Posted by Dave W on December 07, 1998 at 10:06:14:
Hey, group! I wanted to thank you all again for your help and support, and to show some hope by sharing my success.
I have seen that the preventive medicines work for some people but not others, and that for a particular person one medicine may work this year but not the next. I have experienced just this. I'm chronic after many years of six-month episodes, and Sansert worked great for the past two years but not this one. I discussed your suggestions with my doctor (prednisone, lithium, ritalin, etc...) and we tried lithium since it seemed safest. Bingo! 600 mg/day, no side effects, and pain free. The initial dose was 1800 mg/day and I did get a little trembly, but when I cut it back to eliminate the shakes the headaches stayed gone.
I still have the precursors: slight ringing in my right ear, regularly occurring knot in my neck, and a bit of blur in my right eye, all at the same times that the headaches used to come. I have had a few non-cluster type headaches, but I can smile when I have one. They're kind of like having potato salad in your shorts -- annoying, but not truly painful!
There's hope, kids!
Wishing you all pain free days....
Dave