Posted by John L on December 01, 1998 at 14:48:48:
Hello everybody, I'm just getting over my first CH bout in two years. It was my fourth or fifth bout overall, so I'm STILL trying to determine the correct way to medicate myself.
If I go on prednisone right away, the headaches stop. But dropping the dosage, even by 5 mg, causes rebound headaches. The next time I'm going to try to stay at 60 mg for at least a week, maybe even two.
But I don't have any treatment for the rebound headaches. They are nearly as painful as the regular kind (maybe an 8) but they are REALLY stubborn. Cold air, fioricet3, ibuprofin, pacing, hot showers, cold towels, and exercise are ALL ineffective!
The closest thing to effective is the fioricet. If I take two, the headache goes away in about 20-40 minutes (depending on whether I break open the capsule), but as soon as it goes away, it starts to come back. It's gone for fifteen minutes, then it
sloooooowly comes back over the next three hours (presumably while the codeine wears off). It's not horrible pain for most of that time, but I can't sleep.
Obviously, the next time the CH's come back, I'm going to try to avoid the rebound episodes, but since I expect to fail, has anybody had any experience with them AND luck in treating them?
Thanks,
John