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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Who Knew????
        
(Message started by: Clusterman on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 10:56am)

Title: Who Knew????
Post by Clusterman on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 10:56am

I have suffered for twenty years with cluster headaches. All the typical sysmptoms believe me. I have been to doctor after doctor. I have tried everything they told me no matter what the cost and sometimes it was very expensive. I started my most recent episode one month ago. On average one headache every 90 minutes every night from 10:00pm until 6:00 am, for the last thirty days. I did not dare go to sleep. To anyone that has experienced these headaches you know the hell I have been going through.
I was so desperate I would try anything to help with relief. My most effective method was beating my head with the palm of my hand and submerging my face in ice cold water. My family of course suffered with me through these episodes because I was unable to function as a father or human for that matter until the string of headaches went away. On average I went two years between episodes.
I typically would revert to off the shelf medication, antihistamines and Afrin nose spray after all other methods failed to relieve the pain but I knew this was a terrible way to treat my body. I would take up to twenty extra strength sinus meds a day.
Keep in mind I was diagnosed when I was 16 years old and always wondered how people could live with these painful headaches.
Two days ago a friend asked me if I had ever tried one of those off the shelf inhalers. Everyone always gave me these kind of tips and mostly they did nothing but I always tried them out of desperation. Well this was the best thirty dollars ever spent. I bought an inhaler and tried it two days ago. The first night I still got two headaches but immediately went to the inhaler and was able to get rid of the pain within five minutes and go back to sleep. The second night I took no other medications and slept most of the night with only one headache and again was able to lose it with a five minute treatment.
I always wondered where the pain came from, was it the cluster headache or sinus related. I still am not sure but I know this, the pain I am used to getting was excrutiating. The pressure I am feeling now is minor in comparison to the previous pain. I can still function and it just feels like the beginning of the headache without the seering pain that usually followed. I am doing three treatments a day five minutes each and I expect to stop those within a week.
I am no doctor and no doctor was ever able to help me. I triad imatrex, oxygen treatment,etc. No good results. This thirty dollar option is worth trying, I have never felt so relieved and hope I never suffer that kind of pain again. I am just sorry that it took me twenty years to stumble onto this.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by seasonalboomer on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:11am

what? no website link? no place for me to find out more?

glad you found your answer.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by AlienSpaceGuy on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:26am

Fine you found something that brings relieve.

But I'm sure that not just any old inhaler is helping, it would be interesting to know what the active ingredients are.

The "thirty dollar option" suspiciously smells like SinusBusters. :(
If it's that you better get lost, if not maybe you can tell us what this inhaler contains.

[smiley=smokin.gif]

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Clusterman on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:33am

I am not trying to sell anything, I just thought maybe someone else should try this and maybe it would help them. I just went to the local store and bought one of those off-the-shelf steam inhalers with menthol oil. No big secret formula. If you are as desperate as I was you'll try anything. If it works for you the way it worked for me, great, if it doesn't, sorry.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Redd on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:49am

http://www.pharmacydirect.co.nz/productimages/5357med.jpg

You talking about one of these?

For some people, heat just makes matters worse. But if it helps you cope, more power to ya.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Bob_Johnson on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:53am

Let's keep an open mind. Found this one citation on PubMed--and it's a letter, not a clinical study, from, of all places--Iran!
=========================

Med Hypotheses. 2007;69(2):455. Epub 2007 Feb 20.
Therapeutic potentials of menthol in migraine headache: possible mechanisms of action.

Haghighi AB, Motazedian S, Rezaii R.

Publication Types:
Letter

PMID: 17317030 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Clusterman on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 11:56am

Same brand but the next model up with the oil additive instead of the pads. Heat usually made me sick as well thats why I used cold water but that portion of my headache lasted only about fifteen minutes then it just became the pain.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Guiseppi on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 12:28pm

I'm with Bob, the guy is clearly not trying to sell anything. Who'd have thought energy drinks or mushrooms would have the success rate they do!

