Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        New Message Board Archives >> 2006 General Board Posts >> My questions
        
(Message started by: mcksmly on Mar 30^th, 2006, 9:14am)

Title: My questions
Post by mcksmly on Mar 30^th, 2006, 9:14am

It is Michele here with my "fine tuning" questions. 1.) Burr is using oxygen now but often if the headache is full fledged before he uses the oxygen (most often when he wakes up at night with a headache), he has a residual hedache after using the oxygen. Is this common? Has anyone discovered a way to get rid of the residual headache that has worked for them so they can get back to sleep?
2.) Is there any point in using Imitrex nasal spray.? From what I see on this web site, it looks ike Imitrex injectible is much more effective as an abortive. Burr has the nasal spray, not the injectible.
3.) How do you successfully use the Imitrex with the oxygen? Use the Imitrex first, followed immediately by the oxygen; use the Imitrex, wait and see if it works, if it doesn't, then use the oxygen; use the oxygen first? What works for you?
4.) Is there any point in trying to figure out what the triggers are? Burr has given up chocolate, dairy products, bananas...he even gave up sugar for awhile, (without switching to artificial sweeteners). He also thinks stress might be a trigger and is now on a small dose of Xanax. I think the Xanax is affecting his short term memory.
That is it for now, I am sure I will have more questions as we progress through this.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Caine_607 on Mar 30^th, 2006, 9:37am

Hi Michele,

I'm a complete noob to clusterheadaches.com and I have never had any experience with medicinal cures but I have, like Burr, been experimenting with dietary variations.

I found out that I used to get bad headaches after drinking chocolate milk so I gave it up and things certainly appeared to improve, I gave up cheese for a month but that made no difference and I've never been a great fruit fan so not sure about the bananas. As for sugar, I heap sugar into my coffee when I'm having attacks but it certainly doesn't appear to make things any worse ?

On the whole, though it could be due to any number of factors, in the past 3 months I have gone from 5 or 6 kip level 8/9 attacks a day/night to 2 or 3 kip level 3/4 attacks a day/night (1 night attack every 2 days on average). I'm assuming that some of this may be to do with my considerable change in lifestyle.

3 months ago, I was going through a pretty heavy stress period and drank superhuman quantities of alcohol, I have always smoked but in addition I rarely left the house for fear of a CH attack, I used to eat/drink chocolate in large quantities and rarely ate much veg with my meal.

Now, I have a more positive outlook on life, I try and get out of the house for a cool stroll as often as possible, I don't drink choccy anymore and I rarely drink except on special occasions. I try and eat plenty of veg with my meals.

Like I say, I have no idea if these changes made the slightest bit of difference or wether it was just coincidence but it's always a possibility - I would imagine it varies greatly between individuals though !

Title: Re: My questions
Post by nani on Mar 30^th, 2006, 9:43am

Hi Michele. Welcome. :)
The nasal spray works for some people, but I've seen the most positive posts from people who use the statdose. On the left is the Imitrex tip, which shows a way he can make each shot go further.
Has he tried melatonin at night? It stops the nighttime attacks for a lot of people.
If I were him, I think that for the night hits, I'd try Imitrex and then O2 (while it kicks in). The O2 seems to work best when taken at the very first sign of an attack. He's probably sleeping through that part right now.
Triggers are different for everyone. Alcohol seems to be the most common one. He may want to keep a headache diary, just to see if he finds some kind of pattern.
Keep asking questions....knowledge is our best weapon.
pain free wishes to your home, nani

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Dragnlance on Mar 30^th, 2006, 9:57am

Hi Michele. Thank you for being a supporter.
I have used O2 and found that I had to have a monster hit before it worked well for me. Part of that may be due to the regulator only being an 8 LPM instead of 12 to 15.
As a chronic, I guess that I have learned to deal with the residual HA. One thing you can try is Melatonin, which will help you sleep after a hit. It does make you drowsey if you take it at 4 am and get up at 7 am, as an example.
As far as I know, trex and O2 will work fine together.

I hope this info helps

Dragn

Title: Re: My questions
Post by BobG on Mar 30^th, 2006, 11:11am

on 03/30/06 at 09:14:41, mcksmly wrote:

Burr has given up chocolate, dairy products, bananas...he even gave up sugar for awhile, (without switching to artificial sweeteners). You didn't say if he's drinks alcohalic beverges. If he does, did he give them up?

He also thinks stress might be a trigger and is now on a small dose of Xanax. I think the Xanax is affecting his short term memory. I believe the stress keeps the cluster away. It's the relaxing time AFTER the stress that the attacks hit. I also believe he needs to get off the Xanax. That's nasty shit and will only cause bigger problems.
.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by karma on Mar 30^th, 2006, 11:44am

Quote:

I also believe he needs to get off the Xanax. That's nasty shit and will only cause bigger problems.

