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        New Message Board Archives >> 2002 Posts >> Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
        
(Message started by: Chronic on Oct 8^th, 2002, 10:03am)

Title: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Chronic on Oct 8^th, 2002, 10:03am

For the past fifteen years I have been trying to find a point of reference (or pain of reference) to explain what a cluster feels like to non-sufferers. So far, for myself, the closest pain similarity is a brain freeze from Italian Ices. Of course, clusters 1000xs more intense, longer lasting and envelopes the neck and more of the head....but the pain behind the eye is as close as you can get. Does anyone else agree with this comparison? Is this what you feel?

Just wondering.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Chronic on Oct 8^th, 2002, 10:25am

To be clearer.....a Brain freeze is probably a 10 second kip 1.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by NancyMcFree on Oct 8^th, 2002, 10:36am

LOL ... would have to agree with cronic on the scale comparison ... the type of headache you get might be considered like "a brain freeze". Geez, you think they could freeze our brains, donate them to science and find a cure for this ????? My brain freezes never hit the eye though ......... how about a brain freeze and an ice pick to the eyeball ??????????

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by BobG on Oct 8^th, 2002, 10:51am

I've used the "ice cream headache" to explain what a cluster feels like, if you multiply it by 100 and make it last 45 minutes instead a 30 seconds.

My grandkids like to go to the buffets and have a 'backward' lunch. Ya know, have desert first. Cake. pie ice cream and then if there's room have the boring stuff. I like to challange them to a brainfreeze race, who can eat their ice cream the fastest.

I let them win. Dumb kids, they never learn.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by cox3406 on Oct 8^th, 2002, 11:37am

How's this,
"It's like a fresh silver filling, in a molar, with an ice-cube attached to it, and an Ice pick attached to a Makita 24v cordless drill in the eye, for days, weeks or months, only much worse".
I am an educated man and pride myself on my vocabulary, but langauge, at least English, has always been a barrier in making a valid description of the pain.
However, DRK^A does a pretty good job of a CH Haiku!
Fighting the good fight!,
Mark

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by NancyMcFree on Oct 8^th, 2002, 12:06pm

LOL at both the responses. BobG ... you better hope your Grandkids never get clusters .... cause they are gonna punish you for letting them know what it was like ahead of time !!!! Cox ... your English is great, I understood and almost felt the pain !!!!!!

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by don on Oct 8^th, 2002, 1:36pm

I say to folks,

Heat up 2 ice picks till they are white hot. Jab one in your eye and the other deep in your ear and twist for 20 minutes. If you dont think you can withstand this then you've never had a Ch and hopefully never will.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Charlie on Oct 8^th, 2002, 5:36pm

You take a hand drill with a dull bit and bore into the roof of your mouth, switch to a wire brush and slowly ream out the bloody bone fragments. Yank out loose tissue with needle nose pliers by twisting it around until it breaks loose. While you’re waiting for your old soldering iron to heat up, that is not quite hot enough to melt solder but hot enough to burn its way through the remaining wire brushed, blood-soaked bone and tissue, insert a glass stirring rod and break it off. Pound the rod further in with a tack hammer. Take the soldering iron, and run it back and forth about 40 minutes or until you burn anything remaining in your eye socket. Or:

Eat some Italian ices. Actually, that’s not a bad description. If that would last for about 45 minutes. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could stop a cluster as well. by putting our tongues in the roof of our mouths?

Charlie

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by GCB on Oct 8^th, 2002, 7:28pm

Closest I have ever came to it was a root canel, this dentist was sure that root was dead and proceeded drilling.... as tears were flowing from my eyes he looked down and asked if that was hurting....about a 9 for me but that only lasted about 4-5 minutes...gcb

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by LTBullitt on Oct 9^th, 2002, 4:01am

It does feel like that. The first few seconds are almost identical to a CHs onset for me.
I think it's b/c the pain hits in the same place and the panic sets in right away.

Too bad clusters didn't stop there!
Kust don't panic and waste an imitrex shot in Starbucks :)

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by J. Marshall on Oct 11^th, 2002, 9:58am

The only explanation I can find, and I have used to Doctor's is "it feels kinda like giving birth to your brain, through your eyeball. Only the birth canal starts at the back of my neck goes to the top of my head and then ends at the eye socket. Only, usually it's a breach birth and tries to exit out my right nasal passage and the whole time someone has got my head in a vise and is tightening during the entire birth.

Of course, if I did give birth to my brain, it would be a preemie ;D

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by LTBullitt on Oct 11^th, 2002, 11:43am

Pallas Athena
I have thought of that before.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Lapsi_Harmaahapsi on Oct 11^th, 2002, 12:12pm

I don't usually remember what my attacks feel like when not in cycle, but the old "pencil in the eye" gives me goosebumps. Probably won't work as a good description for "non-initiated" though.
I know, I haven't had a REAL attack! ;)

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by cox3406 on Oct 11^th, 2002, 4:25pm

Fuckin-a Charlie! ;D

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by emilysmommy on Oct 12^th, 2002, 5:05pm

YES! I thought that I was the only one who used this to explain the way my CH's feel! The doctors would always look at me & say, "so like an icepick" NO LIKE AN ICE CREAM HEADACHE THAT NEVER GOES AWAY! Much worse than contractions, but I'd love to have an epidural that worked for this damn headaches.

