Floricet with Codeine is a barbiturate, analgesic, stimulant, and narcotic combination. Be careful along those lines. It is very rare that a physician with knowledge of Cluster Headaches would prescribe narcotics as a solution to Cluster Headache.

"whereas they are finding that women are tending to have a less extreme peak-and-valley experience- it may slowly ramp up, but last a lot longer and be harder to get rid of."

I didn't find this to be true.  Women whom I know with ch go from 0 to whatever in just a matter of a few minutes just as men do, and the ch leaves just as quickly as it arrived. Mine always went straight to an 8 or 9.....never had shadows in 28 years.

I always thought a DO didn't have an MD degree, but I could be wrong.

I'm really sorry that you are having such difficult and long bouts with your headaches.   As said before, Fioricet isn't a drug prescribed for ch.

A good neurologist would be in order.

Good luck with school.

Floricet, that's a new one for sure, will certainly be asking my MD next visit.
Looks like you got lucky, both with a drug class that usually does not work on CH, and with a Doc who spends the time and seems to care, many do not. A study on the Robbins site says on average, by 2000 numbers, it takes 4 doctors and 6 years for the average CH patient to get a correct diagnosis.
I think that CH treatments are in two classes, those to handle the headaches, and those to try to stop the episode. For me at least, the treatments for the individual headaches, either seem to work or not work in pretty short order, usually without a lot of rhyme or reason. Still, some doctors will stay on them for weeks if not months, loath to switch. I also got lucky, albeit after 30+ years, but I switched MD's just to try to get a script for O2, and the new doc was fantastic, right up on CH's, took his time and did a real workup, and is now a friend and partner in beating down this thing.
Long term treatments are a bear. You don't know if something actually works, if if the episode was just destined to stop when it did. Still, some people seem to think adjustments work, or at least help, lifestyle changes, dietary supplements or the like, but there sure isn't a lot of discussion on long term of late.
Still, if adjustments seemed to help, by darn, stick with them.
Only thing for sure, what works, works, and what doesn't, might just work on the next one.
Hope they keep working for you,
Chris

 
Cluster headache.
From: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]

Thank you all for your words of support!  okay:  Charlotte- it did ramp up and down a bit, just not enough to give me any relief...he said he has treated several female CHers who have the same pattern (that it's more of a constant pain but at different levels vs. completely going away for periods of time.)

Donna-yeah, I didn't know what a DO was, either!  He said it's the same thing as an MD, but you stay in and do extra coursework/residency in osteopathic stuff; he recommends a DO vs. a Chiropractor because a DO has a more "whole body" approach.  Also, he gave a nod to the fact that there just isn't any truly definitive research yet on male vs. female CH, but a lot of recent studies point to the possibility of different presentation of symptoms, which also might explain why there are so fewer women diagnosed with it than men...we'll see I guess...


Fly gas- first, I want to know what your name means!    Second, yeah, I have always been a case study of unusual reactions to drugs, so I'm not surprised if something works for me that doesn't work for others.  Caffeine actually makes me drowsy!!  But you are so right- I am VERY lucky to have found two doctors who seem to know their stuff and even have experience treating CH and are both very compassionate, caring people.  They are DEFINITELY getting Christmas presents.   

As for today, I feel sooooo much better, just shadows...and I slept SO GOOD!!    Don't worry, I have seen friends ruin their lives with drug habits- I have no intention of abusing this stuff.  We have tried everything else in the arsenal before resorting to this.  And I have a 5-yr-old to play with and an art career to work on, so I don't WANT to be loopy and groggy!! 

I guess we'll see how the rest of the day goes!!
-Paige