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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2004 >> No Cluster In 18 Months
        
(Message started by: powelljr on Dec 16^th, 2004, 1:26am)

Title: No Cluster In 18 Months
Post by powelljr on Dec 16^th, 2004, 1:26am

Yes the subject line is true. I have been a cluster sufferer since age 19 - I am now 40. At their worst, I would have from 3-5 clusters per year lasting from 5-10 weeks each. A typical cluster, as many of you know, frequently seemed to be one long headache with brief respites of up 4-6 hours between attacks. But for the last 18 months, I have been cluster free.

My diagnosis and treatment began as a family affair. My wife is a nurse and my father in law is an internist with extensive experience treating migraines. At first we went through the normal diagnostics - xrays, cat scans, etc. Finally my father in law diagnosed my headaches as clusters. Over the years, I tried many medications and remedies. Oxygen didn't work, narcotics made them worse, and nothing else seemed top have any impact at all. When theye were at their worst, I was getting up to 120 mg of toradol IM per day and up to 3 ml of DHE45 per day. Imitrex shots worked temporarily, but the Toradol DHE combination seemed to be the most effective.

After several years, my doctor put me on atenolol, a beta blocker, and norvasc, a calcium channel blocker. They seemed to lessen the severity somewhat, but never made the headaches go away. When I moved to the Northwest in 1997, I began to have problems with depression in the winter. My doctor prescribed Paxil, an SSRI. Again, I experienced another incremental improvement with the three drugs. My clusters were down to twice a year and abot 4-5 weeks apiece.

In June of 2003, at my regular check up, my doctor noticed my blood pressure had gone up, so he increased my dosage of Norvasc. My medication regimine then was 50 mg of atenolol, 10 mg, and 20 mg of Paxil daily. MY clusters disappeared. For the first year, I was convinced it was an anomally. Then I started to believe it.

In July of 2004, based on reports of the side effects of Paxil, I talked to my doctor about discontinuing it. He gave me directions for tapering off, and put on Wellbutrin as an alternative, nopt an SSRI. Within 4 weeks of discontinuing the Paxil, I began to experience halos again. I had a couple of isolated headaches, but not clusters. I immediately went to my doctor and went back on an SSRI. This time I went on 10 mg of Lexapro. My headaches went away again.

I am convinced that all three of the meds are responsible, not just one. With this regimine, I actually feel human again. I haven't had to give myself a shot in 2 years. My wife feels better because, even though she is a nurse, she hated giving me the shots, particularly the DHE45 subcutaneous. It feels just like having a lit cigarette ground in to the injection site. I can once again eat chocolate, drink red wine, and have bacon with breakfast.

I don't know if this info will help anyone, but I hope so. While I have never posted before, I have visited the group and taken comfort in knowing that I was not alone. I'm not sure how much I'll visit now, but I will try check back every few days for a while in case anyone has questions or wants more info.

Who knows, maybe the Demon will come back someday, but for know I'm going to enjoy my "vacation". Good luck!