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Crying in my beer. ;-) (Read 1574 times)
gaulstone
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Crying in my beer. ;-)
Apr 7th, 2017 at 8:03pm
 
Well, I wish I were crying in a beer.

I started a cycle Feb 28th. It felt so easy. It only happened at my first REM. I started on Frova two hours before bed and then I had no problems. It was great. 4x80mg Verapamil per day and the Frova at night and I was breezing along. Headache free cycle. I was drinking beer and whiskey! No problems. What the what!? No wine of course. That's just crazy talk.

I'd stop taking the Frova to see if the cycle was over and sure enough I'd get a headache one hour into sleep. Back on the Frova and no headaches.

This continued until March 29th. It was the best cycle ever up to that point. The drugs were working.

And then they stopped. And then I couldn't take a drink of beer. Things went back to the usual cycle I'm come to know and hate. Headaches 3-4 times a day and headaches as soon as I hit REM. Verapamil isn't doing anything. Frova isn't doing anything.

Oxygen works but they come back later.
4mg shots of Sumatriptan are still saving the day when I'm in need at work.

Getting to be 5pm on a Friday. Work is wrapping up and I'd really love that beer. Too bad the shadows remind me why I can't.

Looking forward to this cycle being over. Based on the past I should be wrapping it up in the next few days. But then again I've never had a cycle where I could drink during it. So maybe the beast was just teasing me for a month and I'm actually stuck for another month now that shit got real. Ugh.

All I can really hope for is my standard 2-2.5 year remission period. Then a new cycle starts in October or March. Always has.

This is my first post. Hope you enjoyed it.

Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy
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maz
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Re: Crying in my beer. ;-)
Reply #1 - Apr 8th, 2017 at 8:19am
 
Hi gaustone, welcome to the site.

Your story sounds typical.  Have you tried splitting the shots so you get 2 from 1.  There is a link on the left of the page "imitrex tip", which shows you how.  I do it all the time and it's easy.

Read everything you can on this site.  There is more knowledge and help here than you will get from any doctor.  Read  "123days painfree", about the vitamin D3 regime.  80 % of people who try it have become pain free.   It's a very long read.  Send off a PM to Batch with your story and he'll help you.
Good luck with it.
Maz.
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Peter510
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Re: Crying in my beer. ;-)
Reply #2 - Apr 8th, 2017 at 11:31am
 
Good advice from Max there.

Before you send Batch a PM, have a read of his most recent paper on the D3 Regimen. It will allow you to ask more informed questions:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register

Best,

Peter.
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Hoppy
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Re: Crying in my beer. ;-)
Reply #3 - Apr 8th, 2017 at 7:18pm
 
No more crying in my  Smiley since being on the vitamin D regiment.

Cheers Hoppy
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Mike NZ
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Oxygen rocks! D3 too!


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Re: Crying in my beer. ;-)
Reply #4 - Apr 8th, 2017 at 11:03pm
 
Hi Gaulstone and welcome

CH can be a pain, not just with the pain we experience in our head, but also the impacts on normal life, be it enjoying a beer, messing up a social life and impacting sleep.

Verapamil can work pretty well as a preventive, but from the regularity of your nighttime hits it is clear that it isn't doing a good enough job overnight. There may be options you can follow to address this, working with your doctor, including changing the timing of the doses to ensure that the amount of verapamil in your system is highest when you get most CH and / or increasing your dose.

Frova (Frovatriptan) is one of the triptans which are commonly used for migraine. It doens't get too many mentions here. However it is meant to be used as an abortive, killing off a headache when you get it. Whilst some people do use triptans like you describe, it isn't too common. It may be possible to avoid this if how you use verapamil can be changed. But do this with your doctor.

The fact that multiple things are no longer working isn't too unusual with CH. It could mean that you need higher doses or different medication.

The different triptans have multiple effects which include narrowing blood vessels. For this reason the amount of triptans you can use per day is limited, mainly around their potential impacts to the blood vessels that supply the heart.

However you are using both Frovatriptan and Sumatriptan and they both have the same mechanism (although there are some differences). I'd discuss this with a doctor or a pharmacist as they will be able to give you advice on if the combination of using both is right for you.

For oxygen are you using a non-rebreather mask and a high flow rate of at least 15lpm? This combination works very well and you can read up more about how we use O2 - Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to Login or Register.

Are you working with a headache specialist? All too often doctors, even most neurologists just don't have the skills or experience to deal with CH.

I'd also strongly recommend you look at D3 as it has worked well for over 80% of people who have tried it, with many (myself included) going CH pain free with it.
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gaulstone
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Re: Crying in my beer. ;-)
Reply #5 - Apr 9th, 2017 at 2:39pm
 
Thanks for the replies.

Maz - I forgot about the Imitrex tip. I have roughly 60 injections left in my stockpile. I'll start rationing when I need to. I always make sure to fill my prescription. If anyone wonders whether shots that are 3 years expired still work - they do. And I haven't had any adverse reactions. But I am trying to use up the expired ones.

Mike NZ - I have the non-rebreather from the site. Works great. Much better than the junk I got with the O2 delivery. I'm going to pick-up a new regulator 15-25 since the one I have maxes out at 8. Hoping 15 prevents the rebounds I'm getting.

I'll look into the D3. I hadn't seen anything about that before until you guys pointed it out. I do see a headache specialist in Los Angeles so I'll share with him. I've tried lots of different meds over the years and typically just ride it out for the 4-5 weeks with a ton of sumatriptan injections. Then stockpile for two years until the next cycle. I realize this isn't the best solution since my cycles can change at anytime. I'm 37 now and have been suffering since I was a teenager. Just been lucky with generally short cycles with long remission periods.


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