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Title: preventatives needed? Post by southwalessunshine on Aug 28th, 2007, 11:44am Hi all, It's coming on 10 weeks in thisnew cycle now and I feel rough! I'm not on any preventative meds at all and it's concerning me. I take red bull, but have had limited relief so far, I finally got the 02 and it works on mild shadows but if it's gonna turn inti the beast, nothing stops it. i also take diclofenac anti-inflammatory coupled with Imi tablets for an attack of about 5 kip, anything higher than that i reach for the imi injections. Prob is, I'm worried about all the triptans I'm having to take. Don't get me wrong if this is how it has to be, then I'll take as much as is needed. But it does concern me that I haven't got any prevents. I was taking them up until around May time when my neuro took me off them, he said I can't take any beta blockers because of my asthma, and suggested some anti epilepsy drugs for me to think about. I don't like the idea of that but if any of you guys here are using them could you please tell me how they have affected you and if there's any downsides. I have heard alot about verapamil and lithium on this site, could someone please explain a little deeper for me, what they're all about. please bear in mind that I'm in the Uk and we sometimes can't get what you guys get over the pond. All advive and info will be greatfully received. Modified- could someone also please explain about pred taper? Never heard of it until i came here and I'm unsure if it's something I should mention to the neuro when i go see him in Oct. I've not had much joy with him, so plan to go properly armed this time. |
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Title: Re: preventatives needed? Post by Wayne on Aug 28th, 2007, 12:14pm Hello Well from way accross the pond here's my take on things. There are 4 rather popular prevents: Verapamil, Topomax, Lithium and Depakote. I've tried two and can comment. First Topa max http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topiramate , Its essentially a drug for controlling epilepsy but does a rather good job of preventing CH as well. The major side effect of this is moderate to severe short term meemory loss, and when I say severe I mean severe, I'm talking "Where's my car, Oh hell what car do I drive and where do I live' kinda memory loss. But it seems to be quite effective and definitely worked for me. Next up Verapamil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verapamil Essentially a blood pressure tablet that works very well as a prevent. Some folks get constipated etc and you must have regular heart monitoring as irregular heart beat and slow pulse are sometimes side effects. For me this is a winner, no side effects and very few CH hits as long as I maintain the correct dosage and take it regularly as prescribed. I don't know anything about the others but I am sure that Guisseppe will be around soon to tell you about Lithium. You do need a good prevent, its a life saver. the only hassle is that they work differently on different people so it may take some experimenting by you and your Doc to find whats best for you. Good luck and best wishes Wayne |
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Title: Re: preventatives needed? Post by Wayne on Aug 28th, 2007, 12:18pm A pred taper is a short course of steroids, Prednisone, that helps to keep the beast at bay for a while, it can't be taken long term so its used to give you a break while the prevent is building up in your system. Its called a taper because you start with a large daily dosage and taper it off over a period of time as determioned by your doc. |
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Title: Re: preventatives needed? Post by Bob_Johnson on Aug 28th, 2007, 12:50pm Please print and read. Covers the area of current therapies as well as anything I have seen. http://www.plainboard.com/ch/chtherapy.pdf Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor. It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S. (2002) |
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