It's hard to remember when they first started. Possibly in my late 20s,  but they really began hitting hard in my late 30s-early 40s.

A bit after age 50 they stopped for the better part of 5 years, then I got hit with a typically painful cycle, and another a year later. Then I got cancer, that was fun.

But still no CH until I was prescribed nitro cream to treat a circulatory disorder, and that triggered another cycle a little over a year ago.

Nothing since. I turned 60 a few months ago and have no illusions that it's all gone.... but plenty of hope.

I was diagnosed in 2010, i was only 17, it was only then that it clicked that i had had it for a long time before actually seeing a doctor...going to the clinic that day, i thought id get help immediately...I was just told what I had and was told to go to the nearest pharmacy to pick up pain meds (that i already had been taking)...I felt that no one understood what I was going through especially coz I was younger...and the pain meds did not help one bit..I could not eat, I tried to sleep but it wouldn't let me..i felt so alone but im glad that I found this site, with people that know how it is to feel this way.

Started when I was 26.
Finally diagnosed when I was 37.

Cycle duration is 10 - 14 days.
Most common cycle interval is 12 months.
Cycles have been as frequent as 6 months.
Most recent cycle had an 18 months interval.

21 now, University student in Botswana, i try not to keep tabs on my cycles because of the anxiety attached to it but then there are times when i cant help it, like I know that im going thru one now, they come at night, can last for hours and it"ll probably take weeks to stop. at times i get violently ill when its really bad, i cud stay up all night puking, trying to sleep off the pain but end up unsuccessful, lying on the floor in the dark wanting to die ...Botswana is still a developing country in Africa..which just makes things worse for me because no one is actually knowledgeable about CH...all they do is prescribe pain killers like Myprodol, Adcodol and Syndol...just yesterday I went to the pharmacy for help, told the man that id been taking adcodol and it did nothing for when it gets really bad, his response to me was to take them more often..2-3 times a day he said...but i know that i cant keep doing that,i dont want to get addicted and already i suspect that my esophagus is getting corroded coz of all the pills. was told by the doctor who gave my diagnosis to stay away from caffeine and cheese and to get even hours of sleep every day...didnt work...  
i also try my best not to wake the family up..even though its almost impossible to stop whining, cursing, crying, tossing and turning. i saw the Kip scale, i do ask myself "why me" and thats 9 on the scale..but i do not bang my head on anything as i feel it would do more bad than good.

Hi Wardah
Sorry you're having such a bad time. I can tell you now, that pain meds will have no effect at all on CH, not even morphine, so if nothing else you can save your money.

I don't know the situation in Botswana, or what will be available but I can tell you what most of us find best. Firstly, check out the "oxygen info" highlighted yellow tab on the left of your screen. It's most peoples life saver. Next, if you can get imigran auto injections, they are awsome at aborting CH and will work in a few minutes. There are tablets and nasal spray too, but the tablets take too long to get into your system. The injections are definately the best, but expensive if you have to pay for them.

Have you tried the energy drink tip. At the very first sign of pain ( don't wait ) drink one really fast . It's the combination of caffiene and taurine in a sudden hit that does the trick, so anything with those ingredients will do - Red bull, Rockstar or Monster are three I can think of. It doesn't work for every one but it does help a lot of us, so well worth a try.
Good luck
Maz.

Hi Wardah,
with heart problems you are limited to what CH meds you
can take.On your ? about oxygen you need to see your
doctor about this. Same with the Imigran. Injections are
the best. But again talk it over with your doctor.

Hoppy.

LasVegas wrote on Jan 7^th, 2014 at 8:42pm:

Thats about when I started. Usually my cycles last about 3 months and I have a 4 or 5 year remission. Curently I'm 37 and at exactly 6 years from my last attack. Perhaps I will start a new cycle this summer. Maybe I will never get one again but I have told myself this before and I was wrong. You never know. One thing I will say about my cycles is that they get worse with age. However the older I get the better equipped I am at handling them.

thank you all so much!gonna try and see a doctor asap.. have to find what works for me..
shame about the other meds tho...but then again,,maybe the heart thing isnt serious,,,il talk to a doc though.

Thats good news. 

Hoppy.

I'm 67 now. Mine started in my middle 20's. Episodic twice a year. No attacks between age 52 and 59, then they started again. A lot less painful and shorter attacks until 3 years ago when I became chronic. usually just one a day in the early AM and almost never above a Kip 6. A 2 oz. shot of 5 Hour Energy drink and sometimes an ice pack will kill them in 7 to 9 minutes.

I am a male. Got my first CH when I was 23. It was diagnosed as mononucleosis or stress (this was in 1979, the Dark Ages of CH when it seems to have been an unknown). The next cycle was a few months later. It is episodic, with occurrences now around every three years, lasting just over one month. /// I saw the vitamin D3 reference in this thread and looked it up. Next time I will try that, along with oxygen which I have not yet used because it's been a hassle to get it in the places where I have lived. Wishing everyone strength, optimism and PF days.

aceserve, Don't wait for your next cycle to start. Get on the D3 as soon as possible so that your levels are going up in advance. Then, your next episode may be a lot milder, or even not happen.