Posted by George O. Jacox on August 14, 1998 at 09:40:07:
Good morning,
My CH cycle is "milder" than most--two years apart, one month duration, attacks 2-5 days apart. The one "over-the-counter" medication I've found to be of SOME use are preparations containing the antihistamine chlorphenaramine maleate, particularly the brand "Sinutab", which also contains acetaminophen and pseudephedrine. Something about the combination, I suppose--perhaps the pseudephedrine is enough of a stimulant to hurry things along. Anyway, it isn't greatly useful, but it seems to work as a partial prophylaxis and can even abort an attack (if taken at the first signs). It only seems to work early and late in my cluster cycle when the attacks are less severe than in the middle of a cycle. (My experience has been that the headache cycle follows a bell-shaped curve, with the most intense and frequent attacks in the center of the cycle.) So--I don't know whether you'll find this useful, but even stopping a FEW attacks or getting a night's sleep now and then is a help.