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Title: Clarification and/or Question... Post by Jackie on Nov 2nd, 2002, 5:52am What EXACTLY is a "shadow" to some of you? I'm not asking for myself or Blake but I think it would be a good clarification for some of the newbies. RJ said he had a K2 or K3 ALL day and was asked if he was sure he had CH (if I read the post right). Those "low grade" CH's are referred to as shadows by some here. Blake says, "They are fucking clusters they just don't hurt as bad". And he has carried them ALL day long....usually they go into a full blow 10 later in the day or at night. That said, Blake also has what he calls a "glove on my head"....pressure, tension or tightness on the CH side (not painful but aggravation and they scare him) He also has what he calls "rubber band snaps" after a really bad series of CH's. We refer to those as aftershocks. They are severe jolts in the temple. These jolts cause no problems because they come and go VERY quickly. Sound familiar to any of you? Jacks 8) |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by jonny on Nov 2nd, 2002, 5:56am For me a shadow is when I go outside when the sun is shinning and I can see a black me on the ground......LMMFAO ;D Im going to work now.....LOL SMOOOOOCH ...............................jonny |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by Jackie on Nov 2nd, 2002, 6:01am Not only are you a dumbass... ;D You are also a smartass... ;D Blake says to ask...."What the fock is the matter with you?" ::) L'his'MFYBO... SMOOOOOOCH... :-* Jacks 8) |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by 7yrscronic on Nov 2nd, 2002, 8:33am I had trouble figuring out exactly what a shadow is myself. Now I've realized that it's a toloralble, but annoying K1 or K2 that just hovers on my eye just waiting for an inopertune <sp?> time to burst into a k7 or worse. When I feel it now, it's time to take a zomig and head towards my magic O2 tank. I'm sure it's different for everyone. -Todd |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by 2late on Nov 2nd, 2002, 8:59am for me a shadow can be 2 things, it's either the start of a CH, then all i have to do is abort ( 02 first, if no luck immitrex) or it can be a fucking annoying dull & sometimes sharp pain headache that lasts all day sometimes, going from kip 1-3 wich i've had no luck gettin rid of. if it's a true shadow my abortives do nothing. day's when i have an all day shadow at work really piss me off! ..........2late |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by oringkid on Nov 2nd, 2002, 1:57pm My shadows are tiny K1 or 2 clusters. They can last all day or only for a while. As a full blown (usually has to have been an 8 or higher) begins to recede, I get what I call lightning bolts. Very sharp quick jabs (Blakes rubber band snaps) that will sometimes last for a few minutes after the main pain has gone. My Ch has always reminded me of a cramp. During peak cycle, I get that "imminent cramp" feeling which feels like a tightening of my brain on that side and it feels like it is getting ready to go into full blown alot. This is part of my shadowing. So to answer your question...Yes! It is very familiar! Sherry |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by OneEyeBlind on Nov 2nd, 2002, 2:20pm A shadow I consider a "tightening of the head", the dull ache that can sometimes last all day and is truly very annoying !!!! I know what you mean by the rubber band snaps though .... am getting them now ... and only have gotten them "over and over and over" again since my cycle I think has ended. (haven't had over shadows or the rubber bands snaps in 9 days nows). Wouldn't really clasify them as shadows as it is something completely different than the "pressure" thing. Little kippers hitting over and over and over again. But since I might be at the end of my cycle .... I will be singing in the rain and really not caring how anyone defines anything for a few days !!!!!!!!!!! Oh yea !!!!!!!!!! Let it be. let it be, let it be, yea, let it be, speaking words of painfree let it be, let it be !!!!!!!!!!!!! It would be nice if we could come up with a common terminology though ... somethimes I think we ain't all on the same page .... message .... board .... whatever ... you get my drift. |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by kim on Nov 2nd, 2002, 3:00pm Yep, those shadows can mess with us all ;D Shadows (IMHO) fluctuate throughout cycles.....(dunno how it is for chronics). Anyhow, a shadow can be a simple and annoying pain that a few cups a coffee and some excedrin can knock out - OR -- they can be these low grade but constant and booring pain that inteferes in ability to continue daily activities. I have knocked out shadows -- and I have suffered with shadows-- the whole day with cold towel over my head and nothing gets rid of it. It's hard to explain. Shadows move up and down a scale of their own just as a ch does. Albeit not as severe and dramatic but in a class all their own. For me, as cycle progresses, the shadows become more persistant and more difficult to deal with..... Oh well, that's my book on shadows.... :D |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by eyes_afire on Nov 2nd, 2002, 3:46pm I consider 'shadows' to be all the other symptoms that are not the actual cluster attack itself. I don't medicate at the first sign of shadows because they are simply too numerous during cycle. I'll medicate if I think the shadows will likely turn into CH (and sometimes I suffer for my hesitations). For me shadows include: 1. Dull grinding pain or pressure in or behind eye (often right before or right after a CH) 2. Burning eye. Twitching eye. Watery eye. 3. Severe unilateral nasal congestion. 