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Title: BAD ATTACK Post by TimJohnson on Jul 30th, 2004, 10:27pm I had a bad attack on Tuesday night - resulted in an ER visit. H/A ; lasted almost 5 hours. very unusual! I take 360mg of Verapamil per day coupled with Topamax - 200mg. I had been of of the Verapamil for three days. I have immediately started the Verpamil again! I have had 2 pfd since. Hopefully it was the end of the cycle. I have been episodic for 11 years. Has anyone had similar increase in severity when stopping Verapamil suddenly? Pain was worse than usual. I'll never do it again!!!!!!! :-[ |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by UN_SOLVED on Jul 31st, 2004, 3:21am Wow...that sucks. Sometimes mine are worse than others ... but I've never had a 5 hour attack (even with no meds). That is unusually long ! Unsolved PS. Never had that kind of effect with Verapamil. I could only tolerate 240 mg / day. The dose you are on is still considered relatively low. Many here take much more than that. Some can't handle it. |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by ave on Jul 31st, 2004, 6:14am Hi, I do remember people posting about their cycle "going out with a bang", with a, or a series of, unusually long or fierce attacks. It may of course be the Vera, but then it is a miracle the way you were painfree at once after taking it again. Vera usually takes some time to kick in. Alternatively, you may still have been under its influence, and the biggie was a breakthrough, which gives support to the idea that the cycle is at it' end. I do hope so for you |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by eyhavhedaches on Jul 31st, 2004, 4:41pm My docter and I have been trying differant things with my clusters.... right now I am in my remission cycle however when I was just at the end of my cluster cycle back in april my doc told me to try only taking the vera when an attack was evident. we tried it and it seemed to have better efficacy than taking it twice a day everday( even though my clusters were pretty much an every day thing). I take depakote evry day, right now he doesn't want me taking anything till the cycle begins again.... we are going to try oxygen and he's gonna up my dose of depakote from 500 to 1000 milis a day, plus up the dosage of vera to 325 mils once a day when the cycle begins but only at the time of the attack, I will keep everyone posted on how this works, |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by IndianaJohn on Jul 31st, 2004, 7:48pm Hi Time, Sorry to hear that you had a tough time Tuesday night. Personally, I tried Depakote once and would NEVER take it again. This is just me, but it made my HA's much worse. More frequent and more intense. I'm episodic too, and I take 480mg verap daily (120mg 2x/day). I noticed that the current level of verap didn't stop this episode I'm in now or seem to heve any effect on the cycle at all. I am going to definately ween of the verap when my cycle ends so that maybe it will work next time. Verap takes time (7 to 14 days) to build up in your system. Since you are taking a small amount it could be that your verap level was right on the border line and when you ran out, it crossed a threshold of effectiveness even though it is still in your system. You may consider upping your verap to a higher level. That is what I'm goping to do next week when I see my doctor. But then again, what works for me may not be appropriate for you. I do remeber, a long time ago when I ran out of my verap in a cycle and had the same experience as you. It seemed that once it crosses a certain level, intense HA's are the result. Since then, I am very diligent about taking it. Best of luck to you, John |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by Kris_in_SJ on Jul 31st, 2004, 8:26pm So sorry - not only for the 5-hour HA, but for the ER visit too! What a terrible combination! With my last two cycles, I've learned two important things (for me, anyway): 1. Don't get off the Verap until you're pretty sure your cycle is over. 2. Wean slowly off the Verapamil. That way, if the shadows or HA's return, you can quickly ramp back up again (as you discovered) with good results. I've been on 480mg/day Verap for about 10 weeks now. Since my cycles usually last about 8 weeks, I'm now weaning off. My doc has me reducing the Verap by 120mg every 2 weeks until off. Right now I'm down to 240/day with no return of symptoms. Maybe your cycle isn't over, in which case you shouldn't give the Verap up (though your dose is quite low compared to most). Work with your doc. When you're ready to try again, try it slowly. We're all different, but hope this helps! Hugs, Kris |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by Sean_C on Jul 31st, 2004, 9:23pm I had a similar experience about 6 or 7 years ago. It confused the textbook docs. When I think about it I wonder sometimes if maybe I was getting back to back clusters without any down time. Who knows maybe it was something I did or ate that day that triggered that. Anyway it is definately in the memory book. PFDAN to you Sean |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by don on Jul 31st, 2004, 10:48pm could it be that you terminated the verapamil a little to prematurely and you were still in cycle? |
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Title: Re: BAD ATTACK Post by ex_pat_asia on Jul 31st, 2004, 11:23pm Tim - I did have an awful day during which an attack lasted approximately 5 hours and it also involved a trip to the E.R. (if for no other reason then to get yourself into supervision because by then you are ready to do anything to stop it). I was traveling at the time, and did not have Oxygen handy, but perhaps more importantly it was pre-trex days and my abortive meds consisted of sansert (ergotamine). At the time I had approximately 6 years of CA history. Since then I have logged another 24 years and have not had (knock on wood) a repeat. Generally, if I do nothing to treat, my attacks will last seldom more than 1 hour but I have not put them to an unfettered test in a very long time...nor would I willingly. Last year I interupted knee surgery (during which I was anthesized with an epidural) and insisted on 12 LPM oxy before we went any further. I always figured it was the hip-hop the young surgeon was listening to that gave me that attack. :D |
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