Hi Tiffany,
Not sure about this, maybe PM Batch on the magnesium
or it could be the verapamil kicking in.

Hoppy.

Hi again, maybe I should try to be a little bit more thorough with my explanations hehe When I was 25 I started with these aches, and they would last 4-6 weeks, usually when there would be a change of season. I went to several neurologists and they all said it was a migraine, gave me migraine meds and no help at all. Eventually it would just go away and did not reappear until about 2 years ago. 2 years ago, the same thing started to happen, basically I woke up one night and though...OH NOOOOOOOOOOOO....it can't be happening again, and it hit. Was like that for a couple of days, went to 3 diferent Neuros again, and only one said I had cluster headaches beacuse I had done research online ( I was desperate) and had started with the 02 which helped a lot during my nightly attacks. I am a heavy smoker and coffee drinkier, and even tried quitting but it made no diference. I tried to see if something was triggering those attacks but could not find a pattern. All I know is that during these cycles I can not have ONE drop of alcohol, because if I do, minutes later I am on a full blown attack.

I had a hand surgery so because of that , I had several electrocardiograms done, blood tests and everything was normal.

With the nueros I had several MRI'S and EKGs done, and nothing unusual.

Anyways, two years ago they did give me the amitriptiline and it did help. Maybe our organisms respond differently? I do not know.

This time around, I tried the topamax ( only 4 days because the side effects where TERRIBLE...I was a walking zombie, even more so with no sleep from the attacks) the verapamil 1 week ( couldn't stand the side effects either) and the Paroxetine 2 days...and side effects where aweful also. The only thing that did not make me feel worse is the amytriptilne, but even uppin the dose about 2 weeks ago, did not help, so maybe it is just kicking in?

There is always the question if one DOES have CH or not.

Here is a list of my symptoms

Usually about 1-2 hours after I go to sleep, I wake up with a burning sensation in the orbital part...on my right side. It starts getting worse in less than 4 minutes, spreads to my temple, my eyelid shuts, tears keep comming out and out, and my right nostril gets completely congested. The pain is always on the same side, it has never been on the other side, or in other places. The pain is from my orbital part, to my temple and part of my upper jaw....it gets to the point where I can not lie down, and go back to sleep. I have to either walk, move, rock, or anything but I can not be still.  bash something :/ I feel that i NEED something cold, because i start to sweat and my face gets reallllly hot. And just pray that it will be over soon.
Light does not bother me, neither does sound...but i get REALLY irritable, so I prefer to be away on my own....and from one minute to next it just goes away.


Anyways, I am new on this site

I am from Bolivia, South America. And posted on other topics concerning meds. We do not have imitrex here or any form of self injection. All sumatriptans are in pill form. And i realized that some neuros do not know much because I begged for ANYTHING to take away the pain, they have given me : ( for night attacks)because I do not get them during the day, unless I take a nap (when in cycle)
Codeine with acetaminophin, tramadol, Ketorol, but none have helped not even a bit. Just the 02, I realized that if I catch it when it is starting, I can abort this in less than 20 minutes, if not...the 02 does not help and I have to wait till it goes away.

So, about the Mimic CH, I don't think so, since I have had electrocardiograms, mri's, and other tests and nothing is unusal.

The thing is that down here in Bolivia, South America, there is very little knowledge of CH...

best wishes to all of you

Batch, thank you Finally found one lab here that does that test. So will try and get it done as soon as possible and am getting ready all the thinngs I need for the D3 regime

Hi Tiffany,
I noticed you are a heavy smoker, although it's not proven
to be a trigger, it can make the pain more intense during an
attack. Other known triggers, are.

Process foods, Cheese, Bacon, Sausage, Salami, Meats,
Pizza, and Alcohol being the biggest culprit.

Hoppy.

It is possible it has helped, 5 days of Mag orally likely wouldn't absorb enough to really play a huge role though. Mag goes both ways, too much or too little can cause similar results. The way your clusters behave are actually very similar to mine! Synthetic Meds do not help some as Cluster typically are a perfect storm of various conditions. Try keeping a detailed
Journal on diet, clusters, exposures, sleep that sorta thing. You will be suprised how useful in the long run that becomes. Your Seritoin levels seem like they are jacked up, Mag increases the production of Seritoin.