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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Shadows
        
(Message started by: wildhaus on Feb 4^th, 2006, 4:57pm)

Title: Shadows
Post by wildhaus on Feb 4^th, 2006, 4:57pm

Are shadows.... that little indian with his tomawhak waiting behind the next rock (and you know it) just dieing to hit on you? or what are they (?) other than annoying and a phsycological killer.....

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by MJ on Feb 4^th, 2006, 5:31pm

Thats it or the beast just gnawing on the side of your head licking and tasting waiting for the main course to sink his teeth.

Title: The prelude!
Post by Richr8 on Feb 4^th, 2006, 5:40pm

In full cycle a thirty second warning that the beast is charging down the path. As I am winding down in my cycle shadows will evolve into a series of daily events that never escalate above Kip 4-5. but can stretch into a full day in duration and only serve as brutal reminder of what could be.

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by Guiseppi on Feb 4^th, 2006, 5:43pm

I like MJ's description. It's the teeth of the beast just starting to gnaw on you. You know it's gonna hit, the only question is when? It hurts enough to annoy you, but the dread is worse then the pain.

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by BobG on Feb 4^th, 2006, 5:55pm

on 02/04/06 at 17:43:41, Guiseppi wrote:

You know it's gonna hit, the only question is when? It hurts enough to annoy you, but the dread is worse then the pain.

Guiseppi

It doesn't necessarily hit. It may just stay at a Kip 1-3,4 level and not get worse. And yep, it is irritating as hell. My last 'real' cluster was about 7 years ago. Every year since, starting in late January/early February, my 6 to 8 week cluster has only been shadows, Kip1-3. I have had a few, but only a few, late night, REM sleep mode, wake-up calls. And those were only a Kip 5-6. I'm getting older and maybe out growing mine? Heck, I don't know.

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by burnt-toast on Feb 5^th, 2006, 9:00am

I like to say shadows are many of the typical symptoms of an attack without a high level of discomfort/pain. Just small reminders from the nightmare that its still there.

Mine occur almost exclusively during the day and initially I thought they signaled the onset of a full blown attack. Over time I've learned to distinguish a shadow from the beginning of the real deal.

Tom

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by robertrickun on Feb 5^th, 2006, 10:42pm

Hi fellow sufferers!
So I am having a cycle of clusters. But the last two nights I have had two hour shadows(my head feels like it is in a vice)?
What do you take. The oxygen seems to knock out the clusters but not the shadow.
Do you use your imitrex before the cluster comes?
Any regular headache medicine seem to work? Any ideas? I am about two and half weeks into my cluster cycle-completed my predisone regime and am taking two verapnil per day.
robertrickun@sbcglobal.net

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by CHTom on Feb 6^th, 2006, 12:04am

I've been chronic for 10 years and have never had a "shadow", unless the definition is when an attack begins at a relatively low level and then moves up, rather qucikly to anywhere from 8-10. Whenever I start to get pain, it always increases to a full blown attack-wish that I could say it was just "Me and My Shadow".

Title: I get long..
Post by Richr8 on Feb 6^th, 2006, 12:21pm

..grinding shadows kiplevel 4 that will persist beyond 8 hours. If my tloerance gets low, the only thing that I have tried that will take them out for me, and it does every time, is Eliptran(Relpax), though I try to limit it's use to extrreme cases. It's very expensive and not at all good for you I am sure.

Rich

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by imnotbub on Feb 6^th, 2006, 2:50pm

I think of a shadow as a reminder of not to do anything stupid. I have learned that their presence tells me not to have that beer. If it is destined to not get any worse, I can usually lessen it's discomfort with a cup of strong coffe or a red bull. It sure beats a full fledged dance session.

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by Dragnlance on Feb 10^th, 2006, 9:21pm

I prefer MJ's explaination!
The monster gnawing on the less sensitive parts of your skull, maybe out of bordom, thinking bout when it will need to claw out some fresh meat...

dragn

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by tessa_c on Feb 25^th, 2006, 12:50am

oh my god... yoiu guys are like tghe person in my head really explaining how things feel..

ive always gotten this pressure or pain behind my left eye (the side of the chs) even with out an attack. the my new neuro said it could be tiny clusters. my old neuro told me not to worry about it. it hurt enough to bothr me but i could still function. with low light and min noise. half an imitex (100 mg) and it was gone, but would come back in a day or later that night.

my story is under yippie im not alone in the newcomers section

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Feb 25^th, 2006, 7:46pm

For me, the shadows are really a constant, annoying low-grade discomfort in my temple. They're usually with me starting at the peak of cycle and linger several weeks after the last true kip hits. When they ramp up a little from a 2-3, I usually find a cup of really strong coffee knocks them back. Haven't had any luck at all with other remedies.

The worst part - constant pain causes depression. I could probably live with the beast as long as I had good abortives, but those shadows are the true downer.

Hugs,

Kris

Title: Re: Shadows
Post by mynm156 on Feb 25^th, 2006, 8:57pm

For me the Shadows are the pain that is kind of still there after the CH has come. IT can last for hours or even days between attacks. It is when the attacks come and the shadows hang on so I get NO RESPIT from the pain that wears me down the most. That is when the STADOL helps.