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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> Shadow or inflamed nerve?
        
(Message started by: Rod_v._Devil on Nov 30^th, 2004, 9:49pm)

Title: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Rod_v._Devil on Nov 30^th, 2004, 9:49pm

People call it the shadow. But it is not part of the cycle of a CH. It is your batterd nerver crying in pain from all the beeting it took during the CH. The longest I've hit 5 hrs on several dances with a 10k then as it fades it gets stuck. The Ch is over and the beeting nerve hurts to the sharpest outline you can trace throught your head. At this point I take ice cold showers to divert blood flow from the head. Half the time that works th other half I take a viki which is used for nerve pain and it works all the time. Again time and cold first viki as the last option it will rob the day from you. But The choise is PAIN NOPAIN? To each their own.

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Ruth on Nov 30^th, 2004, 9:52pm

Could be you have something there.

Ruth

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Dec 1^st, 2004, 8:37pm

Shadows are shadows are shadows. Yes, your nerve is still hurting from the last CH you had, but for many in cycle those shadows are with us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until the cycle is over.

Sometimes the shadows can be beat back with cold, sometimes with high doses of caffiene, often times with oxygen. No matter what, they're still a big part of the cycle.

If your "Vikki" is Vicodin, then you need to do a little more research on this syndrome. OTC meds and narcotics cause rebound headaches and can make cycles last longer. The fact is, Vicodin and drugs like it might make you sleepy, and you might lose a day, but you also aren't doing squat for your CH.

Please read, read, read all you can. Of course, if you think you've found the answer, then keep to it. We're all different.

Kris

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Gator on Dec 1^st, 2004, 10:37pm

Quote:

Posted by: Rod_v._Devil on 11/30/04 at 20:49:55

People call it the shadow. But it is not part of the cycle of a CH.

Guess again, chief. I can have days where I shadow several times before I get hit. The shadow isn't necessarily the aftermath of a ch, sometimes it is the forebearer and sometimes they just exist in their own right. They are definitely part of a ch cycle for most if not all people here.

I would NOT do narcs for ch. BTDT Worthless for the pain and can cause even more in the form of rebounds.

Think you need to go back and do a little more reading before you start telling people what is and isn't about ch.

Gator

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Rod_v._Devil on Dec 2^nd, 2004, 12:16am

What you call a shadow is different then what i go through. I call the shadow the presure where the pain could be. Others call it the pain that satys around. From me it could be an 8kip for 4hrs after a 3-4 hr 10 kip. I refer to it as STUCK. No fading away like most of the others in the cycle. And the narks will only work if the CH Chemical cycle has run its course.

Durring this cycle they found a neck injury causing a muscle spazum at the base of the same nerve. Maybe I banged my head into the wall one too many times as many of us have and opend myself up to longer even more painfull CH attacks because durring the attach as I twist and rock and scream the same nerve gets pinched. Since I started treating the spazum at the same time as the O2 to abbort 38 hours no CH 5 of 5 abborted. Only one did I use the Maxalt got to the O2 to late.

So you guess again Cheif! [smiley=laugh.gif]How dare you belittle mine or anyone's experience. I can only pray that will never experience a CH for the lenth of time and the level of pain that I and my family have endured. There are no experts for us. If what I feel is going on in my body can maybe give relife to one other then

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by BobG on Dec 2^nd, 2004, 12:37am

Hello Rod,
I don't think anyone is trying to belittle your experience. Sorry to hear you are hurting.
The term Shadow Headaches, as used on this board, referes to lite, minor, irritating reminders that an attack could happen at any moment. Shadows are in the Kip 1 to 4 range. Sometimes they ramp up to the full blown Kip 9 and sometimes they just stay low or go away.

From your post I get the idea you have pain in your neck from a muscle spasm. IMHO you have 2 pains happening. One is the pain of the cluster attack and the other is from the spasm. Like you said the pain from the spasm is probably from the twisting and turning of the neck trying to relieve the cluster pain.

The cluster pain is from the trigeminal nerve and, as far as i know or ever seen, the trigeminal nerve does not go to the neck.

Here's a picture from the OUCH website. The trigeminal nerve is the orange colored one from the temple to the face where it splits 3 ways to the eye area, nose area and down to the teeth/jaw.

And, at least in my experience, a person can have a cycle (or cluster) of Shadows only. I've had them yearly for the last 4 or 5 years. I am in a cycle (or cluster) at this time. I'm getting 1 to 3 shadows a day that last 15 minutes to 45 minutes each. Irritates the hell out of me.

http://www.clusterheadaches.org/images/trigeminal_nerve.jpg

Title: Re: Shadow or inflamed nerve?
Post by Gator on Dec 2^nd, 2004, 1:31am

I am not belittling you or anyone else. A word's definition is determined by the group in which the word is being used. It's not about what I personally call anything. In the accepted terminology on this message board, a shadow is a pain or presence, possibly a lower level ch and usually described as Kip 4 or below. A shadow can occur by itself, as a precursor to an attack or linger on after an attack. Shadows are most certainly a part of ch. A Kip 8 is not a shadow - it's a full blown ch attack.

So, to rephrase what I previously said in a less hostile manner, it is best to familiarize yourself with the accepted terminology and local definitions of words before defining them for others.

As you said, you have other problems besides just ch that are exacerbating your pain and mixing with your symptoms. I am sorry you are suffering from either one. I hope you get help for the neck problems and that you find the magical combination of preventative and abortive therapies that will help you with the ch as well.

I bear you no malice, just trying to impart a little friendly advice to help you keep from getting your feelings hurt. There are others who would rip your posts apart a lot worse than anything I would ever consider.

PFDAN,

Gator