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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004-2005 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> They're BACK!!   
        
(Message started by: LWB on Jul 25^th, 2004, 9:04pm)

Title: They're BACK!!
Post by LWB on Jul 25^th, 2004, 9:04pm

Since 1985 my husband has suffered with the CH on a cycle of about 2 years, usually arriving in late summer or early fall.

This site has helped me a lot tonigt! He is on his 5th night with this cycle and he has not slept except to fall off to sleep in a chair.

In the past we have tried oxygen and there were trips to the emergency room, but nothing stops them!

Are there other wives out there that can offer me anything that I can do to help him? It is awful to see him like this again!! He is 57 years old and he has had open heart surgery and has to be on medication for his heart. He is in so much pain and then so exhausted, I am scared it is going to kill him. :-*

Title: Re: They're BACK!!
Post by Bob_Johnson on Jul 25^th, 2004, 9:46pm

It is distressing to watch someone in such pain, to be sure, but you have observed that your husband recovers--and that is a comfort which you can hold for the future.

You might explore the supporters box below this one.

Hope you have a good doc helping with the clusters. There are a number of good meds to abort attacks and others to reduce/prevent them. Look at the "medication survey" (left) to see the experience reported by folks here.

Educating yourselves is as important as having a good doctor. Suggest you get either the second or third title (below) in addition to exploring the OUCH site.

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.