I was curious to see if anyone has had Calan (Verapamil) work for 8 months pain free and then suddenly become ineffective?  By the way it is good to finally be diagonosed. I went for years not knowing. jeremy

It happens. Some who have had verapamil stop working, have had success combining Verapamil and Lithium....often referred to as the chronic cocktail. Might be worth talking to your doc about.

Joe

For people just experiencing their first attacks a good diagnostic work-up is important. There are a number of conditions which appear to be cluster ("cluster-like" is the term you see in medical literatre) but which are, in reality, a different, sometimes quite serious, disorder.

If you have had a stable picture and your doc is comfortable after several years--I'd relax.

I was diagnosed in august 2009 and my doctor is very confident that I do have CH. I will ask Him about lithium. thanks Jeremy

The amount of Calan/verap. you're taking is important. Many of us take 480mgs/day, some less and some much more. Finding the right amount for you can take some time.

Good luck, Don

I don't know what level you are taking, but as Don said, many of us have to use higher levels.  I tried using Lithium with it as Joe suggested, but had probs and had to quit.  If an increase or a Lithium combo doesn't work you might want to look into Kudzu.  I have found it to be very successful for me. 

A second thought is that if you were PF for 8 months you may have  been out of cycle and still been taking the meds.  It never made me PF, nothing has totally, it just kept 8s, 9s, and 10s down to 4s 5s and 6s. 

Hope you get a handle on it soon.

Jerry

I am very thankful for the response. I was just starting into a cycle when I started taking 120MG 2 times a day. After having a bad one the first night I only had shadows for the next 3 weeks, then PF for about 8 months. I am now on 180MG extented release 2 times per day. I do feel it has reduced the strength of the ch's until recently when I had two long lasting ones that lasted 3-4 hours and left my kneck very sore. No sleep those nights and dragging the next day. This info is very helpful. Jeremy

I had one 7-8K last night and two CH during the day today. This is unusual. I normally only have CH at night. I used vigorous exercise to abort all three with a small piece of 100MG imitrx tablet for 2 of them. The exercise seems to be the main thing that is aborting them in 15 min. The last one took 35 minutes with me intentionally breathing deeply. I am glad this seems to be working but I am hoping that lithium will help as a preventative so that I can actually sleep and work. I will call doc tomarrow. Jeremy

I'm a scatter brain and don't keep track well......have you tried oxygen yet? The fact vigorous excercise is helpful tells me oxygen might be worth a try. I used to go for a 30 minute hard run when I felt an attack starting. It would always reduce the pain level for me. Now I just fire off the oxygen tank and in 10 mnutes I'm pain free.

Read the oxygen info tab on the left side of the board. Been a miracle abortive for many of us.

Joe