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Topic: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long) (Read 683 times) |
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JohnM
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Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« on: Jan 13th, 2004, 2:47am » |
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My Cluster Headache and Detox Diet experience Dec 2003/Jan 2004
My latest CH cycle started towards end of Nov with 1 or 2 shadows/HA's daily at around noon and in the evening. I was usually able to abort it with Ibuprofin, and by rubbing Tiger Balm on the temple. On Christmas Eve the pain changed, and they started to hurt with a vengeance. OTC medication has stopped working. Started using the Imitrex tip for the first time with good success. Thanks to this board for the good advice. Just pinch hard on a good bit of flesh on the thigh and slowly push the needle in with no pain and inject with a Q-tip.
24th Dec
Woke up at 2am with major CH. Had another at 7pm.
Aborted with ½ dose of imigran injection.
25th Dec
Woke up at 2am with major CH. Had another at 7pm.
Aborted with ½ dose of imigran injection.
26th Dec
Started to get 3 or 4 major CH a day. Typically 2am, 7am, 2pm, 7pm
Aborted with ¼ to ½ dose of imigran injection.
We had visitors staying with us over the Christmas and New Year holidays, so I had to try and keep cheerful and get out and about without curtailing my activities too much, and so was unable to start my detox. Also, who can detox properly during the holidays? I always took my Imigran injections with me and used the “imitrex tip” whenever I felt the pain start to extend the meds, up to 4 times a day
Monday 5th Jan
Woke up at 2 am and 7 am with a full-blown CH. Had another 2 CH attacks during the day.
Was depressed with the continual CH and drain on my finances paying for Imigran injections.
Started to eat light. No alcohol, no carbohydrates. My visitors left.
Tuesday 6th
Detox day 1
Milk Thistle capsule with meals. (Don’t know if this helps but it is a physiological aid anyway)
Breakfast 500ml fresh fruit smoothie.
Lunch - green, red, yellow salad, olive oil, balsamic, chillie salt and pepper for flavour.
Dinner - veg stir-fry with oil and chillies to spice it up.
2lt water during the day.
No tea, coffee, alcohol etc, only water
Had a continuous mild to medium shadow most of the day which I toughed out until 7pm when it got a bad. Aborted with ½ shot of imigran.
Slept through the night for first time in several weeks.
Wednesday 7th Jan followed more or less the same diet as Tuesday.
Detox day 2
Same diet as Detox day 1
Had 1 ½ hour full body aromatic oil massage in the morning. Felt pretty good the rest of the day.
Early evening had a mild shadow but left it un-medicated, as it was not too bad.
Had a hot bath and went to bed.
Slept through the night.
No Imigran today.
Thursday 8th Jan
Detox day 3
Same diet as Detox day 1
Woke up 7am with a shadow. Rubbed Tiger Balm on my temple and it "almost went away". Headache returned at noon. Not like a CH, more like a bad hangover/migraine. Felt like a tight band around the head and down the back of neck. I recognized it as a classic “detox headache”. It persisted all day and night. Toughed it out at work and took no medication.
Had a very hot bath and went to bed.
Slept through the night.
No Imigran today.
Friday 9th Jan
Detox day 4
Same diet as Detox day 1
Woke up with the same “detox headache”. It persisted all day and night. A dull throbbing headache, which while relentless, was not agonizingly painful. Toughed it out at work and took no medication.
Slept through the night.
No Imigran today.
Saturday 10th Jan
Detox day 5
Same diet as Detox day 1 until the evening.
Woke up with the same “detox headache”. It was getting much worse. After 3 days of a constant nagging headache I took ½ imigran injection at 2pm, which aborted it.
Started to feel much better in the afternoon.
Went to friends for a barbeque in the evening. Ate salads with some chicken and sausage.
Drank some tea and fruit juices.
Slept well.
Sunday 11th Jan
Detox day 6
Woke up at 6am feeling great with a clear head. Felt euphoric and full of energy.
Went for a long beach walk with my wife and dog before the breakfast Smoothie.
Went out for lunch of grilled Mediterranean veg and grilled chicken.
Drank soda water.
Supper - Omelette with soft cheese and tomatoes.
Drank herbal tea.
Late evening started with runny tummy.
No headaches or Imigran today.
Monday 12th Jan
Detox day 7
Diet as day 1 of detox, but with Chicken added to evening meal
Woke up 6am with runny tummy, which lasted until noon.
Feeling tired today.
No headaches today, but felt a shadow could be lurking in the background for most of the day but it never materialized. 2 whole days pain free!!!
Tuesday 13th Jan
Detox day 8
Diet as day 7 of detox
Woke up at 7am with a clear head, stomach back to normal. Feeling good again!
No headaches so far.
Getting a bit tired of drinking so much water though!
3 days pain free. I think the cycle has broken.
The experience above is very similar to the detox I did back in May 2001, which also broke the CH cycle. At the time I thought I had found a cure for CH, but am now moderating this opinion to state that, for me at least, I am able to break a cycle using this dietary technique. I intend to continue with this regimen for 4 weeks. No booze, no carbohydrates, just lots of fresh fruit, vegetables and proteins, and mainly lots of water to drink.
