Posted by Andre (204.244.162.41) on February 22, 2000 at 21:15:27:
My Neurologist, in discussing surgical alternatives with me, told me of one of his patients...
She is 37 years old and has been chronic for about 15 years. She gets attacks (level 9-10+) every 4 hours like clockwork. She has tried every type of drug therapy known for clusters and all have failed. Imitrex is of absolutely no use to her, no effect at all. DHE injections, same result. She has had two interventions and now has no feeling or muscle control on the left side of her face...but she still has the pain. She is forced to endure with nothing but demerol (don't know if I spelled that right) to take the edge off.
This made me think twice about surgery. According to my doc, most interventions either fail or only temporarily put you into remission at a cost that is irreversible.
It also made me feel pretty lucky that at least some things are working for me.