Posted by gary (208.133.217.129) on December 11, 1999 at 18:26:55:
In Reply to: Episodic/Chronic Shadows? posted by drummer on December 11, 1999 at 17:04:46:
didn't mean to say the "shadows" (mild/low level attacks) were only at the beginning of my episodic clusters
each cluster STARTS with a series of shadows, which apparently "ripen" into fully realized pain attacks
then through the cluster period, I get the shadows interspersed with the pain attacks
the palate swelling occurs at a stage between shadows & pain attack - - so, if I'm "waiting out" a shadow to see what happens before taking abortive meds, one of the most reliable predictors is if the palate spot swells up - THAT signals progression from shadow into pain attack & I hit the abortive
WHY try to avoid trhe abortives if possible?
pretty simple - I believe the LESS I use the abortive therapies, the BETTER they work when I do need them, and of course the lower level of negative side effects I incur
BUT there is a bit of gamesmanship here, because i ALSO believe that somehow the fatigue & stress of repeated bad attacks "feeds" the continuance of same
SO - tho I try to keep the med level as LOW as possible in general, I also don't play russian roulette with trying to "tough out" attacks, because I believe that is asking for trouble