|
||||
|
Title: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by rickyshot on Jan 6th, 2005, 8:36am Being a newbie around here but not a newbie with clusters and migraines , You may have heard this before. I am at the end of my rope. Nothing is helping. I am going to try the alternative route. Homeopathy, osteopathy, supplements, herbs etc. Besides the ha's I am menopausal, hypothyroid and hormally imbalaned which is one of the main triggers for my migraines. The peeps at the Natural Center say that clusters however are another thing entirely and rare (so tell us something we don't know). They say take the meds when having an attack but they will try to help me wean off the preventative meds with natural alternatives. The meds are not working for me anyways. The weather this year is playing havoc with me. I was in a remission for two years with the cluter thing (not the migraines) but this last year back with a vengence. WTF? I live a healthy lifestyle when not sick lots of good food and exercise. I am like a friggen jeckyl hyde. When I am not having a ha I am the best in the world and so energetic. When in the throes of an attack, I am a weepy, suicidal wreck who can barely get out of bed. Anyone ever try alternatives and had any luck?? |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Redd715 on Jan 6th, 2005, 8:50am Homeopathy and Osteopathy among other things such as acupuncture and Chiropractic, have shown to be useless over all in the treatment of CH. The only known OTC things to help are Melatonin sometimes combined with Benadryl before bed to stop REM cycle of sleep to help the night time attacks. Other herbs and what-not...ziltch if I'm not mistaken and there will be others who will correct me if I'm wrong. There is only one *alternative* treatment that has shown great promise, however, there are certain legality issues with that route that keeps many people from walking down that path, and there is a number of discussions on this here... Search "psilocybin"... |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by cray on Jan 6th, 2005, 8:56am Was in the chemist last week& they have a natural counter there.Told the lady there the problem(CHs).I,d just got my Verap and showed her that. she suggested FEVERFEW as an alternative. If the Verap didn,t work i was gonna give it a try, but it looks like the cycle has broken. Russ |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by john_d on Jan 6th, 2005, 9:20am rickyshot, I am in the same boat, it has been like 6 years and I am in cycle again. I do yoga, I meditate, and I am very pro-alternative health. But don't be so quick to say no to meds, especially 02 if it works for you. [smiley=twocents.gif] You have every right to be pain-free as possible. on 01/06/05 at 08:36:58, rickyshot wrote:
You are a weepy, wreck when you get the headaches because they are absolutely horrible. Just remember, the headaches are NOT your fault. John |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by nani on Jan 6th, 2005, 9:22am Ricky, I haven't heard of anyone getting actual CH relief from alternative meds, but it can probably help with other issues that arise because of it. Like tension, depression, etc. Cray...if I'm not mistaken feverfew is the equivalent of aspirin...probably won't help at all. Verapamil by itself didn't work for me either. I had to add lithium to the cocktail. I also use Neurontin. It's an anti-seizure med. I'm chronic so I wouldn't want to take Topamax for an extended period. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by cray on Jan 6th, 2005, 9:52am Well Nani if its the equal of aspirin it won,t achieve anything. She gave me the impression it would do a similar job as Verap. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by rickyshot on Jan 6th, 2005, 10:02am Thanks for your input. Even the people are the center said don't give my meds for an attack for ch as they are rare with no known cure. I am trying the alternative medicaine for prophylaxis against the migraines and hormonal balance which I also suffer from. I am going to the neuro again at the end of this month and will discuss O2 with him. My migraines are very complicated and I am at high risk for stroke and they cause me enough grief even without the ch's which as y'all know are in a special class by themselves. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by nani on Jan 6th, 2005, 10:02am I could be wrong about the feverfew...my brain is a huge jumble of misfiled information... :-/ Research it... |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by rickyshot on Jan 6th, 2005, 10:03am oops typo I meant they said don't give up on my meds during an attack. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by nani on Jan 6th, 2005, 10:06am Quote:
I'm guessing that you can't take the abortives, like Imitrex or Zomig. I can't either. I use oxygen to abort and am on a preventative cocktail that includes Verapamil, lithium and Neurontin. Quote:
