dont give up, MKD!!! you gta just show that $%^&*((&&^^ beast who's boss!!!  U WILL GET THU THIS, though difficult to do, keep the "positive outlook"! Sending you lotsa hugs and good vibes from Long Island!!!
deb

hey all, its been a bit since my last post and im havin some trouble keepin track of things at this point. i think last time i posted was my 4 month mark when then headaches switched from the right side of my head to the left.this past weekend my normal everyday pain (i have constant pain inbetween attacks-which will probably explain my constant irritability) started to flip-flop from one side to the other. I saw the doc on tuesday and got 10 shots in the head (nerve blocks, ocipital and trigeminal, left and right sides)

my current littany of meds are- verapamil 480mg daily- indomethacin 75mg daily- topamax 50mg daily.....my ears ring constantly, my eyes are fukt up (like looking at the sun or a bright light? when you close them?) i see everything like that all the time, afterimages. my stomach is constantly sour. i was taking melatonin 9mg daily also but it was messing up my sleep and giving me terrible nightmares...all this and a constant headache (3-5 on the normal pain scale). no full blown attack in about 2 months tho...( a couple of mini attacks but i got my 02).

anyway. i saw the doc tuesday. got a mess of nerve blocks. on thursday. my normal pain began to increase. i felt an attack threatening me....pain levels rising, bringing me to tears as i ran for the 02......IT SWITCHED SIDES IN MID ATTACK. then back again. i hit the tank for 10 minutes or so (it still wasn't a full blown attack-but they still fuckin hurt none the less). 2 hours later the same thing. this all started at my normal cluster time, 2pm. exhausted i crashed. slept 2 hours.

when i woke up........my baseline cluster pain WAS ON BOTH SIDES OF MY HEAD AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!! oh and my cheek now tingles..i am literally at the end of my rope. i have no more faith in my doctors or meds. i have had to drop out of school this semester and i fear that i'm going to loose my job......if that happens i'll be out of options, i'm lucky to have the job i do (i've been able to work from home once the whole cluster fuck thing started).....if it wasn't for my wife and lil girl i think i would turn on my 02 tank and light a final smoke...for tonight the wife is working and the lil one is off at granmom and granpop's..........and i'm gettin loaded. i thought the longer this went on the easier it would be to deal with....i'm now finding it to be quite the opposite.....

fuck me........i sure hope the rest of CH sufferers are faring better then i am

Hey Keith... Sorry the battle is still raging.  Like thebbz said though, you have to dig deep and find the strength to fight on.  Just think of your kid and how it'd be growing up without you.  Do it for him if for nothing else.

Get back with your Dr and tell them that what you're doing isn't working.  See if they think some of the symptoms are drug related.  It sure sounds like things are getting a bit unstable.  But who knows man, everyone's CH is different.

Have you ever been through something like this before?

At this point the drug levels look low enough but you're obviously not getting any relief from them either.  Something needs to change. 

If they draw a blank then it might be time to consider new Doctors.  Don't except things the way they are. 

Good luck...

-Dennis-

thx. ive been away from the forums while i bully my docs into helping me. (spreading the pain around) now pain is at a low level, more like discomfort. but the combo of lithium/verapamil/topamax has me essentially retarded. topamax is like a permanant acid trip, extreme spatial distortions head and hands feel huge etc. which would be cool every now and then but not every day. lol. I'll take that over attacks anyday. just cant drive anymore *shrugs*giggles*

thx 4 the support sorry no reply for months but i needed to regroup ya know? and after that last post i promised myself i wouldnt post again until i had some good news dammit!!
MKD

Thx Joe. Topamax is the silver bullet for me tho. once i got to 100mg the side FX got really strange but it killed 90% of the pain. lithium (@600) just finished it off. verapamil @ 480. thats my cocktail apparently. now if i have any discomfort (2pm & 9pm) the side FX from the topamax kick in. (extreme weirdness!!) then 10 minutes later....i'm cool. i just hope i can stay on all this stuff long term. docs tried takin me off verapamil and pain started comin back in about a week. so im back on every thing. I told em dont mess wit the mix! finally somethins working.

thx again..stay the course..MKD