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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Proventives? Help me understand this!
        
(Message started by: Elaine on Sep 3^rd, 2003, 2:23pm)

Title: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by Elaine on Sep 3^rd, 2003, 2:23pm

To me a proventive is a drug that would provent a attack from coming on. I never found a drug that provented a attack! I have heard people say a drug stopped working so they had to change to another proventive. Could it be it never did work, it just happen to be the end of your cycle? Then you kept taking it and then a year or two years later it came back, because it was time for your cycle?
I just do not understand the word proventive as you guys talk about it.

Title: Re: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by ClusterChuck on Sep 3^rd, 2003, 3:21pm

A preventative does prevent an attack from coming on. When verapamil did work for me, I had no attacks. If I was to stop them, they would start back up again. If I went back on it, they stopped. To me, it was a preventative.

Now that I am chronic, verapamil still prevents a lot of them. Without it, I have up to 8 hits a day. With it, down to one to three a day (except this latest "cycle" I have been in).

Does this help any?

Chuck

Title: Re: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by eyes_afire on Sep 3^rd, 2003, 4:25pm

Hi Elaine. For some people there may not be any preventatives that work. For me, I can say for sure that verapamil has saved me from bankruptcy (due to imitrex cost). Last year I tried tapering off of verapamil on several occasions and got clobbered. Whenever I ramped back up the CH disappeared. After trying that a few times, that was enough proof for me that verapamil helped control my CH. Also when on verapamil I get shadows, burning eye, etc, but the big CH pain doesn't break through regularly (but sometimes it does break through).

Very soon I should try tapering off verapamil again... to see what happens... I've been on it long enough and getting tired of the light-headedness... it's just a matter of whether I have the balls to try it.

I very much dread the day that verapamil stops working... I don't know what the hell I'll do then.

In a sense, you are correct, there is no definitive proof that the verapamil is a very effective preventative since it's effectiveness can't be replicated in all clusterheads. But for me, my painful personal experience is all the proof I need that it helps me.

I hope this helps.

--- Steve

Title: Re: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by ave on Sep 4^th, 2003, 3:19am

The same goes for me, Elaine. While on vacation my daily visits by the beast started to become painful. Fortunately I had my Vera with me and after taking my daily dose, after a few days the visits became less painful.

They still are there, but the pain has gone again. Maybe if I took a higher dose I would not even feel the beast come by...

But you see, they work for me, and if I stop taking them the pain (low as it is) will come back.

Title: Re: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by ksmiggy on Sep 4^th, 2003, 5:50am

preventatives, reduce/stop attacks before they occur, abortives, get rid of attacks after they have started, personally, couldn't get on with preventatives, but worth a try.If you cannot find any, find some good abortives, have just lately found amerge to be a bit of both, although slow as an abortive(take other p/killer too, to assist with pain whilst waiting for the amerge), has prevented further attacks for me.
Unfortunately, you are right about not knowing if it is coincidence when something works, have got excited about a few drugs, only to find that when it mattered, they did not work.

Title: Re: Proventives? Help me understand this!
Post by Elaine on Sep 4^th, 2003, 10:02am

Thanks guys! I am glad to hear it does work for some of you. Maybe now that I am no longer chronic it will work for me when I get hit again!