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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Oxygen works!!
        
(Message started by: darkstorm on Apr 15^th, 2003, 1:34am)

Title: Oxygen works!!
Post by darkstorm on Apr 15^th, 2003, 1:34am

I started getting these damm things when I was 21.I'll be 39 this July.Like most of you, I have tried everything under the sun w/little or no results.Last year I read pure oxygen given at 8-10 liters a minute w/a non-rebreathable mask works.I didn't believe it but thought what the hell.Let me tell you something.It works!.At least for me.Once I know I'm getting one,the oxygen stop 's it in it's track's.(about 5-6 minutes).If I am waken w/one,either it kills it in the same time period,or it makes it very manageable and will stop it in 20-45 minutes.Please try it.It really,really works.I just hope it works for all of you..:)

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by cbolony on Apr 15^th, 2003, 3:58pm

darkstorm the oxygen works for me at the lower kips
great, for the 7-10 kips it does not work for me.Glad to here it is working for you

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by JDH on Apr 16^th, 2003, 12:52pm

Ditto for me Darkstorm.
This last cycle I was in was my first time using the o2 and it worked great.
I'm able to kill a h/a in 5-10 minutes if I catch it early and a little longer if I wake up with it. There has only been one time when it wasn't effective and then I was too far into the h/a to even sit still long enough to use it (I tend to pace a lot when I'm getting hit hard)...thank god for Imitrex on that night.
Glad to hear you're getting relief.
pfdan's to you,

Jim

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by darkstorm on Apr 16^th, 2003, 8:01pm

I wish it worked for everone... :'(

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by cluster0557 on Apr 17^th, 2003, 1:40am

O2 works for me about 60% of the time. If it is below 8 and I catch the cluster as it first hits O2 is a godsend.

I am also at 11-12 liters a minute flow.

If it does not start taming the beast within 10 minutes then is time for Imitrex.

At $17.00 a month after insurance it sure is a bargain. It took me 5 years to try it. Damn

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by jdownes on Apr 17^th, 2003, 12:03pm

First posting, trying to keep up with lingo (KIP not part of active vocabulary yet)

I too am a fan of O2. As long as I can get to it shortly after the first twinge, I can abort the beast in it's tracks. If I get to the point the pain starts raging, it can take 5-10 minutes to knock it out. If I wake up with a KIP9-10, it's Imitrex, and O2 only seems to knock the KIP level to 7-8 until the Imitrex(50 mg orally) kicks in.

I suffered for 11 years of getting allergy shots, having wisdom teeth removed, major surgery on my sinuses, treatment for trigemal neuralgia(carbemezapine), chirpratic care, etc., before I finally went to a neurologist. By this time I had self-diagnosed myself with cluster headaches from a book my Mom gave me(general headache book, but had clusters in it). I was so turned off by all the wrong turns that I only filled the prescription of Sansert, and ignored the O2 my neuro prescribed. After Sansert looked promising, and then petered out, then ergot based spray didn't work, and some other Rxs I fail to remember, I finally got the O2, and it was a revelation. The only issues have been over whether the myriad of insurance companies I have had cover the O2.

On a side note, I suffered 2-3 cycles a year (or more) while undiagnosed. They were getting to the point of being chronic. Once I started the O2, this seemed to shorten the cycles, since it seemed my CHAs build on themselves. In July of 2002, I was in a cycle. My MD prescribed Prednisone and Neurontin (300-900mg x 3/day). This knocked me out of the cycle, and I took Neurontin for a few weeks until weaning myself. Since then I have had 3-4 startups (feeling the twinges, slight HA), and start up the Neurontin until I have been twinge free for awhile. Two weeks ago was the first time this did not work, so started prednisone 2 days ago, and the cycle already seems to be coming down. The one thing I have learned in these 17 years is to be aggressive with CHAs, that know your head, you will get warnings that the cycle is coming and that a particular HA is about to start. It also helps(MUCH) to have an understanding wife and a work situation that allows you to get to the O2.

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by Kenzie60 on Apr 17^th, 2003, 6:16pm

:D :D :D

I used O2 today for the first time and I will never be without it again. For the first time I am headache free. (For now, until the beast comes to visit again). But I am ready for him now. I just hope that the O2 keeps working. A question, do they have portable tanks so that I can take them with me to work.

Roseanne

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by jdownes on Apr 17^th, 2003, 6:51pm

I take a series E tank (I assume tanks are universal in size). It last 30-40 minutes at 8 litres/min). It is about 30 inches tall, and round as a fruit juice can. I keep in my car, and go out when I need it. I know there are even tinier tanks, but using the car avoids discussion about why you are lugging oxygen.
There is also an M-60 tank which is about as tall as E, but much bigger around that I would consider taking in car. At home I have used M-125 and H tanks...I find the bigger the better.
Just make sure you hit the tank as soon as you have the first twinge, and life becomes MUCH better.
Good Luck

Title: Re: Oxygen works!!
Post by Not4Hire on Apr 17^th, 2003, 7:49pm

on 04/17/03 at 18:16:47, Kenzie60 wrote:

Rosie....I'm startin' to *wonder* about ya.....Have you read ANYTHING on this board?...... I mean, I'm REALLY glad the o2 is doing you some good...... but if you will go HERE:

http://www.maplefallswebdesign.com/misc/oxygen/oxygen.htm

i think MOST of yer o2 questions will be answered...... READ IT ALL!!!

and the rest of the stuff:...it's here too...start diggin'......

TANSTAAFL..........(there ain't no such thing as a free lunch)