prescribed to me couple weeks ago when I got o2 script, she said it was a drug for deppresion  that they used years ago and now they use it for migraines and chronic headaches , I reminded her that I have clusters. She said to try it it helped one of her cluster patients . anyone know anything about this drug.

I took it a  long time ago......helped me sleep.....didn't help the CH a bit.

Also called elavil it has had some sucess with ch according to some trials.  If you do a seach on elavil you might find more info on it.  I would try it.  I think it is a stadard medicine to try.  I dont think your dr is out of line in recomending it to you.

Pretty good track record with Migraines, not good with CH's. Sounds like a Doc who is in over their head.

It would make me think about finding a Doc who already understands CH's, in lieu of having to educate one.

I took it for many years with a lot of success.  Made me gain about 25 lbs though.  Will definitely knock you out but you will get over that in a month or so.  I took it once a day at night and would occasionally accidentally take it in the morning instead of some other medication I was also taking.  This would knock me out for 3 or 4 hours.  Switched to Verapamil about 2 years ago and am much happier with it.  More consistent success without the side effects.

One thing I will say is check with your pharmacy about cost.  I found out after paying copays for 8 years, that I could buy a bottle of 100 Amitryptylene for about $23 without going through my insurance, which was less than paying a copay each month for 3 months.

A quick scan of PubMed revealed: no current literature in relation to CH; several abstracts about other headache conditions; not until you get back to 1984 do you find a few in relation to Cluster.

This class of meds has been used to aid sleep and it has some use in reducing the overall sensitivity to pain--but I've not seen it as a standard treatment for cluster in many years.

Over the years any number of meds have been tried for Cluster and then disappear from the medical literature, i.e., they don't prove to be effective.

Here is a listing of the current thinking in drug treatment:

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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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thank you everyone , I think I will leave that drug on the shelf , I realy should of started the verap like I did last cycle . but didn't want to feel tired all the time cause my life is to hectic right now . So i traded tired in for 3 to 10 hits a day , brilliant arnt I. I feel its to late to start verap  now cause I should be ending soon and it takes so long to get  in the system . damb  it  , you think I'd remember how hard it is to fight these without a preventative.