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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2005 >> The Histamine Files
        
(Message started by: unsolved1 on May 29^th, 2005, 3:28pm)

Title: The Histamine Files
Post by unsolved1 on May 29^th, 2005, 3:28pm

Just thought i'd update you with my Histamine try:

1st attempt - 5 weeks pain free* (Diamond HA Clinic)
2nd attempt - 5 weeks pain free* (Local Hospital)
3rd attempt - Failed completely (Local Hospital)
4th attempt - Failed completely (Diamond HA Clinic)
5th attempt - 4 weeks pain free* (Local Hospital)

( *90+% of cluster attacks prevented )

My pain free time is now over. I ended up in the ER this morning to get a steriod injection (Solu Medrol 250mg) and to get a RX for a Medrol Dose Pak. It's time for another round of Histamine folks!

Unsolved

Title: Re: The Histamine Files
Post by Gator on May 30^th, 2005, 12:55am

I'm mega glad this works for you. How many are safe in what timeframe? Is there a danger of overdoing the histamine treatments?

Title: Re: The Histamine Files
Post by unsolved1 on May 30^th, 2005, 1:06am

Good questions that I really don't have the answers to. I'm guessing what I've been doing is safe. I did do back-to-back 'treatments' already (the 2 times it failed). I will ask these questions when I go back to Diamond in June.

Thanks Gator

(¯`·. ,.-~*Unsolved ,.-~*' ¯`·)

Title: Re: The Histamine Files
Post by hdido on May 30^th, 2005, 2:42am

I spent 2 weeks in the Diamond Clinic several years ago and was very disappointed. When I got there had a 15 minute exam by Dr. Diamond and was never examined by a physician again. Received the histamine treatment with no success; each time my pain became unbearable I was injected with a tranquilizing agent (they seemed to have a thing about injections); I was prescribed cocaine solution drops (administered by a nurse) and then had an interview with a very rude and ignorant subtance abuse counselor who accused me of lying about my drug use because my urine test came up positive for cocaine-he hadn't read my medical chart! Although their brochure advertised a number of activities that I thought would keep me at least busy during the day, the only one we ever had was an "Ask the Doctor" session one hour each week and a couple of biofeedback sessions. One day Dr. Diamond (the daughter) stopped by and remarked that I must be better because I wasn't wearing sunglasses and later that day I was told that I would be discharged the next day! The other CH sufferers that I met there were veterans of the clinic-many came back several times a year, sometimes for a month or more and received the same treatment over and over without any positive results. The discharge nurse wanted to schedule me for a follow-up appointment with Dr. Diamond in two weeks after my discharge (I was from out of state and airfare was $500). When I asked what type of follow up exam I would get, she said the same as when I was admitted, to which I said no thanks. After I was home I began receiving bills from Diamond, which surprised me as they were supposed to be billing my insurance company directly. I called my insurer and was told not to pay the bills-apparently Diamond had been charging for services that were not authorized-my insurer called them and I didn't have to pay the bills. In my experience, the best part of my stay at the clinic was that we had a smoking room; otherwise, I (and my neurologist and other doctors) believed that my stay was a waste of time and money. Diamond even had the nerve to tell me that I should only have her prescribe any medications that I needed after d/c and not get any from my local docs. Perhaps the situation at the clinic has changed since 97, but I recently saw THE Dr. Diamond on "Larry King Live" and he not only was still sticking to his histamine treatment but also sounded confused at times and when asked questions just stared at the camera without saying anything, so they cut away from him. Good luck to anyone who goes there, but for me the place has an undeserved reputation as an excellent tx facility for chronic CH and is just a money-making machine for the Diamond family.

Title: Re: The Histamine Files
Post by unsolved1 on May 30^th, 2005, 10:53am

hdido
Sorry to hear about your experience with the Diamond clinic. Myself, I wouldn't stay at the unit again either and I'll be the first to tell you that the Histamine is not always effective however, Histamine has helped me (when I was skeptical) on more than one occasion. At this point I'll do whatever I can to help these nasty headaches!
Thanks for sharing your story

PF Wishes
Unsolved

Title: Re: The Histamine Files
Post by Gator on May 30^th, 2005, 12:46pm

The histamine treatment seems to be effective for some people. Sounds about like every other treatment for ch so far - works for some/not for others. The Diamond Clinic sure gets a lot of bad press around here. Kind of makes me glad I've never had the misfortune of being a victim of the Diamond Dynasty.