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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> Anyone heard of this???
        
(Message started by: armstrong on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:09am)
Title: Anyone heard of this???
Post by armstrong on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:09am
Let me start out by saying that im active duty air force.  military doctors have not been able to diagnose my headaches which i have come to find out are clusters.  i told the doc what they were and told him nothing works for the pain short of a brick to the forehead.  i told him sometimes (for the demons that last longer than 15 minutes) that tylox or percocet seem to take my mind off the pain for a little while...so he prescribed me indocin (indomethacin)...after i had a headache and i took some of this nothing happened...so i decided to read about the med, its for arthritis and the gout...i think he misprescribed me...or does anyone know if this is a legit med for clusters???  any help would be great!!!
thanks
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by r_headache on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:17am
Welcome to the board!  I'm ADAF as well and the military doctors are not experts in the field of headaches. Some may have a clue but it seems yours dosen't. Request a referal to a Nero who will have a clue. Where are you located?
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by armstrong on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:20am
im an instructor out at goodfellow...you?  yeah ive been seeing these guys from monterey to ft meade for years and they have no clue....im in the process of gettin a referral to get offa base
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by J.ten_Dam on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:30am
Hi Armstrong I use Indometacine when I have CPH but it has no affect on  my CH which is cronic.
Wish you PFDAN
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Marc on Nov 3rd, 2003, 11:30am
Actually I think that your doc made a good call to try Indocin first to rule out CPH.

Marc
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Karla on Nov 3rd, 2003, 12:27pm
I have tried indomethacin before.  It gave me 5 months of pain free livin before the beast came knockin on my door again.  I am chronic.  I had wished that the dr would have tried it first instead of four years after the fact. Many dr will perscribe it first to rule out CPH.  I took 50mg 3X a day.  I hope it helps you.  I noticed my ha were gone after about 3 or 4 days on the stuff.  Good luck!  
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by armstrong on Nov 3rd, 2003, 2:33pm
thank you all for responding.  i really dont care what he/she gives me, i will take it...and so far this stuff has not worked at all.  its so hard to find a painkiller though because i cant tell if any work because the ha's are from 2 minutes to 2-3 hours long...and i dont have cycles that i can tell of...if so my first cycle lasted 3 years and then i had 1.5 years of remission and this "cycle" just started back up again 2 months ago, so im praying that its not another 2.8years til they go away again...and these are far worse than before, i have a supreme pain tolerance and i used to be able to just rock back and forth and rub the hell out of my temple until it stopped...but now i pace and dont dare try and talk to me, im a mean (not physically) dude when these things come around, and the pain is ungodly...and being that i work in the military in a job where i have to interact with people all day long, they just dont mix well...well thanks again for your responses and i wish you all pain free days...

timmy
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by FrankF on Nov 3rd, 2003, 2:37pm
Imitrex injections or Oxygen for the pain, verapamil or prednisolone to prevent them. These work well for many of us.
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by armstrong on Nov 3rd, 2003, 2:46pm
do any of those meds have side effects? i mean i know they do, but any that would keep me from functioning around people?  its not like i function any better with a headache haha
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by FrankF on Nov 3rd, 2003, 3:35pm
None that would make you loopy around people. Oxygen has no noticeable side effects (if you breath it too long... like for hours... it does), but 15 minutes at a time, no.
Imitrex isn't for everybody because it messes with your heart if you have heart problems. Verapamil is a blood pressure medication. It can lower your blood pressure which would not be good if you already have low blood pressure... but is a plus if you already have high blood pressure. Prednisolone can have some really bad side effects if taken long term, but the usual is only 1-3 weeks.
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Prense on Nov 3rd, 2003, 6:12pm

on 11/03/03 at 11:09:24, armstrong wrote:
Let me start out by saying that im active duty air force.  


Me too...check your messages.

Chris
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Giovanni on Nov 3rd, 2003, 7:14pm
Imitrex injection would probably be your best best while at work with a stat dose system.  With me the headaches are gone in less than five minutes.  The only side effect that I have is a little weakness after the injection.  Anything taken orally takes too long to react to these things.

Good luck

:)
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by john_mc on Nov 3rd, 2003, 9:29pm
I would like to mention here that I have had a great deal of success with Imitrex. I have figured out a way to give myself half of a full injection. The lower dose works well, the side affects are less and I get two shots for the price of one. Drop me a line if you want a description of how I use the Stat Dose pen in this way.

Good luck
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by gwen on Nov 4th, 2003, 1:47pm
sorry to here you suffer these headaches armstrong, you didnt say how long you took the indomethacin for. i suffer cph when i got given the indomethacin medication i was just tapering of my steriod (prednisolone). so you might have to give it a couple of days to kick in. indomethacin doesn't work for everybody there are others like you out there. if indo doesn't work for you try acetazolamide (diamox) in a dosage of 250mg three times a day, or try celecoxib (celebrex).

                                   good luck
                                    gwen
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Mac on Nov 5th, 2003, 12:57pm
Imitrex nasal spray works for me so far. It just shows you how difficult it is to pinpoint a cause let a lone come up with a cure for everybody who suffers from these f**king >:( headaches. If you do suffer from CHs sorry to hear it. But you have come to a site with lots of info and support.  :)
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by Len_Rogers on Nov 25th, 2003, 7:27pm
 The only thing that ever worked for me during an attack was Oxygen, and then about 70- 80% of the time.  It's the only effective way to stop the pain of an attack in progress, but it's not 100%.  The only med that worked in breaking a cluster was prednisone, about 50 to 60% of the time.
 I had had them all my life, until an ENT removed bone spurs in my nose a year or 2 ago;  haven;t had a single one since.
(I was born in 1942.)
Len
CT
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by zenerzoo on Nov 26th, 2003, 12:26am
I'm on veramamil and idocin not pf however headaches not too bad any where from a 2-7 still waiting for a pf night.
Title: Re: Anyone heard of this???
Post by shineon1844 on Nov 26th, 2003, 2:58pm
I was just prescrived Indocin today as well.  75mg pills, take once daily or as needed.  What is CPH?


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