Below where you posted this is a long thread titled "123 days and I think I know why"  Even though it's many, many pages long you can get the drift of this newest treatment.  It seems to have helped many, and it just may be your magic bullet for the problem you are experiencing.  At the very least it can't hurt to try.

to be perfectly honest, I'm considering it. I'd like to talk to someone who has done it just to answer my questions before I go forward.


My doc said he was worried about changing anything until I've been PF and CH free for six months.
I asked again, as usual, about my facial pain and if there were anything that he could recommend for help getting to sleep if it wakes me or making it so I can do things during the day.
He told me to avoid touching it and using the lidocane when I can. He then told me about benadryl cream, which he said may help it may not. Then he prescribed Zanaflex which is a muscle relaxant. He siad that it would help relax the muscles around the nerve which would hopefully take away some of the pain, and would help me sleep if I woke up in the middle of the night with some.
Anyone have success with it?

If you have busted before, please message me and let me know if we can use AIM or something so I can get some questions answered.

Quote:

Go over to the clusterbusters message board. There are hundreds of people who have successfully busted over there and would be more than happy to engage your questions.

These comments are not aimed at your neuro but they do summarize many comments we hear about folks neuros and reflect formal studies about education/training in headache which they, as a group, receive.

Their formal medical training in headache is remarkably limited resulting in them,as a group, using out of date treatments and/or trying a variety of meds which are not consistent with best practice. I.E., possible to end up with a bundle of meds which are not, as a package, very effective. (Some years ago, studies revealed that many folks took several years and multiple doc changes to find a effective doc. Better now, if you seek out well trained docs.)

A goodly % of us, using the well researched meds for Cluster, achieve good control with two classes of meds--preventive and abortive. (The PDF file, below, is the latest evaluation of the most commonly used meds.)

We, as a group, have moved to recommending finding, if at all possible, a headache specialist. It's entirely possible to reduce your total med load and get better outcomes, in many situations.)
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LOCATING HEADACHE SPECIALIST

1. Yellow Pages phone book: look for "Headache Clinics" in the M.D. section and look under "neurologist" where some docs will list speciality areas of practice.

2.  Call your hospital/medical center. They often have an office to assist in finding a physician. You may have to ask for the social worker/patient advocate.

3. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or On-line screen to find a physician.

4. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or Look for "Physician Finder" search box. They will send a list of M.D.s for your state.I suggest using this source for several reasons: first, we have read several messages from people who, even seeing neurologists, are unhappy with the quality of care and ATTITUDES they have encountered; second, the clinical director of the Jefferson (Philadelphia) Headache Clinic said, in late 1999, that upwards of 40%+ of U.S. doctors have poor training in treating headache and/or hold attitudes about headache ("hysterical female disorder") which block them from sympathetic and effective work with the patient; third, it's necessary to find a doctor who has experience, skill, and a set of attitudes which give hope of success. This is the best method I know of to find such a physician.

5. Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or NEW certification program for "Headache Medicine" by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties, an independent, non-profit, professional medical organization.
        Since this is a new program, the initial listing is limited and so it should be checked each time you have an interest in locating a headache doctor.
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Another confounding factor is the growing recognition that there are a numer of disorders, some rather serious, which mimic Cluster but which are not headache disorders. So a good diagnostic work-up vs. reading a check list of symptoms and assuming is wise, especially when you have complex picuture which has not resolved inspite of your best efforts.)

Link to: cluster-LIKE headache.
Section, "Medications, Treatments, Therapies --> "Important Topics" --> "Cluster-LIKE headache"
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