Hello Everyone.
I stumbled across this web site while trying to research CH. I was diagnosed in July of 2010 after one month of attacks. In late August I was told the attacks went in to remission. An absolute horrible few months of my life....I could only imagine what chronic CH is like.  Just three weeks ago I started having, what I noticed you guys here call "Shadows". I'd be lying if I said these "Shadows" aren't scaring the heck out of me. No full blown attacks yet, so I'm praying I figure something out. I'm looking forward to learning from all of you.

Hi Mike and welcome.

Are you using a preventive (verapamil, lithium, topomax or similar) to cut down the number of CHs you get?

Have you got oxygen or imitrex to abort any CHs you get?

Tell us a bit more about your CHs and what you've been using, along with your location and we'll be able to give you suggestions about how to deal better with your CHs.

And don't fear being chronic. The topic has come up a few times where those who are chronic often prefer to be chronic and those episodic prefer to be episodic. I think this is all down to people learning how to handle their CHs.

Keep reading and ask questions.

Don't worry about replying in a "correct" way. If there is one, I've no idea what it is.

From what you've written so far it appears that your CHs are episodic, which means you get them for a period of time (a couple of months from your first post) and then they went away again. It sounds like they may be returning with the start of the shadows you've been experiencing. This means that you should start to take some steps to get ready for what may be another episode of CHs, this time with a lot more tools to fight the CHs that just depakote. In finding this site you're well on the way to becoming very, very informed about CHs as you can benefit from the experience of people on here who together have seen countless neurologists, tried many, many treatments and are more than happy to share their knowledge.

In treating CH there is a two pronged approach. The first is to try to prevent CHs from happening and the second is to abort a CH when it starts.

The first preventive most people are given is prednisione in a taper dose, starting at around 60mg a day and tapering off to nothing over about 7-14 days. This can be very effective at stopping CHs, but you can only use it short term as it can have significant side effects if taken for long periods of time.

Whilst on the prednisione you need to start another preventive which is gentler on your body but they take about 10 days or so to build up. This means that the longer term one will have built up by the time the prednisione is finished.

Verapamil is probably the most commonly used preventive, with a dose of 360-480mg a day being effective for most people, although some people go as high as 1000mg. Always work with your doctor on changing doses. Other commonly used preventives include lithium and topomax.

Depakote can be used as a preventive, but it seems to be used a lot less frequently than the other preventives I mentioned. It's possible that there is some other reason for your doctor proscribing this or it could have been that they were not aware of the other preventives.

For preventing night time hits people have found that melatonin, starting around 9mg, can be effective too.

Others are having success with a combination of vitamin D, fish oil and magnesium.

Once a CH arrives you can abort it instead of having to ride it out. Oxygen when used at a high flow rate (15lpm or higher) using a non-rebreather mask is an excellent way to kill CHs. Using 25lpm I average killing my CHs in about 6 minutes. Read the link on the left to find out more about oxygen.

Imitrex injections (not tablets) are also effective in killing CHs in a few minutes although they are expensive and can have side effects. Read the link on the left to make the injections last longer.

Another thing to try is energy drinks containing caffeine and taurine, like Red Bull, which when drank quickly at the start of a CH can reduce the duration and intensity of an attack.

There is a lot for you to learn, so get reading and asking questions.

Then it may be worth a visit to your doctor to get you set up with a collections of tools to fight your CHs.

I'm a long way from Detroit, MI, but there will be others closer who can give you some local advice that may help.

WOW.....Thanks Mike and Kevin. I'm very excited and impressed with how much I'm learning already. I'm going to run with this information right away.