upnover wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 11:28am:


There ya go Tom! Now we can see ya.
Sweet Jeep!
Eric

Welcome, tom. Still can't see the pic, though...

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Here I am talking to another CH'er on Skype. I've had these damn things since May of 2000. I was diagnosed very shortly after I that by my GP. I started out being episodic, and went chronic almost a year ago. At first, there wasn't much that worked for me, but after this last cycle started 22 months ago, I found out trex injections work, and O2 also.

I've decided that I can't let this run my life, or that's all my life would be. I deal with it and move on. There's always the thought in the back of my mind, knowing right when the next hit is coming. But I keep it there, and when they come, they come. Not to say I'm not a cursing crying idiot when I'm getting hit. But then it's over. And they always end. Always.

Chris

Hi  my name is Michael (from Switzerland) and I am new to this 'global village'.... and new to this CH, just over 6 month    trying to get used to all this......  and gratefull to you all for the usefull information and the support I got when I joined a few weeks ago......

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my two boys... and  MOM.....you and your MOM are my lifesavers....... and me......
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the way I see the world when I am PF........
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and the way we have it at the moment ........

Hi all!  I'm Rich from Tucson AZ.  I'v been a sufferer since 1992 and found this CH oasis about two weeks ago. Episodic with 12 week annual visits from the beast.  I was recently divorced fom my wife of thirty five years, so I was  up against this one on my own, that is until I found this place and all of you wonderful folks .  I really think you saved my life.  I learned so much here and found a connection that I truly needed, it gives you that little bit to hold on for.  The wife and I have raised four wonderful boys and look at ours as a complete, and not nessarily as a failed marraige and wiil one day soon be able to continue on as freinds.  My boys and I have a great rlationship, but the timing in all of our lives right now and their ages, (18-27) have us in different places at this time. My current cycle is ending, but I will remain here to support my family of clusterheads now, and forever.

Love you guys,

Rich
/Richr8

P.S. E-double was kind enough to post pic in the post below.

Hi, I'm Eric and I've been around for a few months.  I'm in my mid 30's and I am a stay-at-home dad.  I'm originally from Massachusetts and now live in Missouri.  I have had CHs since Fall of 2004 (which I believe was my payment for the Sox winning the Series). 

Anyway, if there is a E-Double fan club, I'd like to join.  Along with many others here, he has been ahuge help and is the main reason (outside of the person who runs this site) I sleep 5-6 hours a night right now.  I used to work in early childhood special education but now (as I said before) I stay at home with our 2 kids.

Here are my 2 boys. 

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Here is a picture of me at Game 4 of the 2004 World Series.  It was my 1st day without HAs after my first cycle.

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31 year old male.  New to the site as of this morning.  I can't beleive these things are real.  Had my first cycle in Feb 1998, (undiagnosed), the 2nd in Feb, 2003 (diagnosed & treated with imitrex) and the 3rd started 3 days ago.  So much for being a month for love.....Now I'm dreading going to sleep tonight, especially knowing that the one thing that usually helps me sleep (2 pints of Guinness) could be a trigger for the pain.      

I've also been thinking about all of the recreational hallucinogens I took in my early 20's and if they are somehow coming back to haunt me.  Could this be a cause of the CH????   In addition to these mind altering substances, I was on Zoloft for about a year and about 30 days ago, stopped taking these.   Until Friday I have felt great with a good diet and daily exercise....

Please help me understand what is causing this pain, and what can be done to make it stop.....

Quote:


I doubt it.... Check here Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

This site was built by some dudes that come to this site.

Welcome aboard....sorry you have to be here my friend!!

hi im Andy 34 from scotland
ive had CH for abt 8yrs now but i must admit i thought i had it bad until i read some of the posts. im married with 4 stepdaughters and a son and im so lucky to have my family they really do help me just by bein there, they dont do anything for me wen ive got the headaches but they r there wen theyve gone and for that im so thankful. i dont really know wot to write at the mo as im knew to this and soz but i haven't got a pic of myself. im currently suffering a CH attack at the minute. ive been prescribed sumatriptan 100MG tablets and they do work the only trouble i have is that the CH happen so quickly that i take normal pain killers at the start of 1 hopin that it is a normal headache because im scared of running out of my sumatriptan then its upon me and god do i feel it ive started bashing my right temple against my fist at the mo but again im worried it will get worse or progress to even more bashing. dont know if i should of written all this here and said wot i have.

