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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Getting to Know Ya >> Thank You!
        
(Message started by: zolapower on Feb 2^nd, 2008, 3:41pm)

Title: Thank You!
Post by zolapower on Feb 2^nd, 2008, 3:41pm

To whoever founded this site.Thank you!
Hi Everyone
My name is Colin Freeman 42 yrs old & live near London,England. I now know (thanks to you) that I am an Episodic CH sufferer. However I think I may have a "mild" form of it after reading many posts on here the last couple of days. This is gettin' hard I'm not very good at this!right :history: '89 first attack UNBELIEVABLE headache GP scribed various stronger analgesics (useless)as they continued(4 or 5 over 2weeks then just went away.
'91 one day they came back! (sounds like a Stephen King novel! maybe theres something for him here it sure sounds like a horror story!) sorry ,right ,same again 2 weeks 4 or 5 attacks then gone.Gp scribed "Migril" tabs which seemed to work sometimes but took 40-50 mins.
'94- Ditto
'96- Ditto
'98- Ditto Ah run out of space....cont

Title: Re: Thank You!
Post by thebbz on Feb 3^rd, 2008, 3:34pm

Welcome and Hello,
GP needs to get you to the neurologist for a proper diagnosis.
All the best
thebb

Title: Re: Thank You!
Post by Zolapower on Feb 3^rd, 2008, 5:25pm

Hi thebbz,
I was diagnosed by GP in 2001. What I meant was I now know I'm an episodic sufferer. I posted a couple of Qs earlier maybe you can help. During a cycle (typically 3-4 weeks) I will experience 5-7 full blown k9 or k10 15-30 mins duration & almost all are accompanied by these intense feelings of cold & shivers.
I have not read anyone else mention this in fact it seems if anything the opposite is true.These occur when Imitrex(inhaler) & O2 have failed I am now trying (so far very successfully) Red Bull prior to O2 when I feel a shadow and have aborted every one since Friday. I am using the O2 with a normal face mask & again despite reading that ONLY 100% O2 works I can report Definite success (even limited success with my old 2/4 lpm) with a 15 lpm. Hopefully my non rebreath mask arrives tomorrow & I will let you know the difference.
I did actually try just the end of the pipe in my mouth earlier(!) but sensed a filling up inside & had visions of cartoon like bloating & floating out the window!
The other thing was preventative and views on Verapimil(I think) also what are " clusterbusters & Kudzu"?
Thanks
Colin

Title: Re: Thank You!
Post by GrandPotentate on Feb 8^th, 2008, 10:28pm

Hey Colin. O2 has been very very good to me. In excess, it can be an issue, but probably no worse than all those years that I smoked.

Chills - not me. But I have heard of a lot of different side symptoms. Perhaps this massive nervous intensity leaks out into a few other random areas. The only odd things that I have noticed are that I often have a mild high (somewhere between well-being and euphoria) before a hit, and often fart like a motorboat afterwards. I have seen a few others who share the former, but have never heard reports from others about the latter. We're all wired a little differently.

Once you get the rebreather, simply adjust for whatever flos into the bag steadily as fast as you take it out in gulps. For me 8-10 does the trick. Get to it early, while you are still in the "oh, maybe it won't be bad" denial phase.

I hope your cycle is short, and your hits mild.

Title: Re: Thank You!
Post by Batch on Feb 8^th, 2008, 11:59pm

Colin,

I think what GP was saying about O2 "in excess" is really more like 10 to 12 hours continuous exposure breathing 100% O2 with no breaks breathing air... The problem then becomes pulmonary oxygen toxicity... The symptoms are very obvious... similar to pneumonia... so you'll know you are starting to have a problem long before you do any real harm to yourself. This condition is also easily reversed by breathing normal air. Then again, not many of us have that much oxygen on hand... so... O2 therapy it is not a problem or anything to worry about.

I've over 3,000 hours flying Navy fighters and all of it was spent breathing 100% oxygen on missions more than two hours in length... I've also flown several TransPac flights over 7 hours in duration plugging a KC-135 for fuel everry 30 minutes all the way from San Diego to Honolulu... I'm still here...

15 LPM and a good NRB or better yet a Clustermasx is a good starting point as that flow rate is the minimum for many of us. Clustermasx are hard to come by these days so if you're halfway good at DIY... the following site has all the components and a good visual to build your own Clustermasx lookalike for a lot less than the original.

http://www.mushys.com/O2/mymask.html

Take care,

V/R, Batch