To whoever cares to comment - help - answer...am completely lost!

Verapamil seems to have stopped working and I am completely lost.

After suffering from CH since the age of 19 (53 now) and being episodic (luckily) with attacks approximately every 1-3 years (bigger breaks when younger and shorter breaks nowadays), with having tried a lot and having found some sort of relief at the later stages in my life through Verapamil and Sumatriptan - I am totally at loss.

In 2013 I started the year with CH, which lasted approximately 3.5 months being on high dosage of Verapamil (up to 720mg daily and in the end managing to get down to a slow release of 240mg), I for the first time got another CH that same year in the summer months, lasting 3 months, however again being able to manage with my same method (Verapamil plus Sumatriptan for the odd CH attack). It was out of the ordinary that I got another attack the same year, but I accepted it and got on with life.

Just 2 months ago after travelling extensively, coming back and due to stress smoking quite a bit of pot (medical with THC of 28%) almost daily - I suddenly started with slight shadows and then bad attacks. So 3rd time CH for me that year and completely out of the ordinary. I made the connect to the pot (in my mind...not sure), of course stopped and got onto Verapamil at lower levels and managed to live without CH and 240mg a day without attacks. So after a month I stopped and thought I won this round and got back into my normal life. I drank the odd beer and smoked the odd joint and somehow didn't feel that well with any of it. Then got hit badly with attacks which where fearsome and hard. I injected Sumatriptan and started getting onto Verapamil, which usually worked well as a preventative, however this time - nothing. I am by now on 720 mg a day and still getting hit twice a night, sleeping badly and not knowing what to do.

For the first time in my CH life Verapamil seems to not work (it always worked straight on taking it and all I had to do was manage the dosage, whilst never really needing 720mg, apart from the odd high dosage for short time periods)...? I have no idea what to try now, apart from increasing to even more Verapamil, but am completely freaked out that my method, which took me years of finding and 10's of years of suffering stopped working.

I am in the midst of growing shrooms (first time) and am hoping that I may be able to bust, but the growing takes time and I have failed with a first attempt. I have before due to non-availability of shrooms tried LSD in the midst of a cycle and had a great trip, but absolutely no relief from the CH.

Any comments appreciated, as I am as probably ;y many lost with my methods and also panicking that I am turning chronic  (never had 3 attacks in a year in over 30 years of suffering episodic).

HELP!

Boris

Thanks Mike - just getting on to Vitamin D3/Omega 3 and reluctant to up the Verapamil, so will stay on 720 mg a day for now. I have tried Oxygen as an abortive, but found that if I don't have it accessible easily and don't use it exactly the right time it doesn't do the trick for me - so then left with Imitrex, which I use at 3 mg a time and which works to take the pain, but doesn't do anything preventative and has a lot of heavy side effects for me. I have not tried Topomax as I am extremely worried about the side effects being dopey and sleepy which I can not afford (Verapamil is OK with the side effects). I also have not tried lithium (don't know much about it).

You mention being 700 days pain free with vitamin D3...what is your exact dosage and what do you take, when, how many?

Thanks so much for your response and help.

Boris

I'm your age, 53, episodic since my teens, 2 cycles a year, spring and fall, 8-12 weeks long. I've been pain free the last 3.5 years on the D-3 regimen,

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I'm on a maintenance dosage now, 5000 of D-3, 250 mg. Magnesium, 1200 Calcium, 1200 Fish oil, and a daily multi vitamin that gives the trace factors Batch talks about.

Joe

Joe wrote,
I'm on a maintenance dosage now, 5000 of D-3, 250 mg. Magnesium, 1200 Calcium, 1200 Fish oil, and a daily multi vitamin that gives the trace factors Batch talks about.

Hi Joe,
I was just wondering. Is'nt 1200 of Calcium an awful lot
to take. I take 10,000iu of D-3 /day + the other co-factors
Batch recommend's.

Hoppy.

Joe, you had me a little bit  then.

Hoppy.

It's had me free from the beast for over 3 years, hope it works as well for you.

Joe

Hi Hoppy - can you explain the Verapamil break and the D3 - I am currently on 720mg (3 x 240 morning mid-day and evening) so there is no way I can take this seperatley unless I take donw my Verapamil dosage....any suggestion and can you explain why...?

The issue with the D3 method and verapamil is around the calcium that is taken with the D3 method. Verapamil is a calcium channel antagonist (Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or ). So taking calcium at the same time as the verapamil is not advised.

So to work out when to take the calcium it is important to look at when you take the verapamil and to take the calcium in a gap between the verapamil doses. So if you take your verapamil with meals then taking the calcium just before you go to sleep would be a good time. I'd aim to have at least 3 hours between them.

Hoppy wrote on Jan 8^th, 2014 at 10:16pm:


Up in that corner of WA I suggest that you have a few cold ones and I'm sure that your problems with the tablet will be forgotten.

Got it - changed my intake to seperating the Calcium and the Verapamil - am now also reducing Verapamil to 2 x 240 SR twice a day (morning and evenin and taking my calcium 200mg with my biggest meal at lunch. Also taking 300 mg magnsium daily...what do you gusy think...

It's still working and am CH free!

Thank you all so much!