Hope it continues to work for you, anytime someone beats the beast we all win. ;;D

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Sandy_C on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 1:09pm

I'm with Bob and Guiseppi. I don' think he's trying to sell us anything. I think he's a guy in pain who found something that helps that pain, and I'm happy for him, the rest of you should be.

Clusterman, I wish you many PF (the forever kind) days and nights. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

Sandy

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by thomas on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 1:18pm

on 12/03/07 at 13:09:28, Sandy_C wrote:

Indeed.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by txbeck on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 3:46pm

You know, I never really thought of it as part of my CH arsenal, but I keep one of these handy, and when heat rather than ice is what I crave, especially when the air is really dry and my head really clogged, I use it just like I use every other potential pain relief tool at my disposal.

My sister in law swears she uses BenGay for her clusters, eschews O2 altogether (she does take an anti-convulsive in cycle) and claims grapefruit to be her primary trigger. Who am I to argue? But I won't be using BenGay anywhere near my poor CH battered eye in this lifetime!

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Guiseppi on Dec 3^rd, 2007, 5:02pm

But I won't be using BenGay anywhere near my poor CH battered eye in this lifetime!

As I recall, THAT was a seriously funny thread!!!!!! ;;D

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by txbeck on Dec 4^th, 2007, 1:43am

I missed the thread, but have seen allusions to it.

My SIL is 76. No doubt she does use BenGay. Maybe it even works for her. [smiley=huh.gif]

Her mother drank a cup of hot water and half a lemon every morning at which I privately snickered for years. She died last year, at 101! Long ago I quit snickering, but I don't want to live to be 101 either.

I'll take my Topamax and melatonin and keep my oxy tanks full.

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by Clusterman on Dec 11^th, 2007, 10:47am

Just thought I would send a quick note about my progress with the off-the-shelf inhalers. I sent my first message on Dec 3rd, that was two days after starting to use the inhaler. Since that time I took no more drugs to help with the pain. I spent five to ten minutes twice a day with the inhaler. The best time for me was before bed and about 3:00 pm.
An interesting thing happenned the first few days of this procedure. I still felt the pressure in my neck, head, ears, teeth, and eye but the pressure never again developed into a cluster. The first couple of days I still was awakened about one hour after going to sleep with a mild cluster but I immediately went to the inhaler and literally within ten minutes I was back in bed with no discomfort. As a matter of fact the results were so astonishing I began to think I never really sufferred from cluster headaches at all and I must have been sufferring some kind of extreme sinus issue. If it was not for the almost freakish time schedule that the returning pressure seemed to come back I would have written twenty years of extreme pain off to a mis- diagnosis.
Well, as I mentioned before, it has been ten days since I first tried the inhaler and my cycle is broken. I spent my first twenty four hours without any inhalers and slept soundly last night for the first time in about fourty five days. My first cluster in the cycle was Nov 3rd and I think they are gone hopefully for another couple of years at least.
I have no idea if this will work for others but I have to admit I am curious. It worked extremely fast and allowed me to continue with my life while dealing with the headaches. If anyone else tries this I would be interested in hearing their results.

Thanks for the support

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by kcopelin on Dec 11^th, 2007, 11:36am

Thanks for sharing this...just added it to my Christmas list. Any port in a storm ya know, my CH are pretty much intracable (which does not mean you need GPS to find them they are right there on the right side of my head) so I really am going to try this one, and the Afrin 4Way spray as well.

PFDAN y'all
kathy

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by sandie99 on Dec 11^th, 2007, 11:49am

I'm glad that you found something, which worked wonders for you! :)

Wishing you lots of PF days,
Sanna

Title: What Counts as Evidence?
Post by cluster on Dec 17^th, 2007, 3:20am

http://archfami.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/7/6/598

pf wishes,
Friedrich

Title: Re: Who Knew????
Post by thebbz on Dec 17^th, 2007, 2:54pm

Glad it works for you. I tried this years ago. Waste of time for me.
all the best
thebb