I am taking Tramadol HCL 50 mg. It has not prevented them all night but can get me to early in the morning if I take one when I go to bed and seems to lessen the severity when the pain hits around four or five. Then when  I take another after the pain wakes me up it seems to provide faster relief. Tonight I forgot to take one and so I am up after taking two and the pain is starting to be relieved but I spent a lot of time walking around outside. I will not make that mistake again. I am going to ask for Oxygen tomorrow to see if that along with the Tramadol will work even better together. I also spend a lot of time walking around outside when the pain hits and that seems to help as well. I guess I have been lucky. I am 58 Y.O. and this is my second bout with these. First time I did not know what was going on and at least I am learning how to recognize and learn from the episodes. I have broken my back, had skydiving, motorcycle and about every other kind of bodily injury possible including two major heart attacks and NOTHING compares to this pain! I wish these on no one. They are a curse! Hope this helps.

A pain med as a primary/only treatment for Cluster is not best practice unless other, standard, meds have failed.

Please read the PDF file, below.

---

Opiates = no help for clusters

Might get you hooked too.  Just be careful.

I agree.  Stop with the opioids and get yourself on a more proven regimen, like a steroid kick with transition to verapamil or something similar.  Get a neuro or doc who knows what these are and will treat them properly.  These aren't migraines -- they should not be treated as everyday headaches.  They are very different animals.

UPIBill,

Did you get your Rx for oxygen therapy?

Some interesting statistics regarding oxygen therapy from the US Cluster Headache Survey many of us completed in 2008:

1134 individuals completed the survey (816 male, 318 female). 868 patients had episodic CH while 266 had chronic CH.

OXYGEN THERAPY USAGE
  1. 93% were aware of O2 being an acute therapy.
  2. 34% had never tried O2
  3. Current users: only 287 patients or 25% of the survey population are using oxygen at present
**Males make up 73% of the current users

WHO PRESCRIBED OXYGEN
    - 44% had to first suggest O2 therapy to their physicians to get it prescribed.
    - There was an equal distribution (28% each) of physician type (general practitioner, general neurologist, headache specialist) who initially prescribed O2.

REASONS WHY A PHYSICIAN WOULD NOT PRESCRIBE O2
  1. Did not believe it worked 44%
  2. Did not know that O2 was used for CH 32%
  3. Stated medical literature not convincing enough to prescribe 16%.

INSURANCE ISSUES
  - Patient or physician had to submit medical literature 44% of the time to get reimbursement for O2.
  - Only 64% of insurers covered O2 for CH.

PRESCRIBING PATTERNS
1. 50% of those using O2 never received training on proper use of O2 cylinder equipment or mask.

2. 45% had to find a source to buy O2 on their own.

3. On oxygen prescriptions only 45% specified a flow rate, 50% stated CH as diagnosis and 28% indicated a specific mask type.

4. 12% of CH patients had used welders O2 (non-prescription, less expensive) stating economic reasons including having no insurance.

5. Oxygen delivery systems prescribed:
  nasal cannula 11% (useless for CH)
  standard mask 29%  (also useless for CH)
  high concentration non-rebreather mask 47%

6. Initial flow rates prescribed
  7 lpm 23%,
  8-12 lpm 51%
  13-15 lpm 18%
  >15 lpm. 6%  (25 liters/minute is the lowest flow rate that supports hyperventilation and hyperventilating on 100% oxygen results in very rapid and very safe aborts.)