As with most treatments for CH what works for one may not work for others. Xanax helps considerably if you are trying to fight the attacks with out abortives.
If getting through an attack means riding it out and willing yourself to relax as a means of diminishing the length and severity of a hit then Xanax helps.
Meds like Xanax can be addictive but as far as being nasty shit and causing bigger problems, well thats simply not ture.
I tossed the abortives and kept the Xanax the last go around.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by marlinsfan on Mar 30^th, 2006, 1:31pm

Hi, my experiences:
1) I use oxygen until the pain is completely gone. It wakes me up in the middle of the night and it's already full-blown. After that, I'm SOOO worn out that I just collapse back into bed and fall asleep,
2) Trex is trex. The different forms take more or less time to get to work. Shots are fastest, spray is #2, adn pills is far behind at #3.
3) I only use trex if O2 has not killed the headache after 12 minutes. I time it. 99.9% of the time, O2 does the trick for me. I have a love/hate relationship with trex. I hate taking it, but I love that it rescues me after O2 has failed,
4) At night, the hits will come regarless of your triggers. For most of us, SLEEP is a trigger, and you can't avoid that. Melatonin has been mentioned here, it's great for me. 9 mg 30 mings before bedtime is my dose. after a few days it builds up and keeps the headaches away for 5-7 hrs after I fall asleep. For daytime hits, I've found that I can trace 70% of them to something I've ingested. For me, chocolate, alcohol, nuts, anything citric (including citric acid, OJ, moutnain dew, etc), equal, and a few other. If I don't eat those, most times I don't get a hit during the day.

The point is, we're all different. Some react better to the same meds than other do.

PF Wishes.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Jonny on Mar 30^th, 2006, 7:22pm

The Imitrex spray is crap for night time hits, Burr is to far into the HA for that to work. He needs the trex shots, once he has takin the shot he can huff the 02 until it kicks in (as Nani said)

In my case Trex shots caused more HA's, what works for me is Zomig NS and 02 for the night hits (well, it use to...Ive been PF for over a year after 30 yrs chronic) and the Zomig lasts five times longer (for me)

Good luck!

Title: Re: My questions
Post by AussieBrian on Mar 30^th, 2006, 7:47pm

I always found that O2 would work only if I was on it within 3 milli-seconds of getting hit. Otherwise it would help only in stopping things getting worse than they already were, but we're all different.

As to the residual HA, we've a med here called Panadiene Forte that's a mix of paracetamol and codiene and I found that to help a lot.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Guiseppi on Mar 30^th, 2006, 8:05pm

Oxygen works for me but I have to take oral cafergot as soon as I start the oxgygen, otherwise the beast returns in 15-20 minutes.

I get the residual "after headache" too. Haven't found a way to lose that yet.

Tried the nasal imitrex and got absolutely no relief. Have used the imitrix injectable only once, (oxygen wasn't working)..it worked really well.

Triggers!! I've only islated a few but they see fairly common. Alcohol, specifically grain alcohol, wine and beer are not nearly as likely to bring one on. Screwing up my sleep cycles, swapping from days to graves and back again, and high levels of stress. The bad news is you can eliminate every trigger....and the beast will still hit you.

Thank you for being a supporter. After 26 years I don't know what I'd do without Christy helping me.

Guiseppi

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Mar 30^th, 2006, 8:17pm

Trex inject girl here. Haven't yet done the Oxygen thing, but plan to next cycle. With injects, I get immediate relief within 5 minutes. I don't really like the side effects (like the feeling your hair is on fire), but that feeling also means relief is just a moment away.

If he's using O2, make sure it's with the right flow rate and with a non-rebreather mask (see link to the left).

I'm also a great proponent of Melatonin. When in cycle, 9mg about 30 minutes before bed does the trick. Takes a few days to kick in, but has been a life-saver.

I'm one of the lucky few who has no known triggers except when I'm in a summer cycle and working outside in the heat and humidity. I can even handle alcohol with no problem, but that is RARE! Make sure he gives up any libation during his cycles.

Also, preventatives like Verapamil are extremely important for shortening the duration and intensity of cycles. Once they kick in, the need for abortives decreases.

Thanks for being such a good supporter.

Hugs,

Kris

Title: Re: My questions
Post by Guiseppi on Mar 30^th, 2006, 8:50pm

Kris, I forgot to mention the "hair on fire" thing! I told my wife it was like snakes started at the injection site, crawled up my neck and into my head!!! But like you said, you can feel it slip into your head and stop the headache.

Guiseppi

Title: Re: My questions
Post by BlueMeanie on Mar 30^th, 2006, 8:57pm

on 03/30/06 at 09:14:41, mcksmly wrote:

Has anyone discovered a way to get rid of the residual headache that has worked for them so they can get back to sleep?

Lots of black coffee usually can get rid of the residue. I use a strong prescribed muscle relaxer that includes caffeine which puts me back to sleep. Melitonin works very good for lots of peeps too.

Title: Re: My questions
Post by TxBasslady on Mar 30^th, 2006, 10:06pm

I just started using o2 in December. The first few times I used it...I would get a second hit about 2 hours later. This was out of the norm for me.

Cat told me this had happened to her too and that she resolved the problem by staying on the o2 a bit longer, but at a lower flow. When the pain was gone, she turned the regulator down to 3.5 or so, and just breathed normal for 5-10 minutes.

This solved the problem for me of getting the 2nd hit.

Not sure if this would solve his problem...but it's sure worth a shot.

Good luck....and sending lots of PF vibes to your hubby.

Jean