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Title: Prednisone and Muscle Relaxers Post by HeadBang on Dec 10th, 2002, 9:06pm Hi All. I am new to this site and I have found ir very useful. I have some questions as a result of my visit with my Doc today. He gave me Prednisone as a preventer of my clusters (60mg for 3 days, 40 mg for 3 days, 20 for 3, and 10 for 3, then stop). Also, I have a severe burning, prying, and ripping sensation in my neck upon every ha. so, he gave me a muscle relaxer...Skelaxin, which is a brand name for metaxalone (1600 mg every day). Using Imitrex injector and/or Maxalt disolving tabs for pain relief when needed. BTW= I tired the 1/2 dose of the syring tonight. it got rid of the HA bt i still have a small rebound after 2.5 hours. A little about me and my "trip" along the Cluster Brick Road: I am 33 and have had these clusters since I was 19. I was in a 30-month remission until these dang things came back and decided to mess up my life again, as I am sure you know too well. The remission before this one was just over 18 months. Mine came back around 3 weeks ago out of nowhere, as they typically do. No rhyme, no reason, they just pop in and pull up a chair. I am guessing I am in the middle to end (I pray) of this cluster. The older I get the longer the remission and the shorter the cluster. Although when I am in them it always feels like an eternity before they end and go into hibernation again. I have tried a lot of preventive meds including O2 5 or 6 years ago. The O2 worked, but I rebounded within 15-30 minutes. I am looking for any thoughts you may have on prednisone and the muscle relaxer combo- first time taking them. I've tried Amitryptilyn (sp?) with no luck, Sansert/ verapamil- same thing...no luck, and finally Depakote...still nothing. I am hoping this steroid helps. Any agreement out there? Please reply. I have 2 kids (2&3 years old) and one on the way :) Things hereare tough everyday, and that is WITHOUT these dang clusters. Now with them it gets even more complicated because this family is a man down. I was laid off in October and have no medical insurance, so whatever I take must be either cheap or able to be given to me by my doc from his "samples" supply. The Prednisone was only $10, but I am grateful for his Imitrex supply! |
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Title: Re: Prednisone and Muscle Relaxers Post by firebrix on Dec 11th, 2002, 1:13am Greetings Headbang, Sorry to hear that you are in pain. There are some really good comments on Prednisone in the archives and HEAPS of info if you check out the search button on the left. Its easy - give it a try. You will find many answers there. If you still need some help, feel free to E mail me - my address is on the site under members. Good luck and hoping you find the answers. PFDAN firebrix |
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Title: Re: Prednisone and Muscle Relaxers Post by jmorgan52 on Dec 11th, 2002, 2:50am Hi Headbang, welcome to this group of CH looneys. Don't let the flamers put you off. They will surely come to you too soon. I have had quite a bit of experience of Pred over the years (on it's own without the muscle relaxer). I have found it to bring relief for about 5 days or so, then it just stops working. The expression I discovered was the "Prednisone holiday". Using it may even prolong the cycle in my experience. I have tried the taper down method many times and the CH breaks through after you reduce to low doses. I also tried a 2 week high dosage and the CH started again after about 5 days even with high dose pred. A second course after a few weeks break also brings short releif. It is frustrating! If you have no money for meds you might want to try what worked to break my last cycle (or might have even fixed it for good???? only time will tell) My theory is that a detoxification diet combined with vast amounts of water to rid the body of as much chemical toxins as possible may well work. Perhaps you might discuss this with your doctor, or find one that understands about the techniques. It may be worth a try as it is basically free! No-one on this site has posted positively yet on my idea as I think they believe it to be snake oil. Try the internet for detoxification and headaches and you will find lots of info (and products) that claim to support this. Most would rather risk high cost drugs or illegal hallucinogenics. I just got tired of drugs that brought relief but no sign of cure. Good luck mate Love J |
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Title: Re: Prednisone and Muscle Relaxers Post by Hound_Dogg on Dec 11th, 2002, 12:09pm Hey Headbanger...it sounds like the neck may be a secondary problem to your Cluster HA's. You may have a neck problem and when the Cluster hits, the tension from the assault of pain is aggravating your neck condition. If that's the case, Skelaxin (metaxalone), would be a good short term therapy. You're on a pretty high dose (4-400mg tabs per day), so be careful of the side effects. I don't think the skelaxin would help actual Cluster except maybe the relaxing effect could diminish the stress of the extreme pain. I know Prednisone always works for me, but is very short-lived and I don't care for the side effects of prednisone either. Good Luck |
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Title: Re: Prednisone and Muscle Relaxers Post by jmorgan52 on Dec 12th, 2002, 12:53am I agree with hound dog. If I get in a cluster cycle again (I am praying that I do not) I will not bother with prednisone again. My doc prescribed it to break the cycle and after many courses over the years it has never managed to do so. It always bought a few days (up to 5) relief but from my HA diaries of the past I can see that the cycles seem to last longer when on pred. I also don't like the spaced out dopey feelings when using it. Imitrex injections are the only useful thing for me. I have no experience of Verapermil but many here claim it is a good preventative and I will definately give it a try next time. Hope I never have to try it. Love J |
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