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Title: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by vze2n4nj on Aug 29th, 2005, 10:08pm what should I do...I have classes tomorrow and my fall cluster has started!!!! should I drink water? Should I sleep outside? I am from NY....I was prescribed indomethacin last year, but I never tried it because my headache cluster stopped. nobody around me seems to know how this pain feels. |
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Title: Re: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by jag128 on Aug 29th, 2005, 10:13pm I'm in NY, and just got a massive headache cause the storm is a-comin' our way. I'm not officially diagnosed with clusters, but i just popped some sudafed/advil and am about to take a steam shower (those tend to help - at least temporarily). |
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Title: Re: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by RichardN on Aug 30th, 2005, 12:06am I don't have any experience with Indomethacin, but there will be someone along who does. Sounds like you're relatively new to the beast. Are you sure of the CH diagnosis? Please take the cluster quiz (4th button down on the left) and let us know how you do. How do your ha s start? What levels do they reach (see "the kip scale" . . . just below the cluster quiz) How long do they last? Frequent? Wake you at night? Since you're not using anything at the moment, try coffee, exercise, hot or cold packs on side of face. Hot or cold showers. I like hot, and use rice knotted in a cotton sock and heated in the microwave . . . molds to your face/neck and stays hot quite a while. If cold's your thing, try a bag of frozen veggies (peas, cranberries, whatever). I use oxygen to abort and can do so in minutes if caught early enough. Night hits take longer as the beast has a better grip on you by the time you wake. Melatonin (OTC) helps many with reducing the frequency/intensity of night hits. Kudzu (OTC ) is receiving a great deal of attention right now and appears to be helping many. Available at nutrition centers . . . . I have acquired some, but need to consult my doc before I try . . . . other medications and medical conditions to consider. Keep posting . . . we'll try and help you get a handle on this. Be Safe, PFDANs Richard |
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Title: Re: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by E-Double on Aug 30th, 2005, 11:22am Whattup brother, I'm in NY too. Hang in there and read!!!!!!! I take indomethacin for a different HA type. According to the "research" it is effective at high rates for quite a few HA types but not Clusters. I fall into that category. It helps with ice-picks but not my CH. This is a great resource to know like the back of your hand...print it out and give it to the doc http://www.brightok.net/~mnjday/chtherapy.pdf It will present the appropriate treatments that you should seek and your doctor should know!!! If you want an abortive with the least amount of side-effects O2 should not only be requested but demanded from your doctor!!! http://www.maplefallswebdesign.com/misc/oxygen/oxygen.htm I have recently been using Zyprexa as an abortive and have found it to work (for me) as fast as Imitrex and without the "hangover" http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=meds;action=display;num=1120904753 If you do have the "typical" wake you up in the middle of the night horrors then.... Melatonin might be very helpful Many of us (myself included) have found that taking 6-9mg (some take more) about a 1/2 hour to 45minutes prior to bed have Knocked out the night visits and can finally get sleep. With the exception of 10-12 times.....I have slept through the night since August '04 (went chronic in March 05).....Still get hit during the day but my overall quality of life is better because I am not as exhausted all the time. Some people report that it seems to make them worse....The fact is that we are all different and respond differently to everything therefore it may or may not... The one thing I will tell you as far as my experience was that I had to stick with it...The first night I took melatonin, I was awoken with a doozy only I was too groggy to find my O2 .....It got a lot better for me....I then slept through the night but would get slammed about 1/2 hour after waking up....kinda like knocking the beast off schedule.....then again I was peaking and this cycle has been all over the place with no real pattern. I stayed with melatonin and have had decent sleep overall. It may help and it is natural with not too many sideeffects....also ask your doctor b/c if there are any side effects or contraindications...I think they have to do with mild depression..... Like I said we are all different. Some tricks that I used to use and sometimes still do are: *Wrapping a bandana tightly around my skull (be careful) *Filling a sink with scaulding water creating a steam bath and placing my head over it with a towel covering it. *Going from Steam to Frigid shower. *Standing infront of A/C *Icepacks or frozen veggies on the back of the neck or eye *Tons of STRONG coffee. Best wishes, good luck & stay as positive as you can!!!! Eric |
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Title: Re: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by vze2n4nj on Aug 30th, 2005, 10:58pm thank you for your support. It makes me feel alittle better to know that other people know how these terrible headaches feel. Let me tell you my specific scenario. My clusters come on late-Aug-Sept, and one in January. They seem to coincide with me returning to school. They completely immobilize me, make me nauseaus, sometimes I vomit (and when I do, the headache goes away), my nose gets stuffy, and my left eye tears and feels weak. The headaches started on both sides of my head at the same time, but now it is only the left side. They started when I was 20, now I am 25. The pain is so intense that I have sobbed and screamed. No OTC pain medicine ever worked. They happen about every other day. Nothing I have tried helps. I was diagnosed last year. |
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Title: Re: Expecting a devil tomorrow morning... Post by E-Double on Aug 31st, 2005, 11:21am Sounds like you have some other things going on as well Quote:
Regardless, keep your chin up and "WE" will get through this together!! |
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