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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> web md
        
(Message started by: justin on Jul 20^th, 2004, 1:50pm)

Title: web md
Post by justin on Jul 20^th, 2004, 1:50pm

this was on webmd.com

A rare form of treatment that was first used in the 1930s is called intravenous histamine desensitization. It has been used with some success in treating chronic cluster headaches that do not respond to standard treatments.

anyone know about this?

j

Title: Re: web md
Post by UN_SOLVED on Jul 20^th, 2004, 1:53pm

The Histamine drip will make clusterheads worse.

UNsolved

Title: Re: web md
Post by justin on Jul 20^th, 2004, 2:01pm

yeah i thought so because doesn't that widen the blood vessels even more?

Title: Re: web md
Post by UN_SOLVED on Jul 20^th, 2004, 2:07pm

I'll be honest, I don't know exactly what is going on when you get it.
I read about it somewhere and was wanting to try it to stop my HA's. When I asked the doctors (Dr. Sowell from U of L Medical Center & Dr. Seipel from Southern IN Neurology) about it, they all said the same thing..."OH NO, you don't want to do that. It WILL make you worse!". So, I took their word for it and never tried it.

Unsolved
(Michael)

PS. It was nice meeting you Justin. Hope all is well.

Title: Re: web md
Post by Bob P on Jul 20^th, 2004, 3:50pm

The Diamond Headache Clinic, Dr. Seymor Diamond and his daughter now used this a lot.

Clusters are also know as histimine headaches.

Title: Re: web md
Post by Pinkfloyd on Jul 21^st, 2004, 2:52am

on 07/20/04 at 13:53:19, UN_SOLVED wrote:

The Histamine drip will make clusterheads worse.

UNsolved

Yes, some doctors are very much against it and rely upon newer treatments and things they have had success with. I'm not saying your docs were/are wrong. They all have their opinions on what works and what doesn't.

Histamine WILL make your clusters worse, if too much is put through your vascular system at once. I've read here where some people have been given some dangerous drugs to induce clusters so they could be studied. It would probably be safer if they just used a stronger histamne solution instead of things that could also set off a heart attack. But, what do I know.

While in the hospital, on the IV, you have complete control over how fast it is pumped into your veins. You push the buttons on the pump and walk around for two weeks with the IV pump on wheels.

It is a very diluted histamine solution. You get, I believe it still is, 23 bags of saline/histamine solution.
The idea is to desensitize your vascular system to having histamine pumping through it. Sort of like the same way we all become desenstized to all the medications we use. Keep swallowing meds and they eventually stop working (in many cases).

Some people could push three or four bags through in a day without any problems. Others could only handle one to start and build up to two or three a day. Average time was about 12 days. They don't like you pushing them through too quickly because it sort of defeats the whole purpose. I suppose some people might think (rightly or wrongly?) this was just to extend the stay.

I don't know if it would help anyone in particular or not. It can, as I saw it work for others besides myself. I also saw it fail, including again, for myself.
It is probably around a 30K (I'd ask) bill but many insurance co's cover it and at those rates, if it was considered an experimental (or worse) treatment, I doubt that would be the case. Many of us can't get them to cover a tank 02 let alone a $30,000.00 treatment.

PF

Title: Re: web md
Post by floridian on Jul 21^st, 2004, 8:54am

Histamine is one of the bad actors in CH, but not the only one. Histamine desensitization might help some, but it does have side effects and risks. There is a similar technique for treating hayfever - fresh or freeze-dried stinging nettles are ingested. The nettles have tiny needles that contain histamine. Some people swear by this for hayfever, but it shouldn't be done at home because it can trigger severe allergic reactions, which can be fatal if not treated. Bee-stings are also used as a medicine for arthritis, and inflammatory conditions, but again, this could cause severe allergic reactions and is not recommended without appropriate precautions.

Eating or snorting large doses of hot peppers or ginger will 'desensitize' a person to substance P, another bad actor in CH. Some people have reported relief from this, but not every one. For me, the intranasal (snort) version is more trouble than its worth - the sinuses burn and fill with fluids. Cayenne capsules may be better. Too much cayenne over a long period may affect the kidneys.