I havent been on in about 2 years, but have been suffering from cluster headaches for about 7 years. Had to reregister with a new account cause I forgot my password, but felt it was worth it and was important to rely my results to anyone who suffers and doesnt have the proper means to deal with them ( like me).I'm been getting my headaches  again for about a month, and get even worse when I drink alcohol (of course). I watched something on the history channel about spices and horseradish came up and how it effects the sinuses and the brain so I figured I would try and see if it would help my headache and purposely drank. As soon as I felt one coming, I took a spoonful of hot horseradish (not a creamy type, but plain) and it stopped the one side of my head from getting stuffed up like usual and gettin a headache. All in all, I ended up takin about 5 spoonfuls of it while I felt one coming and occassionally inhaling the aroma. After about a half an hour, the sense of a headache coming went away and DID NOT HAVE ANY PAIN!!! Not a very pleasent taste or aroma, but so much better than pacing the house for an hour. Might be worth a try as a safe, natural remedy.

I had a horseraish once. A good topical corticosteroid cleared it right up.

Brew wrote on Oct 28^th, 2010 at 7:52am:

I had a horseraish once. A good topical corticosteroid cleared it right up.

;D  Nice. And as you once told me, TMI dude. Seriously, there might be something to this. Dan, if you keep trying this and it continues to work, let us know. There's been some correlation between sinus clearing and pain relief, but whether or not it's a good abortive? I guess time will tell. Blessings. lance

I'd snort wasabi if I thought it would stop an attack. Just sayin'.

Before I knew what these things were, and when my doc thought I just had a sinus infection, I tried a capsicum-based nasal spray (Sinusol, or something?) Similar idea, I guess. The pain from shooting hot pepper juice up my nose probably made me forget about the CH for a while, but no substantial relief. I also tried eating insanely hot food, hoping the endorphins would help. Moderate relief there.

Good luck with the horseradish experiment! Keep eating it, don't snort it.

Brew wrote on Oct 28^th, 2010 at 7:52am:

I had a horseraish once. A good topical corticosteroid cleared it right up.

  Not me.   With this damn CH I've never been able to drink one purty. 

                        Potter 

Dan,

I can see the possibility of some relief from horseradish, but there are other remedies out there that I think are more viable. 

One time does not make a trend.  Keep a journal of your attacks and the effectiveness of the horseradish over a whole episode and you will get a lot better response to your idea.  I will be interested in your results.  I love horseradish, but not quite in those dosages.

Jerry

This treatment will require me to have fresh, rare roast beef on hand at all times.

What a shame. ;)

Brew wrote on Oct 29^th, 2010 at 7:21am:

This treatment will require me to have fresh, rare roast beef on hand at all times. What a shame. ;)

Brew, you are in a rare good mood! Funny, and thanks for the laugh! And I was thinking the exact same thing. I could go for a big rb sandwich right now; or maybe some extra hot cocktail sauce and shrimp.

I love hr too, but don't want to snort it. Still....to each his own. Blessings! lance

I've not tried this, but, on a similar topic, I do find that a hot curry (a Jalfrezi [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalfrezi] or a Naga) gives moderate relief for a while (as long as it's not too severe to prevent me from actually aeating), particularly when I'm eating it, although, a couple of hours later any relief is gone...

Brew wrote on Oct 29^th, 2010 at 7:21am:

This treatment will require me to have fresh, rare roast beef on hand at all times. What a shame. ;)

Man after my own heart!!!!
;D

Sandy

Horseradish, hot pepper, ginger ... these all interact with the Substance P receptors and TRPV receptors. These receptors play a part in the transmission of pain, the release of CGRP, and the flow of blood ... all of which might affect cluster activity. There was some research a while back that involved applying capsaicin or similar compounds inside the nose, and it resulted in partial relief for some people.

I have given up on the hot stuff for clusterheadaches, although I think some people might benefit more from it than I do. 

But you have to agree that there's a certain allure to a treatment that might be BOTH effective AND delicious! LOL

Brew wrote on Nov 8^th, 2010 at 12:05pm:

But you have to agree that there's a certain allure to a treatment that might be BOTH effective AND delicious! LOL

That's why I'm experimenting with chocolate, sea food and single malts.  ;)

I had a financial consultant take me to lunch the other day.  (Did he ever pick the wrong prospect! :D)  He recommended the Prime Rib French Dip sandwich.  It was wonderful!  They served it with fresh ground horseradish (ground fresh for each order).  I used a large quantity of it on the sandwich.  It tasted so good I don't remember if I got hit or not! ;D

Seriously, I'm not mocking the concept.  I'm only having fun with it.  It may have some benefits to it with CH, but I doubt seriously that we can eat enough to make much of a difference.  I'm not against trying to though.  I love good horseradish.  Maybe those of you who like to drink might try the Russian method of a spoonful of horseradish on a bite of black bread washed down with a jigger of Vodka.  Not for the faint of heart, but maybe the horseradish would counteract the alcohol and prevent the hit. :D

Jerry

So has it continued to work for you?

Brew wrote on Nov 8^th, 2010 at 12:05pm:

But you have to agree that there's a certain allure to a treatment that might be BOTH effective AND delicious! LOL

Sure. This week I am testing the hypothesis that mangoes are good for episodics who are not in cycle!

And my latest experiment involves pork ribs and sauerkraut with spaetzle. My hypothesis includes, but is not limited to, feeding the soul through the stomach.

Well, I feel I must join the experiment. I will let you know if my eating raw oysters with copious amounts of horseradish and lemon prevent my husband from having any out of cycle hits. This will take thorough and intensive study, but I am committed to finding the answer!

All kidding aside, horseradish is awesome stuff with many benefits. It has been shown that the oil released from it has antibacterial properties, so has been shown to be up there with cranberries in preventing UTIs and other bacterial infections. I would suggest AGAINST slapping it directly on a cut though, that just sounds like a bad plan to me...

Our old friend Paco used to put Tobasco under his tongue when he felt an attack starting.  He even handed out small, single shot, bottles of Tobasco at the Atlanta OUCH convention.

I'm hungry.....

Me too... and roger the allure Brew.

I've downed nearly a quart of Omega 3 Fish Oil and vitamin D3 gelcaps eating only salmon, chicken, veggies and fruit over the last month and now you've got my taste buds craving a big rare slab of prime rib smothered in horse radish... 

Screw being pain free all that time, I'll trade a few hits for a meal like that any day as long as the O2 is at the ready...