Posted by Bob G on May 11, 1998 at 06:40:47:
First found the site just a few days ago and am very impressed that so many Cluster sufferers can get together in one place. I'm 51 years old and had my first attacks 18 years ago. For the first 3 or 4 years The weren't all that bad and my doc hadn't a clue. He sent me to the dentist for TMJ. Then to a ear, nose, and throat for sinus trouble. Finally I went to a neuro who knew what it was and after a CAT scan he proscribed Sansert. That's what I've been taking ever since. It certainly doesn't stop the pain but does take the edge off during the worst times. 1985, 90 & 95 were bad years for me from January to March. Every night, 45 minutes (give or take 1 minute) after going to sleep the first ache would wake me then every 2 hours for 2 or 3 more attacks. Last weekend it started again and scared the hell out of me. 2 cha's a night for 3 straight nights. Thought it was starting all over again, but it's just been a "shadow" headache since. Now, how do I treat mine? I start the Sansert at the first sign of a cha aand continue them for at least a week after the last "shadow" leaves. During the cha I use ice. Depending on how bad it is, the ice is held against the temple and above the eye or all the way from the neck to the temple. If I don't expect a cha and don't have a large zip-lock full of ice ready I just grab anything frozen. A frozen can of juice works well. It can be rolled up and down the temple, held along side the nose/eye or held under the jaw. If the pain is real bad I even bit down on an ice cube. The ice will, if held in one spot long enough, cause some pain but the pain from the ice is a lot better than from the cha. Maybe this will work for other, maybe not. From reading all the mail it seems there are as many treatments as there are sufferers. What triggers mine? 90% of the time it is being over-cold, over-hungry or over-tired. Too much cold wind in the face is a sure trigger. I work a rotating shift, a different shift each week, and it is easy to get sleeping and eating time screwed up. Also, never
drink a beer, never! I am very interested in the yeast killer thing but have a couple questions. After the "bad" yeast is killed, how is "good yeast" restored? Does the "Yeast Connection" book explain this and give a diet to keep everything balanced? One more thing I've noticed in the mail. The spouse/partners seem to be suffering along with the victims because they are scared and don't know what to do. This is understandable. At first my wife would get very upset and feeling helpless. After explaining everything to her she now knows there is very little she can do except just leave me alone to get through it. One thing the spouse/partner should never do is talk to the victim. All I want when I'm hurting is to be alone in a dark, quiet, cool place. And I do mean quiet! The sound of a normal voice "What can I do?" or "Are you going to be ok?" sounds like screaming through a bullhorn and makes things much worse. Please, wife/partner, please be quiet. This has gotten too long so I'll check out for now and come
back later.