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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2002 >> There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
        
(Message started by: BigMike2344 on Jul 30^th, 2002, 11:07pm)

Title: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by BigMike2344 on Jul 30^th, 2002, 11:07pm

I've been suffering with clusters for FORTY YEARS. They started with two week series, every night and sometimes days, each headache lasting several hours. Over four decades two weeks turned into two months. So when my most recent series started I got out the Imitrex andgot ready to do battle. By the way, early in any series Advil used to work like a miracle until, after a few weeks, I had to jump into the Imitrex. Naturally I tried to avoid the Imitrex as much as possible since it loses its power after a few doses. However, with this series, Advil quit on me very early. I was chomping down 800 mg to get just an hour's worth of minor relief. Even the Imitrex nasel spray, which used to work in five minutes, was taking a half an hour to do its thing. I decided to get into the injectible form. Getting Imitrex from my internist and HMO was like pulling teeth. Getting the injectible was like pulling skull.

Then one sunny afternoon, while I felt a cluster in the wings, I asked a health food store vitamin guy if he knew of anything for clusters. He said to try 400mg magnesium and 99mg potasium each day. I thought that this little combo would do nothing for me, but when suicide seems like a very rational alternative to a cluster, I figured, what the hell, it's only money, it can't hurt. What vitamin could compare to mighty Imitrex with its frightening collection of side affects.

The relief was almost instantaneous. That night the cluster came in at a mere 20% of its usual 10,000%. Oh happy day. But could this be a fluke? There are times when the "beast" skips a day.

I kept taking the supplements and the clusters kept coming in real easy. When I sang the praises of magnesium to the vitamin guy and told him a bouquet of roses were on their way to him he said that I could take up to 1000mg a day and double the potasium.

I did and lo and behold - NO MORE CLUSTERS.

Since they were getting worse and staying longer, stumbling into this cure is nothing less than a miracle to me. Forty years of suicide headaches. I still can't believe it.

I kept taking the 1000mg for about a week and a half and then tapered down to 200mg a day with 99mg of potasium and the monsters haven't returned. According to my usual pattern I should be looking at another six weeks of hell, but I'm not. Or so it seems.

Was it just a magnesium deficiancy for four decades? Did any of my many doctors even think of this possiblity? Oh well, it must have been my karma or something.

There are several forms of magnesium. One of them DOESN'T give you the runs. Magnesium glycinate. I may be screwing up the spelling but that's close enough. He also recommends calcium ( I think I was up to 1000mg a day at my peak).

I may never need to return to this site again. It's a pity since I just found it a few weeks ago.

Try magnesium and potasium. Try to get first quality brands. Good luck, clusterers.

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by Jaybee on Jul 31^st, 2002, 8:24am

Glad the magnesium helps you, BigMike. I have also had some benefit from magnesium. A few of my notes:

There are several forms that do not cause the runs. Magnesium citrate is good, as are the krebs cycle intermediates (magnesium fulmarate, mag-malate, mag-succinate, etc). Avoid the simple mineral salts like mag-sulfate (the ingredient in milk of magnesia) and mag-oxide. One 'trick' to watch for is brands that mix several forms, a little of the non-laxative and lots of the laxative form.

Potassium tablets are artifically expensive in the US, as the government limits the amount of potassium to 99 milligrams per tablet, and tabletting costs and packaging add alot to the cost. There is no rational reason for the 99 mg limit, but you can get around it. Some salt substitutes are pure potassium chloride, and if you can do simple math and measure, you can get more potassium for less. Many foods are rich in potassium - a single bannana or a glass of milk or orange juice typically has between 400 - 500 milligrams of potassium (these have not yet been banned by the government, in spite of the large amounts of K).

While a magnesium deficiency is a real possibility for some cluster heads, another possibility is related to the fact that magnesium acts as a calcium channel blocker. Many of the standard pharmaceuticals used for cluster and migraine have this effect.

One page I found that is big on magnesium is <a href="http://www.headachepainfree.com/">HeadachePainFree.com"</a>. It seems to be a legit page similar to this one, that considers a variety of treatments

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by Jaybee on Jul 31^st, 2002, 8:28am

sorry for the triple post - I thought I hit the preview button, but it sent it on as a post. Brain Damage on my part?? A few flames would make me feel better

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by BobG on Jul 31^st, 2002, 8:52am

Nice goin' Jaybee.

Ya dumb-ass.

Now go back and get rid of 2 of your stupid replies.

;D

How was that? Feel better?

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by Jaybee on Jul 31^st, 2002, 9:50am

I feel much better, thanks BobG. And I didn't see the "remove" feature, but thanks to your constructive comments, I have empowered myself to clean up my mess.

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by gtarman on Jul 31^st, 2002, 12:00pm

Just got back from the drugstore with some magnesium and potassium, will give 'er a go. Hell, I'd drink skunk juice if it'd kick this fucker's ass...
Will keep ya'll posted...

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by eyes_afire on Jul 31^st, 2002, 8:37pm

Hi BigMike2344. I'm glad to hear that Magnesium has helped you. I believe it's always best to use the treatment that has least side effects. Unfortunately Magnesium didn't work for me. I took 800mg a day but it didn't do anything. I hope your freedom from pain continues.

Title: Re: There is a God and her name is Magnesium.
Post by BigMike2344 on Aug 19^th, 2002, 12:45am

Howdy -
BigMike again. I just wanted to let ya'll know that I remain free of clusters since my original post of July 30th. I'm now on a "maintenance" dosage of 200 mg magnesium and 99mg potasium per day. Haven't touched the Imitrex. Now I just worry about money and terroist concerns ( I live about fifteen blocks from ground zero).

Forty years and all I needed was some magnesium. Must have been my karma. I probably caused lots of people lots of headaches in a previous life.

Cheers.