I have also lost 3kgs!
John
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Virginia
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #1 on: Jan 13th, 2004, 4:02pm » |
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John,
Good to hear from you. I hope this kicks the beast out of your system.
Virginia
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #2 on: Jan 14th, 2004, 3:21am » |
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Thanks Virginia.
Did you get to try the shrooms yet? Hope you have success with it.
I'm 4 days pain free as of today - yipee!
Could not sleep last night I was so hyper, but feel pretty good this morning.
This diet therapy definately works for me to break a cycle.
I read the very long 15 page post on Shrooms yesterday. It was very uplifting to see you guys pulling together to help each other. The experiences of breaking the cycle in terms of headaches during the first 5 days seem somewhat similar to my own (without the high  . But I don't think it is an option for me here in Cape Town as no shrooms seem available unless anyone can put me onto a supplier.
But I do reckon this is much easier. I haven't even felt hungry and I have now lost 4 kgs in just over a week so I am consuming much less calories than normal but am eating a lot. When I get my next cycle I will try and do this as soon as it starts rather than wait for weeks like this time to pluck up the willpower, of which a lot is needed!.
My mood is very good too and people are starting to say I am looking well.
Cheers
John
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #3 on: Jan 16th, 2004, 4:14am » |
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It is now day 11 of my detox diet. I had a slight shadow HA that lasted from Weds 9pm to Thurs 10am which was not too bad and I slept through it. I felt groggy in the morning and went to work late on Thurs after my head cleared. Friday afternoon and I feel pretty good again. Still no CH and no meds.
I reckon the detox has worked great so far.
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #4 on: Jan 19th, 2004, 2:49am » |
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An update
It is now 2 weeks since I started this detox and for the past 4 days I am totally PF and clear headed.
To recap - my cycle started in earnest on 24th Dec and I made the decision to try and abort the cycle after less than 2 weeks. I had been having bearable shadows for about 3 weeks before they started to get really bad.
I had then a horrible persistent 3 day long bad headache during the first week, and a 1 day long moderate shadow in the second week.
Apart from that I have been PF and this was the shortest cycle on record for me. I normally get at least 2 months of really bad CH before it fades away for another year or so.
Maybe this detox diet won't work for lots of you, but maybe it will be just the lifestyle change to break the cycle for you.
Try for yourself, best of all it is totally med free and costs nothing!
PS. where are all the flamers out there, I expected many 
John
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #5 on: Jan 21st, 2004, 1:40am » |
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another update.
Totally PF now for almost a week and my head is very clear.
The diet is getting really hard to stick to now and I have fallen off the wagon several times since the weekend, but it does not matter now as I really believe it did the trick in the first 2 weeks.
That first week was easy from the diet perspective and I did not experience any real hunger, as the pain had really motivated me, but was unpleasant due to it's initial effects, especially the 3 day long detox headache which looking back was quite horrible. I almost felt like I had the flu for most of the week.
Feel great now though.
John
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #6 on: Jan 24th, 2004, 7:37am » |
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my final update on this thread. It is 3 weeks since I started this detox diet, and I have been totally HA free now for 10 days without so much as a shadow. Yipee!
I plan to stick the diet out until the end of January and have a celebratory first few beers since the begining of January.
I urge you guys to try this out for yourself. This was the shortest cycle I ever had and I fully believe it was the diet that broke the cycle. Maybe it was the shcok of the rapid initial weight loss that did it, but who cares. If it works it works!
John
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JohnM
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #7 on: Jan 28th, 2004, 3:36am » |
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2 weeks absolutely PF and so I decided to risk drinking beer and wine last night. 2 Heinekens and several glasses of red wine followed by an Irish coffee during a dinner date with my wife to celebrate 30 years of being married to the same woman!
Was slightly tipsy and slept like a baby with no HA in sight!
Hooray for me.
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magman
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #8 on: Jan 28th, 2004, 3:54am » |
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John,
Major CONGRATS to you beating the Demon!
And to your 30 years of wedded bliss. I too am about to hit the 30 yr mark in June. Isn't it great having a best friend for that long?
Many PFDAN's,
-dan
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sandie99
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Wish it, dream it, do it - inspite the pain!
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #9 on: Jan 28th, 2004, 7:02am » |
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Good for you! 
I'm so glad to hear about your success!!!
I'm about to start a detox of my own and I hope that it goes as well as yours!
Best wishes,
sandie99
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CH happends, Live anyway! PF days to us all!
"Do what you can and let God take care of the rest. Leave your heart wide open and always wish for the best" (Sanna Hillu)
"No matter how far out your dreams are, it's possible" (Marketa Irglova)
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JohnM
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Detox believer
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Posts: 558
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Re: Detox diet had broken my cycle (long)
« Reply #10 on: Jan 30th, 2004, 3:25am » |
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Go for it Sandie and good luck. Brace yourself for a bit of a rough first week. If you need any help or support feel free to IM or email me.
Let me know how you get on.
John
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