preventative such as verapamil or lithium than waste time trying to get insurance to pay for botox.  

BrianJ wrote on Aug 25^th, 2008 at 8:43am:

I dont know if it works or not but i aint gonna trust any site that says migraine is worse than CH, although migrains are painful and i hate them they are not even in the same legue as my CH apart from the fact they last for ages.

You might want to rethink comparing your own pain to that of others, playing the "I hurt worse than you do" game. Fuck that. Everybody's pain is real, and it hurts. So back off a little. You don't have a monopoly on pain.

Despite the condescending post from Brew, I agree with BrianJ.


                    [smiley=smokin.gif]

AlienSpaceGuy wrote on Aug 25^th, 2008 at 1:38pm:

Despite the condescending post from Brew, I agree with BrianJ.                     [smiley=smokin.gif]

The condescension was in the opposite direction, sir. Anyone who belittles the pain of another is, by definition, condescending.

Dear Guardian of Public Morals and Good Manners,

Please, tell me where and who did "belittles the pain of another"? If it was Brian, could you translate for me what he wrote between the lines?

I call somebody condescending who from the height of his pedestal has the urge to judge the opinion of others, whether jokes are funny or not, etc.

With kind regards, ASG


                 [smiley=smokin.gif]

AlienSpaceGuy wrote on Aug 25^th, 2008 at 2:52pm:

Dear Guardian of Public Morals and Good Manners, Please, tell me where and who did "belittles the pain of another"? If it was Brian, could you translate for me what he wrote between the lines? Quote: although migrains are painful and i hate them they are not even in the same legue as my CH I call somebody condescending who from the height of his pedestal has the urge to judge the opinion of others, whether jokes are funny or not, etc. With kind regards, ASG                  [smiley=smokin.gif]

I'll take the rest of your musings as a compliment.

AlienSpaceGuy wrote on Aug 25^th, 2008 at 2:52pm:

I call somebody condescending who from the height of his pedestal has the urge to judge the opinion of others, whether jokes are funny or not, etc.

I assume that this is the joke to which you refer:


Quote:

no no no he's right salt does work but you need to use it just right. heres the formula......... rub salt onto the tip of a bullet...... load it into your favorite gun........ put it to your temple........ pull the trigger....headaches gone!

If you think that's funny, you are more twisted than I first surmised.

I have to say that joking about "shooting yourself in the head" due to a condition that Drs. have referred to as the "Suicide Headache" is not all that funny.  

Just my opinion.....................

Jeannie

If you think I found that "joke" funny, your chain of reasoning needs some untwisting.

Ya know, being twisted has its advantages too: When I'm dead there is no need for a grave digger, They can just screw me into the ground.

But if you think my joke isn't funny, you can post that in your patronizing manner.

                 [smiley=smokin.gif]

AlienSpaceGuy wrote on Aug 25^th, 2008 at 8:25pm:

But if you think my joke isn't funny, you can post that in your patronizing manner.

Gladly. :-*