Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> great results\
        
(Message started by: kareno on Mar 15^th, 2003, 12:21pm)

Title: great results\
Post by kareno on Mar 15^th, 2003, 12:21pm

I have posted here a few times about my daughter who has been cronic for over 2 years. After many doctors, emergency rooms, nuro. appts. and over 30 different combinations of medications and every pain killer on the market she is now doing much better. We did the mushrooms 4 times and had gotten really good effects, no HA for 2 to 3 weeks at a time. The HA would come back though. We had been appealing a denial from her insurance co. for the botox which was finally approved for 2 treatments and she had it done 2 weeks ago. She has only had 1 HA since but does still get the pressure in her temple every few days. She is doing so much better. We are very happy with the results of the botox. The doctor said it may last from 2 to 3 months. I was not sure if it would work but so far so good. She had 35 shots to her forhead and neck. He also told us he was using just a small dose at first to see what her reactions would be. There has been no side effects at all, although her forhead does not wrinkle any more.
If anyone else had tried this treatment please write and let me know what your experience has been. Pain free days (and nights) to you all.
Karen

Title: Re: great results\
Post by tommyD on Mar 16^th, 2003, 8:02am

Karen -

Thanks for the report!

It sounds like the shrooms were working as well as they do for many chronics. Continued doses every couple of weeks may have eventually lengthened the pain-free periods, or even wiped out the attacks for an extended period. Or maybe not.

But I think you mentioned your daughter did not particularly enjoy the shroom experience, and the beast kept returning so I sure won't fault you or your daughter for dropping it and trying the botox. We have been getting some good reports about the botox treatment. Over time, compiling these reports will give us a good idea how well this works for clusters.

Of course what we really need is a controlled double-blind study to see how well botox works, an in particular, to find the minimum effective dosage. Botulin toxin is so extraordinarily toxic, it is vital to find the safest dose that works. We need such studies on shrooms too, but since they are Schedule One, botox studies are much more likely to happen, at least in the US under Ashcroft.

Good luck to you and your daughter, and please keep us posted.

-tommyD