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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Verapamil & Robaxacet
        
(Message started by: Slick on Jan 9^th, 2003, 10:19pm)

Title: Verapamil & Robaxacet
Post by Slick on Jan 9^th, 2003, 10:19pm

Hi folks,

I haven't put a message on the Board for the last 18 months or so. Its been that long since the last cluster.

They came back about three weeks ago. They are gone. I have never had a three week cluster. I've always been as regular as clockwork (for the last 17 years, 18 months between clusters, and they last for three months).

As I haven't been surfing this site lately, this could be something that has alrady been discussed. My aplogies if I'm going over old ground.

I've tried the whole gamut of drugs... prednezone (gag me)... beta blockers... calcium channel blockers...verapamil. Nothing worked... most just made me sick.

I was surfing the net when the cluster started, and ran across a mention of a small study in Israel, that used verapamil and Robaxacet. My doc said it wasn;t dangerous, so I tried it.

Here's what happened:

- at the beginning, no change from the usual (3 - 8 attacks a day, ranging from 4 - 9 in severity);
- after 8 or nine days, the severity diminished greatly (averaging 3-5 in severity). The pre-attack shadow was quite long and gradual, meaning that the Imitrex was far more effective in aborting;
- after 17 or 18 days, the severity was diminished to an average of 2-3. They came on so gradually with so much warning that I could just saunter over to the imitrex injector (rather than racing like a fool and struggling to rip open that maddening container);
- now, after 21 days, the cluster has ended.

This has never happened before. Not ever. Could be bullshit luck, or maybe it really works.

Anyways, here's what I took:
- Verapamil SR - 240 mg once a day;
- Robaxacet (over the counter, non-prescription). On holidays, I would take ttwo tabs every six hours (the maximum dose). During the work week, two tabs with supper, two at bedtime.

I would highly recommend giving this a shot. Its a pretty cheap combination, and cetainly doesn't make you sick like prednezone.

If anyone else has tried this, please let me know.

Regards,
Slick