Hey everybody,
My name is WillCoo, aka Cameron. I just read the help us help you for newbies thread so I am going to format this a little bit off of the advice given there.

1. Where are you from?
I am from Nappanee Indiana, its a small town close to South Bend Indiana, but I currently go to school in Wheaton College, in Wheaton Illinois, a suburb of West Chicago.

2. Grief History
           A. Have you been diagnosed with Cluster?; when?
Yes, I was diagnosed on August 8th, 2012 by Dr. Lawrence Robbins in Northbrook Chicago. A brief touch on him.

Lawrence Robbins, M.D., is considered to be one of the top 10 experts in the country on management of headache medication. He also is a leader in the field on "refractory" headaches: those that are difficult to treat. He started the American Headache Society section on refractory headaches, and has written as much on the topic as anyone in the world.

           B. What treatments have you used?
I have been on
Pre diagnosis- Gabapentin, some kind of antidepressant, chiropractor, steroids, amoxicillian, Treximet pills, eye drop steroids, and acupuncture.
Since diagnosis- Verapimil, O2, and Treximet injections.

           C. Have you used or explored any alternatives?
Yes and No.
Pacing/walking/moving help, but i have found that getting out my grandpas old shotgun and shooting down some clay pigeons when I feel an attack coming on will actually abort them. This has worked maybe 2 to 3 times. Had not been in cycle for a while but oddly enough it made me feel better. I don't know how or why but I'm sure you know how that feels, even just once to feel better.
       
           D. Give a brief picture of the degree of limitations-
Not too many, I am currently a student in College. I was formerly pre-med, and I have shied away from that after I was diagnosed with CH's. I have survived the year since being diagnosed but I am uncertain how my life is yet to be effected. Planning on possibly going to optometry school. I know there is a lot of debate over this but I am currently in a "Shadow bout" - almost constant shadows. BLah, but have an appt next week and am currently getting my 25(OH)D checked.

            E. Do you have a good, basic understanding of Clusters?
Yes, I have done a large amount of reading. When it was suggested I may have clusters I read as much as I could as you well know it was a scary time in my life. Still learning more every day, especially from the openness of those on this blog.

I have never met anyone who has been diagnosed, and outside of those within the medical world, have heard of cluster headaches. I am a strong advocate of describing clusters as a intense brain freeze multiplied by 4 to 6 times right behind the eye that generally lasts almost 2 hours. Looking forward to having a place where people understand, this isn't just a migraine. And how I feel having to say "no, that one headache you had that one time near your eye probably was not a cluster headache."

Glad I found you all, just wanted to say hello, and that I am curious to see where this new journey takes me.

Welcome aboard, Cameron. What a great first post. Clear and informative. It seems you have a good grasp on managing the beast: a good doc, the right meds, that kind of thing. Since you didn't bring it up, though, I'd ask about dose levels. For many of us the label dose recommended for a particular med is often not enough. For example, most docs will prescribe verapamil in the 240mg/day range when we find our relief generally at the 460mg/day range and can go as high as 960mg/day. The same is true of O2: our best relief comes when we use a nonrebreather mask and a flow rate of 25lpm or more. First I've heard of treximet. How's that working for you? Glad to have you here, God bless. lance

I'll echo the appreciations for your clear, helpful history.

Robbins is both generous and a sharp doc. When I wrote a review of the first edition of is book on headaches he was gracious in writing a note of appreciation. Pleasant surpris.

In case you haven't seen this one: PDF file, below.

Imitrex is in a family of meds called "triptans". They vary in terms of speed of onset, duration of effect, etc. Makes it useful to tailor you patterns of attack to the most effective response curve.

An alternative to triptans quickly became my favorite abortive having the advantages of lower per dose cost and the ease of a pill vs. injection. Useful if you don't have multiple attacks per day.
--
Headache 2001 Sep;41(8):813-6 

Olanzapine as an Abortive Agent for Cluster Headache.


Rozen TD.
Department of Neurology, Jefferson Headache Center/Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate olanzapine as a cluster headache abortive agent in an open-label trial. BACKGROUND: Cluster headache is the most painful headache syndrome known. There are very few recognized abortive therapies for cluster headache and fewer for patients who have contraindications to vasoconstrictive drugs. METHODS: Olanzapine was given as an abortive agent to five patients with cluster headache in an open-label trial. THE INITIAL OLANZAPINE DOSE WAS 5 MG, AND THE DOSE WAS INCREASED TO 10 MG IF THERE WAS NO PAIN RELIEF. THE DOSAGE WAS DECREASED TO 2.5 MG IF THE 5-MG DOSE WAS EFFECTIVE BUT CAUSED ADVERSE EFFECTS. To be included in the study, each patient had to treat at least two attacks with either an effective dose or the highest tolerated dose. RESULTS: Five patients completed the investigation (four men, one woman; four with chronic cluster, one with episodic cluster). Olanzapine reduced cluster pain by at least 80% in four of five patients, and TWO PATIENTS BECAME HEADACHE-FREE AFTER TAKING THE DRUG. Olanzapine typically alleviated pain within 20 minutes after oral dosing and treatment response was consistent across multiple treated attacks. The only adverse event was sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Olanzapine appears to be a good abortive agent for cluster headache. IT ALLEVIATES PAIN QUICKLY AND HAS A CONSISTENT RESPONSE ACROSS MULTIPLE TREATED ATTACKS. IT APPEARS TO WORK IN BOTH EPISODIC AND CHRONIC CLUSTER HEADACHE.

PMID 11576207 PubMed

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Olanzapine has a brand name of "Zyprexa" and is a antipsychotic. Don't be put off by this primary usage. Several of the drugs used to treat CH are cross over applications, that is, drugs approved by the FDA for one purpose which are found to be effective with unrelated conditions--BJ.
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Since this abstract was first posted Zyprexa has appeared in some lists of recommended meds for CH. [BJ]