Im new to this site but not a virgin to the CH bitch.. I have had CH for over 20 years now and they are seasonal with me.  I read that many have the same.  October- Feburary as a rule, maybe im lucky that the attacks occur for only 4-6 weeks and then bam, there gone.  I went the last two years without any CH attacks and of course i try to figure out why..  what did I do or not do that kept them from hitting me..

I got hit a couple weeks ago and lucky to have some imitrex injection on hand.. like you, I tend to ask anytime im at or neer a doctors office if they have any samples floating around,, but I had saved up enough to get me through this first cycle, about 25 strong attacks..

Strange enough,, if I feel the first onset of the attack, and get the strong coffee in me and ice pack, hot shower, it seems that helps to keep the pain from reaching severe...some of the time..

I did notice that, as painful as the beast is, I somehow have come to terms with it and sometimes i actually just endure the attack, save the injection and just try different things.. hyperventing seems to help, along with  fast walking around the house, and keep up on my feet..keep moving and that seems to help as well..  

I dont know if any of you smoke, but I rarely do,  however, i feel the intense craving for a cigerette after the attack... and I dont know why that is... I would think it would be the opposite..  

Certain foods i have nailed down as to triggers... for me they are any kind of cheese, chocolete, sausage, any food with nitratates are a no no, and msg in a certain trigger. nuts, alcahol, onions,, i have reciently found that onions trigger one almost all the time..  No fruit that I can find causes any troubles, or green vegies seem to be ok, but radishes and onions are on the shit list with me..  

I have tried as much as I can to hesitate on using the injection just to see if I can find any releif by other means around the house.  So far, strong coffee, coke, the caffene i suppose is the trick there.  

I have been on Antenolol blood pressure meds and if i get on them a month or so before the season, that seams to subdue them and to the point where the attacks are almost tollerable to ignore.. almost... but it certainly reduced the severity and the freqency of the attacks.

And here is the new deal that I have had great success with,, I got one of those CPAF Constant Pressure breathing machines for my sleep apnea, got it about a week ago, and I do know that apnea is connected and does affect and trigger the attacks... but mostly the secondary attack, that, after i get stabbed in the eye at 5 am, from a deep sleep, then take the injection, then try to dose off again,, i get woke up within an hour or so with another painful session,,, due to the apnea, I beleive.   So I got one of thse machines and it makes a huge difference in not only the amount of sleep that I am geting, but just having the air flow and not starving my brain from oxygen, just being able to breath normal while sleeping,, it made a big difference and really knocked the attacks down to only a mild one now, that i have at night, but no more of them waking me up from a sound sleep.  Just thought id pass on what I have experienced and Im glad this site is up
it surly gives me a source of info and to learn what all of you are experiencing.  thanks for sharing.  Also, for those of you who need the Imitrex injections, I have found that the Europe prices are about half of what they charge in the US... which really pisses me off... Its just not right.