Hey DJP...

Lose the thought about finding a neuro who understands not only that oxygen needs to be prescribed at 15 to 25 liters/minute with a non-rebreathing mask or a demand valve to be very effective as a cluster headache abortive, or that vitamin D3 at doses starting at 10,000 IU/day along with the vitamin D3 cofactors, is far more effective as a cluster headache preventative and significantly safer with no major side effects than the top three standards of care prescribed medications combined...

To be fair... there haven't been any gold standard RTCs on either of these two methods of controlling cluster headaches...  so the medical evidence mafia rules supreme...

Now that you have an accepted Dx for cluster headaches from a neurologist... it's my humble opinion that you would be better served seeing your PCP, an Integrative/Naturopathic physician or an endocrinologist about a lab test for 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, a.k.a. 25(OH)D.  This is the metabolite of vitamin D3 used to measure its status.

The odds are you are vitamin D3 insufficient/deficient.  The normal reference range for the 25(OH)D lab test is 30 to 100 ng/mL...  30-20 ng/mL is vitamin D3 insufficient, and ≤20 ng/mL is deficient...

Nearly all CH'ers with active CH who have gone in for this test prior to starting the anti-inflammatory regimen have had their results for this lab test come back ≤30 ng/mL.

The really exciting news is that 79% of the 300 CH'ers who started this regimen experienced a significant reduction in the frequency, severity and duration of their cluster headaches...  70% of the 300 CH'ers experienced a pain free response...

When these CH'ers get tested for 25(OH)D...  their results all come back in a range of 60 to 110 ng/mL.  We call that the "green zone" for CH'ers and that makes the target 25(OH)D serum concentration 85 ng/mL...

And don't worry about vitamin D3 intoxication...  As long as you get your 25(OH)D and total calcium serum concentrations tested monthly until you reach a cluster headache pain free response with a stable 25(OH)D serum concentration... the odds of vitamin D3 toxicity are very low.

The vitamin D3 doses CH'ers use in this regimen are well below that required to elevate 25(OH)D above the lower threshold associated with vitamin D3 intoxication at 200 ng/mL.  That would take a sustained dose greater than 40,000 IU/day for several months...

In fact, we've had three CH'ers, under the supervision of their physicians, who have had their tests for 25(OH)D come back greater than 200 ng/mL...  None of them had any indications of vitamin D3 toxicity or total calcium serum concentrations above the normal reference range... 

All three were pain free at the time... and their 25(OH)D serum concentrations dropped rapidly when they reduced their daily intake of vitamin D3.

I try to keep the following link updated with the latest available information on the list of supplements used in this regimen, dosing, vitamin D3 dosing strategies, drug interactions and contraindications:

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If you still have questions, please shoot me a PM.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey DJP,

Thanks for the update...  Off hand given your description of the mini-cycles, I'd say your 25(OH)D serum concentration is building but is still below that required for a pain free response.  The lab test tomorrow will likely confirm this.

You should be shooting for a target 25(OH)D serum concentration of 85 ng/mL. 

The data I've collected from CH'ers who have responded to this regimen and then had this lab test indicates 90% will respond by the time they reach a 25(OH)D serum concentration of 85 ng/mL.  The other 10% required between 85 and 110 ng/mL to achieve and sustain a favorable response.

Take care, hang in there, and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch