Hey Floggered,

You're likely experiencing what I call a CGRP cascade caused by an allergic reaction to something in your environment or diet.  A Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) cascade is characterized by 3 or more CH/night with less than an hour between them.  Preventatives are ineffective and abortives are short lived.

This CH condition starts with an allergic reaction that cause mast cells to release large quantities of histamine.  The histamine attaches to H1 receptors on DNA within neurons. This causes these neurons to express CGRP and that triggers a CH.  The CGRP also acts like an allergen to mast cells so they release even more histamine which triggers neurons to express even more CGRP. 

This results in a circular biochemical chain reaction with a flood of CGRP that continues until this biochemical chain reaction runs out of reactants and the CH stops.  Unfortunately, our bodies recharge mast cells and neurons with essential nutrients to start this process all over again in less than an hour.

The first step is halting the allergic reaction is to start a week to 10 day course of a first-generation antihistamine like Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) at 25 mg every four hours throughout the day.  It passes through the blood brain barrier (BBB) to block histamine H1 receptors at the DNA level in neurons throughout the brain and in particular the trigeminal ganglia where most of the CGRP is expressed.  Second- and third-generations (non-drowsy) antihistamines can't pass through the BBB so are not as effective.

The Benadryl (Diphenhydramine HCL) will prevent the CGRP triggered CH attacks but it won't prevent CH.  To do that you'll need to start the anti-inflammatory regimen with 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3, 400 mg/day magnesium, 11 mg/day zinc, 1 mg/day boron, 900 mcg/day vitamin A (retinol), a tablet a day of the vitamin B 100 complex and 1200 mg/day Omega-3 fish oil.

You can find this treatment protocol at the following vitaminDwiki.com link:

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

I know you'll have questions so fire away as they come up.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Good evening,
I have had a 2 year remission and the beast is back with vengence.  I am getting rebounds mentioned above and have started the 25mg of Diphenhydramine( Nytol in the UK)  every 4 hours.  I have been using the new water soluble D3, but had got lazy taking it because of being pain free for so long. 
Had an awful night last night, went to work though with a Kip3 still going on (oxygen had stopped working for me at around 3:30 am).
Have a call with my Doc tomorrow to adjust my perscription from continuous flow to demand valve, should be about a week before I get my new tanks, clearly I cant wait to be able to demand higher flow.  The advice from Batch on the seeking of parathesia/alkalosis is spot on, just need to get the O2 inside me faster.  I have the Clusterhead mask, but 15 lpm takes too long to fill it.  I have got around this before by having two bottles alonside each other and alternately breathing from them to get a much quicker abort time, although a Kip 9 really makes the co-ordination of that and the correct breathing action so difficult.
Batch thank you again, you are a lifesaver.
Kind regards
Ian