Please hang in there...you can beat this! [smiley=hug.gif] |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by floridian on Jan 6th, 2005, 10:41am Magnesium has been shown to help some with CH - in the original research, it was an IV drip, but tablets may help. Feverfew may be helpful for migraines, not sure about clusters. One problem with feverfew is that the active ingredients change when the herb is dried and stored - many tablets contain zero of the active ingredient that was studied. Is feverfew like aspirin? Maybe, in the sense that it doesn't help in the short run by aborting, but might help in the long run to prevent. Recent research has shown that people with clusters and migraines have a tendency to over-coagaulate, and anti-coagulant drugs like warfarin can reduce headache frequency. No word on whether daily aspirin will reduce headache frequency, but aspirin is a known anti-coagulant. Some of the B vitamins may help - they are needed for various parts of neurotransmitter metabolism. For example, folic acid (folate) is needed for producing melatonin, and a deficiency of folate will mess up melatonin production. Niacin and Pyridoxine are involved in serotonin production, if I remember correctly. Turmeric (curcumin) and green tea have some interesting anti-inflammatory compounds. Curcumin is on par with prednisone and lithium in terms of how it can shut off certain metabolic pathways that seem to overexpressed in clusters (PKC, TNF, NF-Kappa). Some people have reported being able to abort a cluster by slamming a Red Bull. In addition to sugar and caffeine, red bull has a hefty dose of Taurine. Taurine has been shown to act as a calcium channel blocker; it also improves magnesium Ginger is a traditional migraine treatment - It affects substance P metabolism (the hot/painful sensations), is a calcium channel blocker, and it also blocks the serotonin 5-ht3 receptors. A lot of research lately on treating clusters by blocking a compound called CGRP. There are some natural red and purple pigments that can do that; Sangre de Grado (blood of the dragon) is one herb that has been shown to do this, but beets and black cherry juice contain similar compounds. One regular here (JMorgan) says he has always been able to break a cycle with diet in about a week. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by don on Jan 6th, 2005, 11:01am Quote:
They are so kind. So how much they going to charge you for all this? |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by rickyshot on Jan 6th, 2005, 11:21am Floridian. You sound quite knowledgeble. I am glad you are not discounting this. Everyone is different. I have had all the meds known to mankind tried on me preventative and pain relieving. Acupuncture, chiro, biofeedback, massage, reikki anything you can think of. I don't expect a cure for this. I am hoping for improvement particulary with the migraines which are much more frequent for me and hormone balance which is one of my main triggers for migraine. Even the doc there says ch are rare and no known cure. They are not promising me the moon. They are trying to help with the modalities they believe in and have also been studied. I am sure you know how we sufferers are willing to try almost anything. Don The osetopath cost 70.00 for the first consult and that is covered by my insurance. The homeopathic meds, the B vitamins cost about 50.00 for a one month supply. That insurance won't cover of course. I will give it six months to see if any improvement. Of course I am referring to the migraine and hormone situation. As for the clusters the trigger is the seasons and sometimes weather so it would be hard to track any "progress" with that. I hope you were not being sarcastic in your comments. Like I said above I almost committed suicide in my last attack. Lucky for me I work in a hospital with a very understanding boss and I have quick access to the ER. So please do not discount my quest for any relief in my situation. I have done much reading and am not stupid and am willing to spend so much...... |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by floridian on Jan 6th, 2005, 1:01pm on 01/06/05 at 11:21:41, rickyshot wrote:
I am open minded and prefer not to go the heavy chemical route. Being an episodic with one cycle per year made that an option for me, and a bad reaction to triptans made it more attractive - but I don't think I would have held out if I were chronic. If the beast reappears, I will get oxygen. I have been headache free for the past two summers - was it from something I did or just random variation in the CH?? I don't know for sure. Quote:
Since you are obviously new here, let me formally welcome you. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by don on Jan 6th, 2005, 1:07pm Sarcastic? Oh no. I would never use sarcasm towards a group of homeopaths who prey on folks desperate for pain relief. Oh no. Not me. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Ueli on Jan 6th, 2005, 2:28pm Floridian, I'm glad it was you to post the less than favorable comments on feverfew. I would have gotten the whole nine yards from the fucking peanut gallery. BTW, I take aspirin daily, but for another reason. Maybe that's why it doesn't help me against CH, LOL. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Bob P on Jan 6th, 2005, 2:31pm Quote:
