I started having headaches back in 2004.  It took a solid year before anyone was able to diagnose them as CH.  I went through all of the scans, tests, and procedures that most of you went through before the doctors at The Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago finally diagnosed me with CH. 

Verapamil seemed to do the trick for 5-6 years, but just recently I got hit with a bad case and haven't been able to shake it for going on 4 weeks now.  They've gotten very bad and I've actually had severe neck pain as well.  I've been taking 100mg Topiramate daily for about 4 days now and it seems to be helping a little bit.  The medicine is making me very tired, a little depressed and a little irritable.  I've noticed a few minor things like coke tasting terrible, not being able to tolerate hot showers, losing words occassionally, and being down right loopy sometimes.

Anyway, the point of this post is to thank all of you for posting your thoughts and suggestions for battling through these headaches.  I was pretty depressed the other day when I decided to come on here and read through some of your posts.  It was very comforting to know there are others dealing with the exact same issues.  Even if those around me might not understand what I'm going through, I know you guys can sympathize.

Welcome to the board, glad you found us. I've never taken the med you're currently on so I can't help you there. I will say when cycles get outta hand and I start getting hammered with hits, I end up with a screwed up neck and shoulders, just from fighting through the attacks. I've tried the relax and don't fight the pain routine but when it goes ballistic....damn! :D

I'm sure if you've been reading the board at all you've seen oxygen mentioned like a bo-zillion times. The success rate for quick aborts is awful hard to argue with. If you're not already an 02 "user", I'd strongly encourage you to read the oxygen info tab on the left and talk to the doc about it. I went from 90 minute attacks to aborting in less then 10 minutes the majority of the time.

Wishing you a short cycle!

Joe

If you were wondering, Topomax = Topiramate.  Thanks Joe!

Quote:

I've noticed a few minor things like coke tasting terrible, not being able to tolerate hot showers, losing words occassionally, and being down right loopy sometimes.

I was on topomax for over a year. Up side: weight loss. Down side: just about everything else. Cycles progressed quite nicely and I, too, found it's nickname (dopa-max) to be quite accurate. Lost words? Try entire dictionaries! Welcome, by the way, and blessings! lance

Dope-o-max is true but good news is it does seem to come
back when you stop taking it.

Well I think, Wait I can't remember! Ha ha ;)