I'm new to this site, my husband has been suffering with clusterheadaches for 9 years now.  He started out getting them once a year for a couple of months.  Now he has been diagnosed as chronic.  He has tried every preventative medicine they have from verapamil to topomax to lithium to depakote and all the other little ones in between, but none of them has helped.  He has tried oxygen, has had a couple of rounds of DHE, even tried the hawaiian baby woodrose seeds and the morning glory seeds, and done accupunture.  Nothing has helped!!  My concern is the headaches are coming every 3 1/2 to 4 hours and the amount of imitrex injections and prednisone that he is taking is taking a toll on his health and his outlook on life, he is down to about 15 shots left to his "stash" and is talking crazy, things like not being around for Thanksgiving!!  I don't know what to do or who to turn to for help!!!  Thanks for letting me vent.

That sounds really awful for you, Babs. Coming here was certainly a step in the right direction and we'll help however we can.

Any chance you could get hubby to join our little club? Just reading around tho other posts might let him know he's not alone with this monster.

We might also be able to help him better manage what's happening.

Either way, please know that we're behind you all the way, we truly understand what you're going through, and we care.

Please let us know how things are going,

Your mate down under.

Sorry to hear what you are going through; as Brian said, we understand and care. Oxygen is usually a very good abortive with the proper flow rate (at least 15 Lpm) and a non rebreathable mask. There is a lot to be learned on this site from people who have dealt with and are dealing with CH. If you could get him to check it out, it might help. My wife introduced it to me. (I'm not one to normally look for support) I needed it physically and mentally, while she cares for me immensely, and will do whatever she can to help, hearing from others that know exactly what I am dealing with made a difference.
feel free to "vent" anytime.....ask him to check out the site, it has helped many 
   

Hi Babs
How did he use the oxygen.  This is vital - You must have a flow rate of at least 15 litres per minute (25 is better) and a non rebreather mask. If you don't use it this way it will not work. There is a yellow tab on the left of your screen with good info.
Maz

Hi and welcome

Is your husband working with a headache specialist who is skilled plus experienced in dealing with CH? With so many effective preventives not working it may be that he isn't being given a high enough dose for the preventives to be effective. Or it could be that he has something else other than CH which needs different medication. All options should be considered.

For how long as he been using prednisone as a preventive? It is normally only used for about 10-14 days at a time whilst another preventive builds up. Medium term use can be pretty destructive, especially to joints and should be avoided.

Have you seen about how many of us are using vitamin D3 as a preventive with great results? I've gone over 1000 days CH pain free using it.

The oxygen page people are mentioning is - START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE. It has everything you could want to know about using oxygen effectively, which is an amazing abortive once you get it working, especially as you can use it as many times a day as needed.

As to venting, vent away. Everyone here knows about CH either as a supporter or someone who has CH.

Have you tried to get him to come here too? He'll get to see how he isn't alone.

Hi Babs..

Welcome to Clusterville .. Sorry you're here, but glad you found us.

What the others said ... the O2, if not used properly won't work at all... Check the flow rate and the mask.

The D3 regimen has been working for so many of us .. I've been chronic since 97 and since beginning it have been PF since Oct of last year (over a year - not ONE headache)..

There's a link on here somewhere telling HOW to take it and what to take, but it's definitely working for a lot of us. If you need help with it - BATCH is our D3 (and O2) guru and is always around to help. PM him and he'll be there to lead you down the right path.

Now if you can get hubby to this site.. we are a bunch of long time sufferers and KNOW what he's going thru (been there - got the t-shirt). there's not much he can tell us that we haven't been thru and sometimes it does one good just to vent.

Seriously, I've been ready to give up several times, but the people on this board have been there and it DOES help. We do get nosey and tend to make wisecracks but we do it because we care and know what he's going thru. And if you'll check your PMs, you'll find my phone number. Feel free to call (or have him call). I've got a really good set of shoulders and am a good listener.

Keep us informed..  :-*