SmuTTy

Hiya Smuts,
Come down on the board and start a new thread so we can help you properly instead of it getting all caught up on this thread.
There is ALOT we can do and suggest to help you, starting with O2 as the King has said and also.. imigran tablets?! We need to talk! That is so not what you need!
Let's get you sorted ASAP ok?
Helen

Hi all, my name is Carl and I’m new here.

I can’t believe that this problem I’ve lived with for the past 20 years is actually a known medical condition.  I’ve been misdiagnosed every time, as doctors did sinus x-rays and CT scans, only to find nothing every time.  I’ve also been seeing a chiropractor every 2 weeks for the past 10 years, falsely believing that the relief I got after several weeks of intense adjustments was actually curing the problem.   

I’d been free of the headaches for about a year and a half, but when they started again around 6 weeks ago, I really got mad and determined to finally find out what was really going on.  I finally went to a neurologist and found the information about cluster headaches on his web site.  I was shocked!  Everything mentioned fit me to a tee. 

My history:

40, male, married, 2 kids in college.  Live in Michigan

CH’s are always on the right side of my face, behind the eye, with pain in back of neck and top of right shoulder.  Right eye waters. Right nasal passage completely blocks up.  Severe attacks will actually cause my body to twitch involuntarily when I get the ice pick stabbing sensation in the back of my eye.

CH cycle always starts in Dec or Jan and lasts 4-6 weeks.  Remission time typically 1 or 2 years.

CH always starts in the evening when I go to sleep.  1-2 times a night.

Sure fire triggers.  Alcohol, smelling perfume that contains Orace root, oxygen deprivation.

Things that have worked for me to abort the CH
–      HOT shower on neck while stretching if done in the first few minutes.
–      Working out until almost totally exhausted.  Increases oxygen level in bloodstream.

Drugs I’ve tried
     Flexeril 10mg (because I thought the cause was muscle spasms) combined with Vicodin 7.5/750 (I’d use a double dose).  If I got lucky the pain would be masked a little bit, but this generally didn’t work well.

     Recently my neurologist put me on Prednisone 20mg.  This immediately stopped the attack. However, as the dosage was reduced the attacks came back.  My side effects were – insomnia and a change in my voice at first which has since returned to normal.

First CHs I can remember were my senior year in high school and would always be triggered during swim team practice.  My theory about this is oxygen deprivation due to breathing the heavy layer of chlorine gas on the surface of the pool was the trigger.  I eventually had to quit the team because of the headaches.

The next recurrence of CHs happened approximately 11 years later, after I was involved in a bicycle racing accident.  I went over the bars at approx 30mph and into the payment.  I was unconscious for 15min.  Suffered a severe concussion (the helmet saved my life!) and completely tore all connective tissue from under my right shoulder blade and back.  It took me about a year and a half to heal physically.  The memory problems caused by the closed head injury took much longer to overcome, but my brain “re-wired” and my memory is better than ever now.

From the time I had my accident until yesterday, I firmly believed that the headaches I was having were due to scare tissue and muscle spasms in my right shoulder from the racing accident.  Now I believe that the CH’s are due to the head trauma that I suffered in the accident.  This gives me an entirely different way of attacking this problem.  I finally feel informed and empowered about this problem and will defeat this beast.

I just put new windows in my house this year, so the place is sealed up pretty well.  Little fresh air gets in or out.  I now know why using my wood burning stone to heat the house was triggering an attack.  It is because the stove is consuming the oxygen in the house which is sealed up like a drum.  As soon as I open a window to get fresh air in or I go outside for 5-10 minutes the CH attack subsides. 

For me, aside from the triggers of alcohol and perfume, I believe my triggers are all related to air quality (or should I say the lack of it).  I have replaced the air filtration unit on my furnace, shut down the wood burning stove, humidified my house better, and last night for the first night in 6 weeks I slept like a baby with no problems.

Welcome Carl and glcdawg!

You are home now.  This is the place to be to get support and give support, we are all rowing in the same boat.

Wishing you PF times.

painted shadows over
night's shadows
shining pain glistening, writhing in my rain
covered streets witnessed
sodium lamplight listens to muffled cries
resist and fight
red caps full of bitter reminders
The gray is getting paler now
with each hot blade inching through my head
sleep the good sleep
don't look up at night
it's up there somewhere; don't call it down
it comes when you look there
slips away when you resign
night the good night
head through the pillow
head through the wall
the painted walls
painting shades over
the high, long pain.

From a CH diary, from a while ago, from a currently painless man.

I didn't know how not alone I was. I guess there is some comfort in the discovery that I may not have a tumor burrowing in my matter...but I, as you, suffer alone.

Through this however, we can be better.