I'll start first off by saying bless each and everyone who's devoted anything into making this site.  I stumbled across some info on WebMD just a couple days ago which led me to this site just moments after. It was a most welcome ray of hope after an extremely discomforting decade.

Secondly, I've yet to see a proffesional about my "little problem" since the most common answer I recieve is "see a neurologist" and lack of insurance along with other financial issues makes this someone unfeasable for me.  I've always had to take the approach that band-aids are my best friend cause their the only medical treament i tend to get. 

So for the past 10+ years i've dealt with assumed migraines.  Taken everything over the counter i could find or think of or even had an inkling that it's worth a shot.  Fat lot o' good any of it ever did.  So I  did what i've always done.  My best to simply maintain and deal with these attacks as they occur. 

As I read through the symptoms and reactions cause due to CH, the puzzle simply fitted.  Neurologist or not, their is now absolutly no doubt in my mind this is what's been happening to me for so long now.  and now i have a decent arsenal on my side for my newly inspired race to find a doctor who can help. 

I thank god this problem isn't has bad as some cases i've read so far here, or with those suffering chronically.   My attacks have always been very reliable.  2 cycles yearly on average over last 10 or  so years.  Most severly at the onset of Spring time, and then fall/early winter follows me up with a shorter month or so of attacks.  Typically I see 1-2 attacks, with a 3rd/4th sneaking in on rare occasions.  Attacks typically last a couple hours although i have had them last only 30-45 minutes before and as long as 6 hours (that was an ugly day) Always on my left side and almost always 6-7pm, followed up again around 10pm. This had always been the norm until a couple weeks ago i awoke in themiddle of the night with an attack.  "oh great" i though, but then again, at diff time the next night, and in the morning just before I was supposed to have gone into work.   This new randomness is what really spurred me to start searching again.  This time thinking that their simply had to be something wrong.  Naturally a worry wort such as myself is thinking cancer, tumors, ect. ect. As far as I knew,  it had to be something like that.   Specially since my alternate theoryof my face trying to give birth through my eye socket seemed unlikely.  The look on my girlfriends face was priceless last night as i pulled this site up for her and let her read through the testimonials on the home page.  She looked at me and simply stated "that's it! you found out what's wrong!"

And if it wasn't satisfying enough and fear relieving to have this information available to me, it's already put itself to EXTREMELY GOOD USE!!!!  Headache hit last night round 9pm, No meds to take as usual, no red bulls, no hotsauce for under my tongue, nothing in the house to attempt any of the non-perscription help i've read, cept for my ol' trusty icepack. I instantly dropped into my habit of placing my icepack right over my eye and temple region, wait for the cold to get unbearable, then remove and enjoythe 10-15 seconds of pure relief i'd feel before numbness wore and sheer torture kicked back in.  Then i remembered reading somewhere either here or Ouch.com bout some placing the icepack onthe back of the neck.  Never had pain in my necks from these headaches (other than the neck problems that follows a good head smash against the floorboards) The difference made was like night or day.  Yes i froze my but off (it was supposed to snow today, cold already, icepack to the backof my neck... brrrrrr) No my headache didn't go away miraculously, but what i did notice as i sat their,ice on neck,waiting for the 3-4 inutes it typically takes to go from "normal" to "OMG what did i do to tick you off this time"  and it didn't happen.... 10 minutes go by... 20 minutes, next thing I know it's almost an hour later, I still have massive pressure against the temple, slight pain in the jaw, and an occasional "spike" of pain would slap my face, but I was watching tv... i was sittings still on the sofa... I wasn't screaming!!!!   curiosity got the better of me and i removed the ice and let my neck warm up... wrong move, took mere seconds for the pain in my eye to start up almsot full force, slapped that icepack back on and within 5 minutes, started feeling relief yet again.   

Weather or not this will work everytime has yetto be seen.  I"m waiting for my owm beast to come knocking t his evening so i can try again.  But if nothing else.   I was able to semi-relaxfor one evening.  Even snuggled in front of a good movie with my loving woman instead of hiding in the room with the lights out ever so aware of her tip toeing around t he house outta fear she's going to make any loud noises and helpless to do anything other than giving me my "territorial bubble" and staying away.

So again i thank those responsible and those who have contributed to clusterheadaches.com.  10 years later and i'm ready to start fighting back!

Thanks for the kind and quick welcome .

I did read through the o2 link, as well as that page of non- prescription help. Both excellent sources of info and hope. 
One thing that will drive me nuts trying to figure how exactly someone thought to put hot  sauce under their tongue, lol. 

I appreciate the concern bout having a proffesional diagnosis and will be searching for an affordable option.  Luckily i'm smart enough to know what limitation i should not push when it comes to seeking self treatment for anything.  Especially when  it comes to taking medication.  I'd imagine an Ice pack to be safe for the time being.  I do like the idea of  O2 being helpful.  One of my main concerns over my headaches is my functionality drops to 0%, I've always feared a doc would simply try to dope me  up on pain meds that again... would drop my functionality.   

It's just such a relief just knowing for certain, for the first time, that theirs option at all. Not to mention people who actually understand.

Papagimp please be sure your loved one "supporter" reads everything she can on the board too. We supporters are a big part of the CH family and we have an area on the board too. Good luck.

papagimp wrote on Mar 28^th, 2009 at 12:23pm:


Ah - you're a lucky man! Welcome to both of you!

Welcome to CH.com.   

The only new thing I have to add, really, to the thoughts you've been given is in reference to the following:

papagimp wrote on Mar 28^th, 2009 at 6:42am:


You may wish to try gradually removing the ice, rather than removing it all at once.  Finish by using a cool, wet washcloth.  I find that it helps to let the area warm up gradually, rather than all at once.  I know that if I remove the ice right away, I often get the reattack/rebound effect you're describing.

Please keep us updated with how you're doing--we'll be happy to help in any way we can.

Best wishes,

George

just an update:

firstly, my gel-ice pack is my new best friend.  Tolerable pain is so damned wonderful compared to the norm.  Unfortunatly the energy drinks have yet to prove effective. Only tried Red bull (dry heave) and Full Throttle -citrus. I bought some red bulls to slam when i feel the beasts icy finger touching my temple and have been drinking a full throttle on the way to work.  I'd imagine mere coincidence but my shadows feel more prominate past couple days, more noticeable that most days, and have only had 1 attack each day and at a later time than my usual appointment.
  Still working on the O2 thing, most likely going with the cheaper Welder's option.  (shame i recently sold off so much equipment with a Co2 setup i had for my fishies).  I've been able to show off tons of printed info to friends/family/coworkers that helped clear up so much confusion. 

Thanks again everyone, ya'll rock.