Yes, no, maybe!!!

Some on the board get a spectacular 4th of July Fireworks grand finale hit, and that tells them the cycle is ending. Others like me, they slowly fade away with the attacks getting less severe and farther apart, others have a combo of the two.

Experience is the best measure, but with the way beasty likes to morph, certainly not a guarantee.

Sorry you have to watch your boy rock thru these, I always worry my girls will develop them. You said you do not have insurance now, I assume we have a prior diagnosis of CH, all other more sinister maldies were ruled out? I say that because we are always worried about a self diagnosis, we spend a year or two helping someone mask symptoms of a more serious malady....not a good thing. Give us a whisker of history when you get a second, what has and hasn't worked etc., maybe we can throw some suggestions your way. Hang in there mom.

joe

Thanks for the help, he was truly diagnosed withCH finally after suffering for around 2-3 years, it seems as thou for him that when they start he can sometimes pass them off with lots of water or caffeine, he takes Verapamil as a preventive, it helps until the middle of the episode then it's a Imitrex shot for sure! I just worry on the days when he has more than 2, he can't take another shot for 24 hrs... , it just worries me because he just got done with college and we had to fill out a disability paper for them and after a few arguments they understood and allowed him some absences because of them, but now a job?? I hope he can find one that will understand? Do you tell them or not?

Hi Mom,

I applaud you for looking up and researching this on behalf of your son.   Most of us sufferers would lie in a puddle if it weren't for our supporters.

Whether to tell them or not is a real concern.  What type of career/job   is he looking at going into?  If your son is episodic and has oxygen as an abortive, as well as possibly Imitrex for a really fast abortive...he may get by.

Please let us know.  Many, many here have walked in those shoes and have a better "take" on this problem than I...but we are all here for you and your son. 

Bless you Mom...you're doing good.   I've had 7 kids, I know exactly what you're feeling right now.   

Maintaining a career with episodic CH, it's certainly a balancing act, but it can be done. If the verapamil is losing its effectiveness, talk to the doc about either switching to lithium, upping the dose of verapamil, or adding lithium with the verapamil. The combo has helped some when either alone wasn't cutting it. The nice thing about lithium is it's cheap even with no prescription coverage.

Read the oxygen info tab on the left and pay special attention to the welding oxygen info. It's the same 02 as the medical grade, just different tanks, many on the board use it and it's much cheaper. Oxyegn, combined with his learning the imitrex tip, will really stretch out the imitrex. These are the little things that can help you sneak thru a day at work when you're getting creamed.

A quick warning about energy drinks, you'll read a LOT about people using them to combat CH. Verapamil and energy drinks are NOT a good mix, and use of them should be very limited.

Thanks again for doing the footwork mom, any chance you can get him on the board so we can meet him?

Joe

Energy drink and Verapamil info is good to know.Thanks..

Joni wrote on Oct 26^th, 2010 at 2:36am:


I just realized that I wrote this on the wrong thread...oops...sorry!

Energy drinks like Red Bull contain taurine which is a calcium channel antagonist, just like verapamil. So drinking an energy drink is a just like taking more verapamil. Since there is a link between high doses of verapamil and some heart issues it isn't a good idea to over use energy drinks whilst on verapamil.

I'm on 480mg of verapamil and will often have a red bull most days, but I'd not want to have more than two per day.

Try talking to your pharmacist about this as they often know a lot more about drug interactions than doctors.