Posted by Andre (204.244.158.93) on February 23, 2000 at 14:07:01:
In Reply to: CLUSTER SUFFERER FOR 19 YEARS - CHRONIC!! posted by REGINA NIPPER on February 23, 2000 at 02:21:39:
Hi Regina,
I am new here as well and have been chronic for 7 years. I live in Vancouver, Canada and I see a neurologist that specializes in headache disorders. Before seeing him, I saw countless other doctors AND neuros that were clearly not nearly as informed on the subject as my current neurologist. A year ago, I was suffering every day with at least 5 attacks per day, which each lasted about 2 hours on average. My life was a mess and my kids and spouse did not know how to deal with me. I scared them.
Upon my first consultation with this neuro, he prescribed Imitrex injections and a low dose of verapamil and lithium carbonate. Imitrex, for me, effectively kills the worst attack in 3-10 minutes, depending how "under way" the headache is.
The daily meds at first did not help, but at least I could slay the beast every once in a while with the Imitrex. Upon increasing the verapamil dose, my headaches were reduced to 2-3 a week which could be managed with the Imitrex.
To me, this is VERY acceptable compared to the constant torture I had before.
It is very difficult to find a doctor or specialist who is informed and sensitive to CH. The neuro I have now is the best I've seen. I will give you his name and # if you want. But if your current doctor is willing to prescribe the verapamil (I take 480 mg...slow release...twice a day) and you haven't yet tried it, I would suggest you ask him. I started with 120 mg twice a day, then 240 2x per day and finally had good results with 360 mg 2x per day. The last dose worked well for almost a year. I recently stepped up to the 480 mg 2x per day and things are under control again.
Hope all of that helped somewhat. I wish you prompt releif from your pain.
Andre