Hi, I am a newbie who is celebrating 30 years of CH.

Ouch...hardly a newbie huh? Really glad you found us. Do you have a decent treatment regimen yet? Oxygen for aborting, some good prevent meds? Hoping the beast aint beating on you currently.

Joe

just 02. used imitrx for several years but seemed to lose effectiveness and insurance started screwing me.
been in cluster for about 4 months now.

Thank goodness you have the 02, it's all but eliminated my use of the imitrex. Just as fast and you don't get the "trex hangover" afterwards.

Is the 02 keeping it mostly under control? Have you tried any prevent meds in the past to reduce hits? Verapamil, Lithium, Topomax etc.?

Joe

sorry, for the delay...i've been exploring the posts. i'm new to message boards.

i have tried different meds over the years but none seemed to work.

the break between episodes seems to be getting smaller the last couple of years. i guess i may be moving to chronic.

I now have less times I can work out, play tennis, golf, etc....much less enjoy a beer.

it gets depressing when i think about it.

No worries you have a boat load of reading to do. ;) Also, when you get a chance, check out   clusterbusters.com     alternative treatments that have been showing some good results for CH'ers for whom traditional meds weren't cutting it.

Joe

Thanks, Joe, for making me feel welcome. I'm in florida and calling it a day. I want to talk with you later tho, I met my wife of 28 years while living in San Diego.

Hey Bill, glad to see that you've been greeted right off by Giuseppi - like myself he is a 30+ year CH'er, and he's someone who has done a lot of observing and learning of what really works for beating CH.

I think I can safely say that he and I both have been helped tremendously by info and advice found here, and I can see he's starting to distill some of the most pertinent bits for you, so you're in good hands. Giussepi is kind of like the Allstate of cluster headaches.  :D

Hey Bill, welcome! Good to hear another FL boy-GO GATORS! Or are you one o' those Tallahassee/Miami wusses?  ;) Anywho, same thing happened to me. Years of episodic then went chronic for the past 3 years. Very depressing but the people on this site are amazing. They helped me more than I could have imagined. So hang around and hang on. Just one quick question: we've learned a lot over the past years on dosage amounts and how we need much higher rates than the med is usually prescribed. For example, verapamil as high as 980mg or more. O2 in the 25-60lpm range. That kind of thing. And the caffeine/taurine drinks! They're the best! Let us know what you've used and in what amounts. Good luck and God bless! lance

Thanks bejeeber and Lance. Good to meet you.

Lance, I'm in Winter Haven. Where are you? Do you have a good Dr.?

What's the deal on caffeine/taurine?

Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor which is exactly what we need when under attack.  The Taurine acts along with it to further maximize it's effect.  Cold packs/showers are  also vasoconstrictors.  All cheap alternatives if you have nothing at all.  Strong coffee is my personal favorite since I couldn't get through a day w/o it anyway. 

 
Welcome Bill.   I'm 23 yrs. chronic.  But who's counting, right?   :(

Linda

Linda_Howell wrote on Sep 15^th, 2010 at 10:40pm:

Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor which is exactly what we need when under attack.  The Taurine acts along with it to further maximize it's effect.  Cold packs/showers are  also vasoconstrictors.  All cheap alternatives if you have nothing at all.  Strong coffee is my personal favorite since I couldn't get through a day w/o it anyway.

Taurine acts as a calcium channel antagonist -

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This is how verapamil a great CH preventivie works too

So the combination of the two is probably why these types of energy drinks help with a CH.

And welcome Bill from someone who will tomorrow be celebrating 4 months of CHs.

Hey Bill. I'm not in FL now. I was...right next door to you in Auburndale for 9 years. Before that I was in Palm Bay, and before that, Jacksonville. As to a good doctor, I had a neuro in WH who knew immediately what I had, but I can't remember his name. There are a lot of good clinics around, and if you have to, you can even try Tampa or Orlando as you know. Sorry I couldn't help there. Just good to hear a voice from "home." Blessings! lance