Hello all.  My name is Aimy and I am new to this site.  I am hoping to find some people that I can relate to.  I have been diagnosed with chronic cluster headaches.  It has been over 5 years now.  I have found that occipital nerve blocks helps temperarily.  I get about 2 weeks of relief.  I also have oxygen at home that I can use for 15 minutes at 15 liters.  It does help as long as I use it at the very onset of the cluster.  There is a large variety of meds that I have tried.  They seem to help for a short period of time but then they seem to be in the same class as the rest.  Does anybody have any suggestions or anything that helps you?

Welcome to the board Aim. Are you working with a headache specialist neuro yet? We have seen the best results from doing so. There are hundreds of headache types, some which mimic CH, and it’s important to eliminate those before arriving at a firm diagnosis. I’ve had CH for 33 years, they haven’t killed me yet! You need an organized approach to managing them so they don’t manage your life. I use a 3 pronged approach, many use a similar approach:

1: A good prevent med. A med I take daily, while on cycle, to reduce the number and intensity of my attacks. I use lithium, it blocks 60-70% of my attack. Verapamil is the most common first line prevent, topomax also has a loyal following. Some have to combine lithium and verapamil together to get relief.

2: A transitional med. Most prevents will take up to 2 weeks to become effective. I go on a prednisone taper, from 80 mg to zero over a two week period to give me a break while my prevent builds up. Prednisone will provide up to 100% relief for many CH’ers but is harsh on the system and should only be used for short periods of time.

3: An abortive therapy, the attack starts, now what? Oxygen should be your first line abortive. Breathing pure 02 will abort an attack for me in less then 10 minutes, that’s completely pain free. Glad to hear you are already using it, please read this link to make sure you're getting the maximum benefit from it. We've found slight tweaks in HOW people use it dramatically changes its effectiveness.

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Imitrex nasal spray and injectables are very effective abortives. I use the injectables, they’re expensive, and I rarely use them, mostly just when I get caught away from the oxygen. The pill form generally works too slow to be effective for CH’ers.

Go to the meds section and read the post "123 pain free days and I think I know why"It’s a vitamin/mineral/fish oil supplement, all over the counter stuff, that’s providing a lot of relief for people who have tried it, it’s a long read, worth the time:

For now, get some energy drinks. Rock Star, Monster, any containing the combo of caffeine and taurine, chug it down as fast as you can when you feel an attack starting. Many can abort or at least really reduce an attack using these.

Finally, visit our sister board for “alternative” treatment methods outside of mainstream medicine. As you’ll see from all the success stories on this board, there is something to it.

Clusterheadaches.com


Read everything you can on this board, if you are a CH’er, knowledge is your best ally. We’ll help you all we can.

Joe