Michelle

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Margi on Oct 12^th, 2002, 5:58pm

My husband, Mike, has described them as Slurpee headaches times 100.
But, his do go away, Michelle. Down to Kip 0 after about an hour. 0 to 10 in about 10 minutes, wafting back and forth from a 9 to a 10 for about 45 minutes, then back down to 0 quite quickly and stays that way until the next attack hits, a number of hours later. This is a pretty usual pattern for most folks here. Sometimes it helps him if i tell him how long he's been going, it helps him to know how much longer he has to endure the pain and that there IS pain freedom on the horizon. If yours never go away, Michelle, you need to tell your doctor that.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Jim R on Oct 12^th, 2002, 9:47pm

Margi,

I wish I could time mine like your husband! My CH's are usually longer - at least 90 min. and have had some up to 6 hours (although they might be cascading individual ones and I just don't recognize the breaks between...) Boy, it sure would be nice to look at my watch and know I only have X amount of time left before relief! But, mine are just like your husband's in that they come on fast and leave fast - it's just the interim that's unpredictable. PFDAN's to your husband and good luck to you.

Jim R

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by emilysmommy on Oct 13^th, 2002, 6:45pm

Margi, I know I addressed this on the other thread regarding medication, but just to clarify......I meant, ice cream ha that doesn't go away like a normal ice cream ha would. Mine do go away usually within 2 hours, but it does seem like eternity.

Michelle

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by visegrip on Oct 16^th, 2002, 11:47pm

I love it! Yes, a brain freeze from eating any Iced product too quickly x 1000 and it won't go away.

This gets me wondering, has anyone ever tried inducing a brain freeze while having a cluster headache? It strikes me that this might work as an abortive measure. BIG might in that statement but I think it's worth a try.

It just might kill me but if it works I got another method.
Treating with O2 now and that can get somewhat costly.

Cold showers to the head help get your mind off it.
An osteopath once recommended dipping a cue tip in hydrogen peroxide and applying it just inside the ear canal. Haven't tried that one yet.

Actually the best way I can describe the pain is that someone has locked a pair of visegrips on my right eyeball. That's the reason behind my posting handle.
Anybody else get this feeling of pressure being exerted on the eye?

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Chronic on Oct 17^th, 2002, 9:29am

Kind of funny reading all these posts. While I agree with most of the additional descriptions given above, the idea was to inform a lay person of what "real-life" pain a CH feels like. I can tell everyone I know that it feels like an "icepik to the eye" or "my eye caught in a vice grip" or even better

"You take a hand drill with a dull bit and bore into the roof of your mouth, switch to a wire brush and slowly ream out the bloody bone fragments. Yank out loose tissue with needle nose pliers by twisting it around until it breaks loose. While you’re waiting for your old soldering iron to heat up, that is not quite hot enough to melt solder but hot enough to burn its way through the remaining wire brushed, blood-soaked bone and tissue, insert a glass stirring rod and break it off. Pound the rod further in with a tack hammer. Take the soldering iron, and run it back and forth about 40 minutes or until you burn anything remaining in your eye socket. "

......but in truth, not many people have experienced those types of pain.

I do like the the brain freeze abortive idea. Maybe fighting pain with pain would work. Maybe the cold could constrict your blood vessels fast enough to kill the beast. Next time I have the icecream available, I'll give it a shot and report back.

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by jonny on Oct 17^th, 2002, 5:39pm

on 10/17/02 at 09:29:00, Chronic wrote:

......but in truth, not many people have experienced those types of pain.

In truth only CH sufferers understand our pain thats why I never try to explain it, look above at your quote and youll know why.

................................jonny

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Drk^Angel on Oct 17^th, 2002, 6:16pm

What does a ice-cream HA feel like? I've never had one...

PFDAN.............................. Drk^Angel

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by 2late on Oct 17^th, 2002, 6:37pm

even behind the eye, brainfreeze ain't shit compared to this, i agree with jonny, don't even try to explain it. comparisons don't do it justice. ...........2late

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by oringkid on Oct 19^th, 2002, 12:26pm

I've never gotten a typical "ice cream headache" either. Guess my nerves run differently. But I always liken the pain to either a charlie horse in the brain, or giving birth through your eye.

Sherry

Title: Re: Brain Freeze from Italian Ices
Post by Charlie on Oct 20^th, 2002, 2:54am

Never had an ice cream "headache?" I thought I led a sheltered life. Believe me, this kind of headache can hurt...a lot. Too bad one cannot end a cluster by placing the tongue in the roof of the mouth too.

I think it's a fair analogy but for the very short duration.

Charlie