Ive been on prednisone for 3 months, im on 30mg, and I will be doing a very slow taper.  Im also on vitamin D3, Verapramil, Melatonin,  Zomig, and I now have oxygen, which I have not used yet....  I have two questions:

I have not been having a very good response to any of my current treatments.

1) I asked my neurologist, if I was your mother, what would you recommend?  He said nerve block and lithium.  Lithium?  Scares the hell out of me.  Any one have any thoughts on lithium?

2)  I call it "in between" pain.  I actually havent had a cluster headache since saturday, but I get a lot of "in between" facial pain like behind my eyebrow or cheek bone, or forehead on and off throughout the day.  Some call these shadows?  I dont know what to think of these either...

Hi
The shadows are normal. I think we all  have them to some degree. Personally I'm grateful for them. As you say, tolerable, and if that's as bad as it gets, well, that's fine by me. I'll take the shadows any day. 

I was on 900mg of lithium for aprox. a year before it quit working for me.  I had no problems while on it and felt actually quite good while on it.  Don't be afraid.  It is an old drug and the drs are very familiar with the potential serious side effects and monitor your blood levels and you for signs of trouble.  I never had trouble with it and highly recomend it.

Alynn - nobody talked about triggers and you yourself said nothing about that. So, I got to say that: look for your triggers. Finding them will not necessarily end the cycle, but it might.

I used lithium as my primary prevent for over 20 years....while working as a deputy sheriff. At 900-1200 mg a day, it would block up to 90% of my attacks. If I didn't tell you I was on it you'd never know. My doc did the thyroid function tests every couple years, I never had any issues.

You pee a lot the first couple of weeks, you get a little lethargy but nothing a cup of coffee won't kick.

I only stopped taking it cuz the Vitamin D-3 has stopped my clusters cold for the last 3 years.

Joe

My CH sessions started about 7 years ago, the first CH's came everyday around 6:00 pm and would last typically about 15 min, that session only lasted for 1 month and went away for the next 5 years. The next session started in the fall and lasted for almost 5 months with 1-5 CH's per day lasting from 5 min to 30 min, GOD AWFUL!! I tried nerve blocks, meds, acupuncture, nothing helped. My last session started about 2 months ago with 1 headache around 5-6 pm. I heard about an Orthospinologist who had done treatments for Ch and I went to him (Dr. Ken Humber, Waleska, Ga.), he did an adjustment to my Atlas in my neck and I have been CH free for the last month and a half. I resumed normal lifestyle habits and so far nothing has triggered the CH back. Hope this might help somebody like it did me.

I totally agree with Shooky about the dangers of long term prednisione use. It can result in damage to joints and bones. Someone posted here about needing two hip replacements whilst still young (think it was in their 30s).