4. Brief, sharp, shooting pains in or behind eye. Like Oringkid, I will get the shooting pains as a really bad CH is diminishing. I don't know, maybe I'm incorrect to include all these as shadows. What I do know is that they are all ominous... meaning that I'm on the verge of full blown CH. I've never really considered the dull grinding pain or pressure to be an actual CH attack. I guess because it is rather minor by comparison (although very annoying and ominous) and is a bit different in nature. Actual CH feels like Freddy Krueger's claw hand grinding and mincing my eye from within, whereas the dull shadow pain is a phantom, echo, or shadow of the true CH. :-/ |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by BobG on Nov 2nd, 2002, 4:06pm Shadows can be a bothersome pain in the face. I haven't had a cluster cycle for about 4 years but during the last 3 years I had daily, from 5 to 8 hours each day, shadows way down on the kip scale, maybe a 2 or 3at the highest. They went on from January to about June each year except this year they ended in April. They were never bad enough to medicate but the ice bag came out once or twice. eyes_afire.......the word phantom, as used at this site in the past, meant getting all the symptoms (tearing eye, running nose, etc) but no pain. |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by kim on Nov 2nd, 2002, 4:08pm eyes, wish I were that in command when getting hit ;D You see, after 25 years, I have come to behave somewhat irrationally ............... :o The second that muscle spasm starts up in my shoulder I don't CARE WHAT IT IS. I just run for my stuff. It's gotten to the pont where shadow/attack who cares. I always feel compelled to cut it off if I can. by the end of the cycle I don't know which is which and could care less, I just want it to be gone. Over the years, well, an attack will come and go. That I can take. It's that nagging bullshit inbetween shit....between the two, It jes wears me down. :( |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by eyes_afire on Nov 2nd, 2002, 4:32pm Well, when I'm actually getting hit, I'm not in command at all, LOL. Clear the way.... any wall between me and the O2 tank starts trembling with fear, LMAO ::). It's just that the shadows are so prevalent and the meds are so expensive, that I have to decide which shadows to try to vanquish. There's no way I could abort all shadows. Also, many 'shadows' pass without turning into CH for me. So I try to gauge the situation before I get hit, but once actual CH attack starts, there is no such thing as rational and the only gauge is the one on the O2 tank. :D |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by kim on Nov 2nd, 2002, 5:23pm I've had the luxury of excellent medical coverage for the past 15 years, but b4 that, I have to say it WAS an issue. One cycle had NO coverage. Consultation was 500.00 and + medications. My parents helped me out but I gotta tell ya my mom was freakin out at the BILL! LOL....I felt so guilty about the cost at the time ....remember telling her that I was not going to the doc cuz too much money and nuttin worked anyway....well, my mom insisted and we went -- and then she had a shit fit in the car on the way home - LOLOL. You see, we must deal differently with each cycle because of outside circumstances..............floatin on that breeze - accidental like -- I have always felt that each clusterhead is a separate handprint....I still feel that way. :) Health insurance..........YICK. |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by Mark C on Nov 2nd, 2002, 7:57pm on 11/02/02 at 16:08:10, kim wrote:
May I agree 100% :) |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by Charlie on Nov 2nd, 2002, 9:47pm Since you will be able to handle a shadow better, I think it's a good time to test the circulatory techinque. Charlie |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by 2late on Nov 2nd, 2002, 10:04pm do tell charlie...........LMMFAO!!! ..........2late |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by pjbgravely on Nov 2nd, 2002, 11:48pm I consider a shadow pain exactly like a CH but at the 1 to 4 kip. with no secondary pain. If it's a 5 then I know it's going to be a 8,9, or 10 soon so it's time to medicate. I can get rid of a shadow with ice, hot sauce, and . Just my two cents, or maybe one. PJB |
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Title: Re: Clarification and/or Question... Post by Drk^Angel on Nov 3rd, 2002, 1:48am A shadow for me is like a very mild attack, but it doesn't necessarily have the other symptoms and it's normally bareable. If CH was a kick to the head with Jonny's BBBs, a shadow would be a kick to the head with my son's moccasins. The quick, sharp lightning bolt/rubber band pains could be Primary Stabbing Headache. According to the IHS, clusterheads and migraineurs are more susceptible to PSH than the general population. Something like 40% of migraineurs and 30% of clusterheads may also suffer from PSH. PFDAN....................... Drk^Angel |
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