Did you read the "How To" post on obtaining a properly prepared Rx for oxygen therapy?  It's located at the following link:

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

You also might want to read the post titled "Dancing with the Devil" in the link below:

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

Take care,

V/R, Batch

I take tramadol 50 mg. 3 times a day... it worked for a while but now they are back... when i get a ch at full force tramadol is like throwing a pebble in the ocean....

foolclip281 wrote on Jun 7^th, 2010 at 12:37pm:

I take tramadol 50 mg. 3 times a day... it worked for a while but now they are back... when i get a ch at full force tramadol is like throwing a pebble in the ocean....

and expecting a tsunami!

just doesn't happen :)

ps I have taken tramadol knowing that the purpose is to "ramp down" my entire being.  Like when too many nights in a row have me so ramped up with fear and anticipation of the looming attacks that I just wanted something to take the edge off.  I have also gone the other way...adding vivran (or caffiene) preventing sleep believing I was avoiding an attack.  The approach may be different, but the desired outcome is the same. I sincerely understand where you're at mentally!  I have found (for me) 9-12 mg of melatonin every night at exactly 8:30 pm has done wonders to take the edge off.  It did take about 2 weeks to notice the difference.  Hoping you find your "edge reducer too!" 

Cindy

Be very careful of Tramadol as it can be very easy to get addicted to it even when using a low dose and following the instructions from your GP to the letter.

From personal experience, at a dose level very similar to you I had problems with it after just a few days for a slipped disc. It wasn't fun going through the withdrawal symptoms even with tapering the dose.

Far too many doctors just give out opiates like tramadol and codeine without due consideration for their side affects and addictive qualities.

And as you say, they hardly seem to impact the pain, hence the caution, although discuss things with your GP before considering stopping taking them.

Opiates do help for clusters, maybe not every person, but they do for some, i take tram 50 mg 3 times a day and while it's not as effective as it use to be, it's better than nothing.

foolclip281 wrote on Jun 23^rd, 2010 at 12:25pm:

Opiates do help for clusters, maybe not every person, but they do for some, i take tram 50 mg 3 times a day and while it's not as effective as it use to be, it's better than nothing.

Whatever you've got to tell yourself.

tramadol is non narcotic. im an addict in recovery and they have give me this stuff before. i must say its like taking a sugar pill.....no relief.

ChefChris wrote on Jan 19^th, 2011 at 7:42pm:

tramadol is non narcotic. im an addict in recovery and they have give me this stuff before. i must say its like taking a sugar pill.....no relief.

I'm surprised, given that Ultram/tramadol is potentially addicting.

It may not be a narcotic, but it is classified as an opiate agonist (oxycodone and oxymorphone are also included in this classification).

From Wikipedia:

Quote:

Tramadol is a synthetic analog of the phenanthrene alkaloid codeine and, as such, is an opioid and also a prodrug (codeine is metabolized to morphine, tramadol is converted to O-desmethyltramadol).

deltadarlin wrote on Jan 19^th, 2011 at 7:54pm:

ChefChris wrote on Jan 19th, 2011 at 7:42pm: tramadol is non narcotic. im an addict in recovery and they have give me this stuff before. i must say its like taking a sugar pill.....no relief. I'm surprised, given that Ultram/tramadol is potentially addicting.

It's not just potentially addicting. From experience I was prescribed tramadol for a back problem. Even by just following the dose directed by my GP I was dependent on it within a few days and had some "fun" withdrawal symptoms for a few days when I came off it. It's not something I'd touch with a barge pole.

I don't have to worry about that.  I'm allergic to it.

Stay away from Tramadol! This drug should not exist! I am from the US but live in India, and I was diagnosed with CH during a visit home. The doctor placed me on Tramadol, and unfortunately it was effective for me; it did not make cluster headaches disappear, but it appreciably reduced the pain. I returned to India, and developed a tolerance and an addiction, and eventually I had a seizure that resulted in me falling and earning 14 stitches on my forehead. And the withdrawal symptoms are horrible. At that juncture, I found a more progressive doctor than the one I had been seeing in the US
, and he said this drug should NEVER be prescribed to a cluster headache patient. He said it is just easy decision making doctors who really do not know how to confront the condition. He has been the best doctor I have had for CH, and is Director of National Institute for Mental Health and Neurosciences. Too often our American doctors just dole out the dope and push us toward the door so they can get to the golf course in time.

Dangerous stuff indeed.

It’s the same here in Ireland and I’m sure in the rest of Europe.

Peter.

I took tramadol by the bucket load in the early days.  It never touched my CH, but always about 2 hours after taking it I would be violently sick.