Danny Boy,

Take a look at the following link.  It's the EFNS guidelines on the treatment of cluster headache and other trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias.  It was prepared by a team of experts in the field of neurology and in treating patients with cluster headache.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

If the meds you're being prescribed are not on the list of acute treatments/abortives or preventatives for cluster headache like vicodin which can do more harm than good, your neurologist is going against the standard practice.

The preventative treatment most of us (90%) respond to is prednisone.  This is usually prescribed as a 10-day to two week taper as staying on prednisone can and will pose other problems.  Most of us get complete relief from cluster headaches while on this taper but they return with a vengeance unless another preventative such as verapamil is also started and at therapeutic levels when the pred taper is complete.

I've met with Dr. Arne May and Dr. Peter Sandor who were on the EFNS task force that developed this standard of care and the above prescriptions are part of their basic strategy in treating patients with cluster headache after a careful exam and tests to rule out other underlying causes or co-morbid conditions.  They also prescribe oxygen therapy at 15 liters/minute or higher as the first acute treatment and abortive of choice along with one of the triptans as a bailout or escape medication should the oxygen therapy not be able to abort an attack.

Finally you might want to ask your neurologist to test your 25(OH)D3 levels.  This is the vitamin D3 metabolite most frequently measured to determine if you are vitamin D3 deficient.

A growing number of physicians use the following 25(OH)D3 levels in nmol/L) as a practical guide for diagnosis and management of vitamin D3 difficiencies:

• <100 = Deficient
• 100-200 = Optimal
• 135-225 = Normal in sunny countries

If you are vitamin D3 deficient, it can take between 5,000I.U. to 10,000I.U. of vitamin D3/day to get levels back up in the optimum range and keep them there.

There are a couple links you may want to read through to better understand what can happen with a vitamin D3 deficiency and suggested dosages needed to maintain optimum levels:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Taking vitamin D3 is not a cure for CH but there's really no downside to taking it in doses of 5,000I.U. to 10,000I.U.  For example, when exposed to direct sunlight for as little as 30 minutes in a bathing suit, our skin can make up to 10,000I.U. of vitamin D3.  Moreover, a number of us are seeing a reduction in the frequency, intensity, and duration of our CH when taking a daily regimen of 10,000I.U. of vitamin D3, 2000mg Omega 3 Fish Oil, and calcium citrate supplements with magnesium and zinc. 

Hope this helps.

Take care,

V/R, Batch