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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
        
(Message started by: Leggs on Jun 29^th, 2005, 9:09am)

Title: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by Leggs on Jun 29^th, 2005, 9:09am

Okay, I have an appointment July 12, but I have nothing nothing abortive or otherwise to use befor e that time except for Excedrin and Advil.

Right now, I take Excedrin as soon as I wake up, or if I wake up in the middle of the night ie: 3am last night. If I miss it every 4 hours, I KNOW it. I take 4 advil when I go to bed.

Someone told me you may be able to get O2 without a script?

I know CH is coming on, because I have had the stuffed nostril, and messed up eye for the past few days, and last night, I woke up at 3am for the first time since my last cycle. I am also going to chug the water today.

Title: Re: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by nani on Jun 29^th, 2005, 9:24am

You can get welders oxygen. PM Jonny and maybe he can tell you what to say and what you need. Are you taking any meds right now? Melatonin helps many with night time hits. Look on the Meds board for info on it. I use kudzu as a prevent. It's really best to try it when you're not on other meds, as we're not sure about all potential interactions with other meds. Here's some info on kudzu. Read all the related threads if you can, there's tons of info and tester experiences. You can use kudzu, melatonin and oxygen to abort safely.
Good luck, hang in there and pf wishes, nani

http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1110584362

Title: Re: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by Leggs on Jun 29^th, 2005, 12:39pm

Thanks for the info, I had read through all that Kudzu stuff the other night. Verrrrryyyyy interesting. Since I basically just take OTC stuff, it would probably not be a problem, but I may opt for Melatonin, because sleep is becoming an issue with the CH shadows lurking....

Title: Re: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by marlinsfan on Jun 29^th, 2005, 3:46pm

Couple of things to keep in mind:

Excedrin will hurt your stomach if you take too many. Make sure you take some sort of stomach protectant, but don't take it too late. You can take pepto-bismol or Tums 2 or 3 hrs before going to sleep (if you get most of your attacks at night). This timeframe will allow the stomach to get protected, but the protection will wear off enough so that you can absorb the pill quickly. For me, I learned, what worked in the excedrin was the caffeine. Maybe you can just chug some coffee and keep the aspirin away from your body.

Do not mix advil with excedrin. The mix will hurt your liver. Advil for me never did the trick.

You can get O2 at your local firestation.

Good luck,
Jose

Title: Re: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Jun 29^th, 2005, 8:40pm

Another thing to think about ... for many here, OTC pain meds can cause pretty severe rebounds, and actually do very little for cluster pain.

I'd vote for the Melatonin, combined with ice packs or hot showers (whichever works best).

If you have a good GP who has referred you (sorry, but I'm not up on everyone's history right now), ask for some samples of Imitrex or other abortive. These should have been offered to you already. In fact, your GP can also order a script for oxygen. Just make sure it's ordered the right way.

I only know that when I enter cycle, I can't wait 2 weeks for relief of some kind. I thank my lucky stars every day for my family doc, who recognized my symptoms for what they were and gave me the meds I needed until I got to the neuro.

Hang in there, and many hugs,

Kris

Title: Re: dealing with pain before Neuro appt...
Post by Leggs on Jun 29^th, 2005, 9:27pm

on 06/29/05 at 20:40:32, Kris_in_SJ wrote:

After hearing about the melatonin, I read up on it (and Kudzu) in Prescription for nutritonal healing. I could actually be causing problems with excedrin, since it causes some depletion of the natural cycle of melatonin with the caffiene in it, and probably is irritating the sleep.

I for one did not get any relief from imitrex when taken orally, kind of made me have an anxiety attack. I could not mentally handle the injections, because I nearly died from hemorrhagic shock, and one of the fun things they do during recovery, is take arterial blood gases out of the tops of your legs and feet. It's just kind of a mental thing...I can psyche myself up to donate blood and have blood taken, but I don't think I could deal with injections.

The O2 does sound very promising. I have every confidence in my internist regarding the clusters once we weed through the other crap that is going on with possible TN and neck and back stuff. I really appreciate the fact they refer me when it's beyond their scope of expertise, and they always ask what has worked for me, and what has not worked. In the middle of the new pain starting, I had a serious case of bronchitis, and they prescribed that prenizone pack which made me totally puking insane. I called the doc on call on his beeper, and he was not even the one I had seen. I told him it was Friday, and I could not tolerate the oral steroid, could he call in an inhaler, and he said "No problem, I know that oral stuff can really be hard on some people, give me the number to your pharmacy, I am in my car, and I can't look it up." What a guy?! THAT's the type doctor I want to find to help me weed through this insanity!