does anyone know of a reason why a pred taper no longer works at all for me?man ive been getting the crap kicked out of me the last couple weeks and pred taper was always the magic(temp)bullet,,now i dont know what to do..im scared to stop the preventatives to do a seed dose but i may have to try,,is it impossible for the seeds to work while still on preventatives??right now im on 600mg verapamil,1800mg of lithium,and 12mg of melatonin,,cant believe the beast is fighting through all that,,damn he's a tough bastard


jason

Did it get bad when you started tapering?  That happened to me in 1986 and it was horrible.  I couldn't get off the stuff!!!

No help for you on the prednisone it's NEVER failed as a temporary abortive for me. And the Lithium Verapamil cocktail isn't helping either???   ouch. Do you have oxygen as an abortive??

Hang in there, this is a nasty morph

Joe

maybe a goofy question but does a persons size and wieght affect how much meds you should take??another words should a bigger person need more mg than a smaller person would? im 6'1 235lb


p.s.  o2 supplier just called me back to tell me they dont have an m-tank until monday,,what a joke

TarHeel-blues wrote on Dec 11^th, 2009 at 10:22am:

Make 'em bring you 4 E tanks and an appropriate regulator. The beast waits for no man.

Brew wrote on Dec 11^th, 2009 at 10:31am:


SO FRIGGIN TRUE

how rough are those few weeks of break? ive never thought of that,,guess it cant be too much rougher if its not working anyway..
my dang money has been so tight this year,,ive tried not to let it affect what the kids and wife get or do but i guess they are just gonna have to go without a few things so daddy can get the proper o2 supplies

TarHeel-blues wrote on Dec 11^th, 2009 at 10:08am:


I haven't ever gone higher, but I couldn't taper as quickly as they said to do when I got about halfway down.  I had to start breaking them apart and just barely taper 2-4 weeks at each dose.  It took me 9 months to get off of it!  It was terrible and I was in an awful shape by the end.  Well, let me explain...I ended one cycle with it on the left side (as usual), then I started a new cycle on the right side a month later, so tmy Neuro at the time started me on it again.  Two complete 8 week cycles with a month in between.  That had never happened before and has never happened since.  Needless to say, I have never had Predizone again, either.  I am very sensitive to medicine, so it may just be me, but maybe there will be  someone can relate to it.

Quote:

That's because it'll rip your innards a new one if you're on it too long. Try Googling "Prednisone Side-Effects" sometime.

Also , I read that you can start at 80mg of Pred and taper quickly. My neuro in STL used to give me 120 of solumedrol IM two says in a row and then start me on dexamethasone. Which worked but now I live in a small town and the information just hasn't made it to the docs up here yet.

Good point to make ! Thanks Marc

saxman wrote on Dec 17^th, 2009 at 5:53pm:

The two most commonly prescribed preventatives are rather inexpensive.  The first one generally prescribed is Verapamil.  The 2nd is Lithium.  Sometimes if one doesn't work alone, both are prescribed together - but attack that obstacle if you come to it.  Do try the preventative when coming down from the taper, though - it will help!  And don't worry about dealing with chronic CH - I would have to tell you just live life as you can and enjoy it as much as possible!  Don't worry if you can help it... it hurts more than it helps.     Tackle what you can as far as meds that will help you where you are, and do what you can.

Val

- -  - -  - -  - -  - -  - -  - - 
This is an article clip on Verapamil recommendations that Bob Johnson usually posts - he generally is quite helpful with information here.     You might take this to your doc and discuss?
---------------
Headache. 2004 Nov;44(10):1013-8.   

Individualizing treatment with verapamil for cluster headache patients.

Blau JN, Engel HO.

    Background.-Verapamil is currently the best available prophylactic drug for patients experiencing cluster headaches (CHs). Published papers usually state 240 to 480 mg taken in three divided doses give good results, ranging from 50% to 80%; others mention higher doses-720, even 1200 mg per day. In clinical practice we found we needed to adapt dosage to individual's time of attacks, in particular giving higher doses before going to bed to suppress severe nocturnal episodes. A few only required 120 mg daily. We therefore evolved a scheme for steady and progressive drug increase until satisfactory control had been achieved. Objective.-To find the minimum dose of verapamil required to prevent episodic and chronic cluster headaches by supervising each individual and adjusting the dosage accordingly. Methods.-Consecutive patients with episodic or chronic CH (satisfying International Headache Society (IHS) criteria) were started on verapamil 40 mg in the morning, 80 mg early afternoon, and 80 mg before going to bed. Patients kept a diary of all attacks, recording times of onset, duration, and severity. They were advised, verbally and in writing, to add 40 mg verapamil on alternate days, depending on their attack timing: with nocturnal episodes the first increase was the evening dose and next the afternoon one; when attacks occurred on or soon after waking, we advised setting an alarm clock 2 hours before the usual waking time and then taking the medication. Patients were followed-up at weekly intervals until attacks were controlled. They were also reviewed when a cluster period had ended, and advised to continue on the same dose for a further 2 weeks before starting systematic reduction. Chronic cluster patients were reviewed as often as necessary. Results.-Seventy consecutive patients, 52 with episodic CH during cluster periods and 18 with chronic CH, were all treated with verapamil as above. Complete relief from headaches was obtained in 49 (94%) of 52 with episodic, and 10 (55%) of 18 with chronic CH; the majority needed 200 to 480 mg, but 9 in the episodic, and 3 in the chronic group, needed 520 to 960 mg for control. Ten, 2 in the episodic and 8 in the chronic group, with incomplete relief, required additional therapy-lithium, sumatriptan, or sodium valproate. One patient withdrew because verapamil made her too tired, another developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and the drug was withdrawn. Conclusions.-Providing the dosage for each individual is adequate, preventing CH with verapamil is highly effective, taken three (occasionally with higher doses, four) times a day. In the majority (94%) with episodic CH steady dose increase under supervision, totally suppressed attacks. However in the chronic variety only 55% were completely relieved, 69% men, but only 20% women. In both groups, for those with partial attack suppression, additional prophylactic drugs or acute treatment was necessary. (Headache 2004;44:1013-1018).