I am in my 60s, and have suffered with cluster heads since I was 33. The only relief was from Ibuprofen, however, my doctor has taken me off due a marker coming up against my kidney's.

I have been prescribed all the standard drugs with no effect, and am now in agony with the CHs and the only relief are ice-packs.

Are there any drugs available, similar to Ibuprofen, that will help.

Thank you,

Daphne

I don't know of any meds in that group that have shown effectiveness against CH. Do you have oxygen yet? None of the side effects and if it works for you, amazingly fast!

Joe

In general Ibruprofen doesn't work for CH. Sometimes my episodes start slowly in that I have a mid level permanent headache for a month before the CH starts, usually on a trigger (beer, nasal sprays, pseudofed).
Ibruprofen works on the pre cluster headache but has no effect whatsoever on CH.
Anti inflammatories that do are steroids, which are best taken whilst preventative meds are building up in your system.

If you are not currently taking any meds the herbal regime is reported to have a positive effect for some people.

Kudzu - 1000 mg, 2x per day (morning & night)  
Magnesium - 250 mg, 2x per day (morning & night)  
St. John's Wort - 300 mg, 2x per day (morning & night)  
Skullcap - 425 mg at bedtime  
Melatonin - 10 mg at bedtime  

Of course O2 neds to be your first port of call.

Whatever you decide check it out with your DR and on here where there is ahuge amount of knowledge and experience.

Wishing you PF.

Ellick.

O2, O2, O2!!!

I'm with the others here. Give O2 a try. At least 15 liters per minute with a NON-rebreather mask (the demand valve is better).

Occasionally I'll take three excedrin, but never tried the ibuprofen. But the O2 has worked for so many of us it's worth a shot. About a 70% success rate. Talk to your doc.

Hope you're painfree soon.

Hugs BD

Hi Daphene and welcome. Have you had a proper diagnoses by a doc who knows what CH's are? If so please ask to try o2. As Barbara said, it has about a 70% success rate among us, and yes me included.
I have a "M" tank at home in my bedroom with the mask attached and ready to go, and also an "E" tank (portable) I take with me and never let it out of my sight.

Also talk to your doc about a prevent. Before I was diagnosed by my neuro I was taking "8 hour time release Tylenol" and I was thinking they were working to stop my CH's. I was so wrong as the attack would hit and I would down two or three of these Tylonol's and then rock, weep and moan from anywhere from 30 mins. up to an hour or longer.

Little did I know the CH attack had run it's course and I thought it was the Tylenol that worked. I now take 480mg Verapamil daily as my prevent and it is working wonders for me during this cycle. There are lots of other prevents to try, but do discuss this with your doc and do not self medicate.

Please go to your left and click on the yellow o2 button, read it then print it off for your doc.

This forum is a wealth of knowledge and the folks here are so helpful and willing to help in a second. We are not doc's but people who share the same crippling pain so you are not alone with your pain anymore.

Again, welcome.

  Barry :)

Hi, welcome to your new family!  I'm sorry you have to be here.  :-[

A big problem with the OTC's is that if you keep taking it, you get nasty rebound headaches from it, so I'm glad that your doctor told you to stop taking ibuprofen...I've taken it by the handfuls and it didn't even touch the CH!  There's a wealth of other, more effective abortives out there- good luck to you!

-Paige

Suggest you print the first link and discuss options with your doc. This is current thinking on treating cluster.
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START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002)
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Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute for another list of treatments and other articles:

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UnderTheRadar wrote on Feb 1^st, 2009 at 9:35am:

A big problem with the OTC's is that if you keep taking it, you get nasty rebound headaches from it...

Not to mention what it'll do to your internal organs.

Brew wrote on Feb 1^st, 2009 at 9:49am:

UnderTheRadar wrote on Feb 1st, 2009 at 9:35am: A big problem with the OTC's is that if you keep taking it, you get nasty rebound headaches from it... Not to mention what it'll do to your internal organs.

I'll be checking wikipedia for a new definition of "organ grinder".

Hi,
I'm on 720mg daily of verapamil. This has reduced my attacks to just moderate shadows - about kip 2/3.
When I get these, I find ibuprofen and paracetamol gets rid of it within about 30mins.
However, I intend to speak to my doc this week about the long-term effects of ibuprofen, and the alternative, if any.

Neil

Indocin is an NSAID similar to ibuprophen.  It can be tough on your stomach though.

There's someone who may be able to help you. Ungweliante.

I sent her a PM and directed her over here. I'm going to look for her thread, but she found relief with Ibuprofen first, and then with some of the COX-2 inhibitors.

I do suggest you try the oxygen, as everyone else has said. However, there's some drugs that're similar to it that can work as preventatives, too.

PFDAN
Mystina

ETA: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

The link Mystina posted has most of the info in that thread. If you have some additional questions, please ask!

What kind of a marker was it ?

- Best regards and PFDAN,
Rosa