Not me boy. If it's a drug, I'll take it! |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Jeepgun on Jan 6th, 2005, 2:33pm I tried feverfew tablets that I got from the local health food store. It didn't do a damn thing. :( Ditto for peppermint oil applied to the temple/eyelid. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by karma on Jan 6th, 2005, 2:55pm Ueli, May be you would get a better reception if you learned a couple of Floridians tricks. Relevant information posted in a nuetral and nonjudgemental way. Its not always what you say that is important but how you say it. Just trying to help! |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Margi on Jan 6th, 2005, 3:46pm Hi Ricky, I see you're in Montreal. We also have a Canadian website for cluster sufferers and we have a couple of folks in your area. Please do feel free to visit us over at OUCH Canada. http://www.clusterheadaches.ca. We have a message board there as well. I've done a lot of studying into the homeopathic and naturopathy areas and my husband is a clusterhead. So far, we've found nothing that helps him in either of these categories. Trust me, I've made him a guinea pig for more than one homeo/naturo scheme. (something about making him shove mustard powder up his nose comes to mind but...that was a really long time ago. ::) Only tried that once.) Feverfew is a migraine preventative (they SAY) but...it doesn't even work for me (and I'm just a lowly migrainer). The only alternative avenue we haven't explored yet is cranio sacral massage and I have a friend licensed to practice that. She swears she can fix Mike's "problem" (for a small fee, of course), but....he's done with the experimentation. Our best defense now is oxygen - delivered properly through a non-rebreather mask at a flow rate of 10-12 lpm and, if he catches it early enough, he has a high success rate aborting these monsters. He also has had limited success with the water treatment, but only if he's totally med free. All the best to you, Ricky - hope to see you over on the Canadian board one of these days! p.s. to Ueli - LOL at your peanut gallery comment. You do have a way with words, sir. ;) |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by vig on Jan 6th, 2005, 4:09pm at least feverfew IS a chemical... http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/alternat/AT006.html Homeopathic medicines are, in my opinion, completely bogus. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/homeo.html and I mean COMPLETELY bogus, unless you consider the placebo effect legitimate. |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Charlie on Jan 6th, 2005, 5:08pm Well........ Quote:
Can't say it better than Don. That goes for osteopaths too. One of the reasons heath food, alternative medicine, and the like are so popular is that it's a way for many to aviod something clinical. In our cases, it would appear to be backwards. Be sure you know what you're doing and I surely hope you find something, somewhere to help deal with this horror. Charlie |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by Ueli on Jan 6th, 2005, 6:16pm Please don't badmouth homeopathy. After all, Jacques Benveniste has shown the memory of water, and hence the incredible large dilutions (err, sorry, potencies) still have a healing effect. Benveniste has even demonstrated that the information of the water-memory can be transmitted over an ordinary telephone line. For the later feat he was awarded the 1998 Ig Noble prize for chemistry. See here (http://www.improb.com/ig/ig-pastwinners.html). |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by vig on Jan 6th, 2005, 9:02pm [smiley=slowlaugh.gif] |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by PrettyH8Machine on Jan 7th, 2005, 7:30am I did the homeopathic thing in 2000 in desperation after becoming chronic for 2 years. It did absolutely nothing for me whatsoever. Even tried some experimental things like Methycolbalamin nasal spray, which was a highly concentrated vite b-12. Feverfew, Kava root (which has proven to be hard on the liver), Valerian Root, ginger, ginseng, ginko, you name it, I tried it, in a variety of combinations along with things like melatonin and 5-htp. I'm still chronic and the only thing that works 60% of the time is Imitrex, but it also causes rebounds and seems to be losing some effectiveness. Definitely hard to abort attacks I awake with. Generally just ride them out. I do an hour of meditation a day (if I can even focus due to lack of sleep.) In my book though, when dealing with CH, leave no stone unturned in the search to cope with or eliminate the beast. Peace, CD |
||||
|
Title: Re: I am going to try alternative Medicine Post by don on Jan 7th, 2005, 7:47am Quote:
Quote:
If he drowned did the water remember? |
||||
|
Clusterheadaches.com Message Board » Powered by YaBB 1 Gold - SP 1.3.1! YaBB © 2000-2003. All Rights Reserved. |