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Title: Hi Post by luiz_henrique on Mar 21st, 2004, 10:20pm Hello. My name is Luiz Henrique, I'm 22 and from Brazil. I started suffering from migraines in 2001 (20 then), they were horrible so I went to see a neurologist, who prescribed me propranolol (a beta-blocker) for preventive treatment. I took it for 30 days (don't remember the dosage) and the headaches were gone. Until now. About a month ago (feb/04) they returned. Even more severe this time. I went to see my neuro again, who said it was a "miracle" that I'd spent more than 2 yrs without headaches. Back in that time - doing some reading on the subject - I already suspected that I was a cluster headache sufferer, but did not give too much importance to that since (I thought) I was "cured". Now that they're back and even more severe, I'm 99% positive that I'm a CH sufferer. My doctor told me to go back taking propranolol and to increase the dosage in case the HA's didn't pass. They didn't, so I'm taking now 100mg a day, which still isn't being enough. My HA's are horrible and during them I don't feel like doing ANYTHING or thinking about ANYTHING, but I can't help having the most incovenient thoughts that just kill me. From the reading of this site, I could notice that there are people who have much more severe HA's than the ones I have. Besides, I didn't see any reference to propranolol, which made me think it's for "light HA's sufferers". Is that true? I don't think my HA's are any light, so I'm either wrong (they are light compared to other people's) or this drug just isn't working for me this time. I would be very grateful if someone could tell me what they know about propranolol (does it work? is it prescribed for light HA's sufferers? if i stop taking it, will the HA's strike back? what's the efficient dosage?). Thank you very much in reading this. I truly hope we're able to exchange experiences and improve our life quality from it. Luiz Henrique. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by Melissa on Mar 21st, 2004, 10:34pm Hello Luiz and welcome to CH.com! I am so very sad to hear you are suffering from nasty head pain. Have you taken the "cluster quiz" yet? If not, click on the 4th button from the top on the left hand side of your screen. You also said that during your headaches you don't feel like doing anything... Do you have to lie down when you are in pain, or do you have to get up and walk around? Also, have you tried any other medication besides the propranolol for your pain? Take care, :)mel |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by Bob_Johnson on Mar 22nd, 2004, 8:50am Propranolol is not effective for cluster. If your neuro is offering it as a first treatment for cluster it suggests that he may not be up to date. Suggest that you get the second of these 3 books: it's an excellent source. ----- HANDBOOK OF HEADACHE MANAGEMENT, 2nd ed., Au. Joel Saper, MD, 1999, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. A highly condensed volume for doctors but good for "advanced" clusterheads who have a grasp of medical terminology and medications. Covers all types of headache with the section on cluster being brief. Sections on general considerations in treatment and on medications are important. MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D. Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $49 at Amazon.Com. This volume is better organized and easier to read for nonprofessionals compared to Saper's book. It covers all types of headache and is primarily focused on medications. While the two chapters on CH total 42-pages, the actual relevant material is longer because of multiple references to material in chapters on migraine, reflecting the overlap in drugs used to treat. I'd suggest reading the chapters on migraine for three reasons: he makes references to CH & medications which are not in the index; there are "clinical pearls" about how to approach the treatment of headache; and, you gain better perspective on the nature of headache, in general, and the complexities of treatment (which need to be considered when we create expectations about what is possible). Finally, women will appreciate & benefit from his running information on hormones/menstrual cycles as they affect headache. Chapter on headache following head trauma, also. Obviously, I'm impressed with Robbins' work (even if the book needs the touch of a good editor!) (Somewhat longer review/content statement at 3/22/00, "Good book....") HEADACHE HELP, Revised edition, 2000; Lawrence Robbins, M.D., Houghton Mifflin, $15. Written for a nonprofessional audience, it contains almost all the material in the preceding volume but it's much easier reading. Highly recommended. ---------- Also, look at: www.headachedrugs.com. This site is operated by the author of the 2nd book (Robbins) and is full of helpful information. ==== It's interesting that I should be writing to you from the U.S. rather than in Brazil. At the turn of the century, my great-grandparents left Sweden to settle in Brazil. They left their young son in Sweden. He was my grandfather; moved to the U.S. as a young man and so, by accident, I'm here rather than with you. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by 5-string on Mar 22nd, 2004, 10:15am Hi Luiz, Sorry your head is achin'. Did you ask your neuro what he/she knows about clusters? Having one that does makes my world 100,000xtimes better. If you have'nt had an M.R.I. yet, get one. I take; Verapamil,Imetrex,o2--those work for me so far. Good luck with your research. ...Mark. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by luiz_henrique on Mar 22nd, 2004, 11:13am You guys, thank you very much for reading my post and answering to it. I appreciate the info you provided. To Melissa: Yes, I took the quiz and my answers to questions 9-16 were all "yes". When in pain I tend to get up and walk around, though sometimes I force myself to stay in bed. Besides the propranolol (for prevention) I also take a drug called "Neosaldina" in Brazil (Isometepten mucate, dypiron and Caffeine Anidra) - for abortion of the pain. To Bob Johnson: Thanks for the tip, i'll have an appointment with him next week and I'll put him under test. Do you still have relatives here in Brazil? Where do they live? I live in Recife, which is located in the northeast of the country. To 5-string: I'll have an appointment with him next week and I'll put him under test on clusters. Thanks. What's an M.R.I.? I'll write down the names that you said and I'll ask him about them. Thanks again. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by Lizzie2 on Mar 22nd, 2004, 5:22pm There are a number of good headache docs in Brazil, although the names are currently escaping me. Who do you see now? If you want, I could look up the names of the ones in Brazil and post them to you. Welcome to our site! Lizzie |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by t_h_b on Mar 22nd, 2004, 6:50pm on 03/22/04 at 11:13:37, luiz_henrique wrote:
Neosaldina is great--I used to rely on it for my cluster attacks and still have a large supply of it. It helped with the CH pain but I believe that the main reason is the caffeine. I still use it for normal headaches. But you'd be better off with effective preventative and abortive medications to stop the headaches rather than just treating the pain. As someone said, verapamil is the first drug of choice for prevention and oxygen and sumatriptan injections or spray for abortion. Read up on the medication and oxygen sections to the left to help educate your neurologist. Sorry that you're getting these at such a young age but it's good that you've been diagnosed and can afford treatment. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by 5-string on Mar 22nd, 2004, 7:00pm Hey Luiz, try this sight. <http://www.cis.rit.edu/htbooks/mri/> That should give you an idea about M.R.I stuff. Take it easy, ...Mark.. |
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Title: Re: Hi Post by TxBasslady on Mar 23rd, 2004, 2:19am Just wanted to welcome you to the board, Luiz. You got some good info from the previous posts. Read all you can and print out what you think might help when you go to see the doc. Hope you get what you need to fight the beast! PF vibes, Jean |
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