Welcome Razzie!

Sorry you had to find us.  Please get to a neuro to rule out anything else beyond the CH.  Take the "cluster quiz" on the left of the screen for a preliminary (not solid) diagnosis.  Read as much as you can on this site.
It has helped me and many others with alternative therapy in treating CH.

Best of luck!

Chad

Good advice to take the cluster quiz, and get to a neuro to rule anything else out. The internet is a great place to do research but self diagnosis presents some serious risks. If the cluster quiz points you solidly to CH, take the results with you to the neuro and see if they can firm up the diagnosis for you....then....

1: You will want a good preventative medication, Verapamil, Lithium and Topomax are 3 of the front runners. This is a med you take daily while on cycle to reduce the number and intensity of your attacks. I use lithium at 1200 mg a day while on cycle, blocks about 70% of my hits.

2: A good abortive regimen...the headache has started, now what? Read the oxygen info link on the left. It should be your first line abortive. I can kill an attack completely in less then 10 minutes huffing the 02. Imitrex injectables and nasal inhalers are effective but there is some concern by sufferers that these may extend cycles.

For now, since you suffer from the dreaded "night time terrors", try taking Melatonin at night. An OTC supplement available at health food and vitamin outlets. Start with 6 mg a night and increase until you get some relief from the wake ups. Keep a few cans of energy drinks around the house, any containing the combo of caffeine and taurine. Chug one at the first sign of an attack. Many can reduce or abort an attack using these.

Welcome to the board. If it is CH, the good news is it won't kill you, and while we haven't found a cure for it, there are effective treatments to reduce the ouch time!

Joe

Mac_Muz wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2009 at 9:50am:
I can't tell you or anybody what to do, but I can tell you my results with seeds and that is reducing my cycles and eliminating some all together with absolutely NO side affects (other than a little nausea and being tired) what so ever.

My advice: Don't put complete faith in anything a neuro says, unless the neuro is a headache specialist, and even then  if you're diagnosed with CH you might want to come back here and report and compare notes regarding what you've been prescribed (even the headache specialist could be ignorant/way behind the times regarding how to best administer O2).

Also, if you're going to use the very popular Imitrex abortive, don't accept the pill form. They don't work well for most CH sufferers. Injections are the most effective.

I'm starting to think that O2 therapy is one tool to help diagnose CH's. I have yet to see O2 work the kind of miracles on other type of headaches as it does for CH's.

This certainly does crate any "absolutes" because O2 doesn't work for all Clusterheads. But if it kills an attack that looks like CH, it may help prove the point.

Kinda like the inverse of Nitro.

Anyone know if O2 kills any other severe headaches?

Marc

Chad wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2009 at 10:36am:



Chad, Thanks that is good to know. I did all sorts of crap when I was young. Ten feet tall and bullet proof ya know?

Once LSD was a recreation, as were shrooms. I never got busted, but out grew it, or just wanted controll of myself back.

As a result i don't do the wild woodland weed anymore either, or drink in excess. Just not interested..

So I would be less interested in seeds if there was any high and more so if there was any after effects. I know about after effects from things like shrooms and LSD.

I have been a welder and sort of still am a welder and I used to do the 0² trick, sometimes in the act of welding for the fumes.. Mostly on cars will zinc galvanized coating on exhausts.

Many systems were shipped by bus and so would be cut up to fit the cargo bay on a bus. Benze cars also were a weld fit, no slip on pipes for them back then.

When I came here and read O², I took it as a joke, or some ineffective remidy, but when I tried it, it worked better than I would have expected.

I tend to avoid doctors, and or take meds for anything. Over the counter meds seem about useless for me. And unless you get a good doctor, which never seems to happen with me, I end up feeling like a guini pig, while they try all their voo doo.

I lost my spleen in a motorcycle crash, and when my son, some many years ago fell out of a tree and landed on a milk crate the doctor wanted to slice and dice my kid and i just calmly asked what was his BP. With that the whole place went nuts. My now x wife did, 2 nurses did, and so did that doctor. Some guy with long hair in a mechanics suit wasn't supposed to know a thing about spleens.

Turned out I was right too, and the kid had a hematoma, and calm rest was a far better cure. I made them call in a ultra sond tech, which prioved I was right, and the hospital never had any intent to do so 

Then there was a time my kid was miffed because he wanted a scar worth braggin' about 

For those who go to doctors these days for this need to have done all their homework, and be able to back it up IMO..