I'm Sean from western Washington and have been checking in on this site for years now and you guessed it, only when I'm in season- Spring and Fall, 6 months to 2 years apart, a couple of times out of season like Christmas or summer. This spring she's a little late, usually it's March or April. My reasons for finally posting for the first time is say thanks for the people that created and run and post on this site. The info I've gotten here has literally saved me much pain. Second, I'm having the worst episode in years and third, there's something I do that I've never read about that works every time, If I'm up to it. Back in Sept 1996 at the age of 43 these wonderful things entered my life, Doc prescribed prednisone, I refused the stuff ( my Grandmother had arthritis and was on the stuff for years, nasty side affects), that really upset him, said my smoking was to blame and If I didn't quit I deserved the pain I was getting. So I went home and suffered.It didn't take long to figure these monsters have a pattern and I couldn't understand how they knew it was nighttime. Seriously? 55 minutes after going to bed almost to the minute and then every one and half hours after that, night after night. Daytime they were noon and 6 pm. I decided back then that it was my metabolism slowing down- bedtime, lunch time, dinner time so I decided to fool it. Just before going to bed I went out and ran my butt off and that night slept like a baby. I got you now you monster, next night I ran again and went to bed- 55 minutes later- here's Johnny and it was coming on strong but I got up(can't stay down anyway) and ran around the block, halfway around and not 5 minutes in I could feel it draining out, turned around and walked home. Hour and a half later- repeat. Since then I've discovered it will kill the monster every time but you gotta get really winded. Jumping jacks don't work and  hyperventilating doesn't work for me, only running till I'm gasping for air, being a smoker it doesn't take long. When I found out about oxygen years later(on this site) it made perfect sense to me and yes it works for me too. Imitrex 50 mg at bedtime usually gets me thru the night but the ox backs that up when it doesn't. I hate drugs so I try to stay off of Imitrex during the day but this episode is pushing to new levels. Oh by the way, no partying till this monster runs it's course. Thanks for letting me vent and maybe now I won't feel quite like a voyeur anymore.

Thanks for the welcome, started 3600 mg fish oil that has a total of 1080 mg of omega-3 in it and 10,000 mg of D3 this morning and I'll  keep you'all posted. Those 2 links unfortunately didn't work but I think I'm on the right track.  Sean

Running works for me but just like oxygen the sooner the better though I've kicked em with when they're full blown too. Running with your head exploding is actually kind of satisfying, I think it gives the distraction I seem to need, it's at least better than rolling on the couch crushing my head with my hands or pushing the kitchen counter through the wall  like I used to do. There's a catch though, after a long night of killing them you're not only tired, you're exhausted and that seems to make em more frequent. Now you really need your sleep and you know what comes with sleep. But most nights one run was enough till the morning headache woke me up. I'm almost 60 now and getting lazy- oxygen is way easier. Still, if one's caught away from home and unequipped like I was this time it's an alternative. If you do run, don't run where you need to be super alert to your surroundings, that's hard to do with your head exploding and your eyes half closed.  Sean

Hi Mike, That's right - no alcohol for me and nope, nothing else. I started taking half a 100 mg Imitrex years ago and it's been my drug of choice ever since. Takes a hour to kick in, first headache arrives in that same hour and it's worked perfectly for a lot of cycles. Usually I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep before the morning monster arrives which sometimes is a real doozy. This time around though they're pushing right through the Imitrex so now you know why I'm here. I will definitely try the melatonin- is it a new idea? Prednisione maybe next if I don't get a handle on this. In the past I've always ridden out the 6 to 8 week cycle                                                                                                      
  Thanks for the feedback,   Sean

Hi Sean,

Hi Sean,
Thought this might be of some interest. Melatonin is what our
Biological Clock (Hypothalamus ) release's naturely to promote
sleep. Some folk are lacking Melatonin and suffer from sleep
apnia.

Hoppy.

G'day Sean,
I forgot to mention, as Mike pointed out. In recent study's,
Melatonin has aborted CH attacks when sleeping.         

Hoppy.

Good luck Sean. I hope you find the solution to the ghastly things. I also hope they stay solved. We all know how The Beast likes to change things up every now and then, just to keep us on our toes and in punishment.