my Neurologist is now giving me a small amount of dalaudid a month ( i know rebound headaches, addiction, not really gonna touch the pain ) I asked for something else because the Triptains ( all of them ) cause me to panic, get very anxious, and even with Zofran i throw up so bad i dehydrate myself. Not to mention the next day my stomach is totally messed up I still will take them but sometimes i get 4 3hour CH a day K 10 and i cant just take that without seriously considering suicide. Hopefully Verapamil will be my answer and i will not need any of these meds any more. For those who don't know my situation i am Chronic I am on Topamax, Lithium, I have done the prednisone taper. I go to the an amazing Headache Treatment Center I found from OUCH.com. So now i plan on trying to alternate between the O2 (use that as much as possible) , (triptains, and dilaudid) when absolutely necessary. Does anyone think this is a bad idea. I know Narcotics are not best to treat CH But seriously the triptains are really hurting my stomach and put me into a major panic attack. idk why.

All I can say about dilaudid, in the ER it did nothing for the pain. I hadn't slept for 2 days and it made me more tired which made it more difficult to deal with the pain. I hope you have better luck.

Don

Dilaudid is a pretty major narcotic. In Canada it is usually reserved for cancer patients. Aside from that group of drugs not generally being effective for CH and possibly inducing rebound headaches, I would be a bit concerned about developing a tolerance to narcotics in the event that you need them for something else ( hope not) down the road.

My sister is in that position now. She took percocet for rheumatoid arthritis and then got into a bad car accident and she had a number of problems getting good pain relief because of the tolerance she had built up over the years.

Have you ever tried DHE?

I would get 4 mg shot of dilaudid for migraine relief in Er.  I would be ch free for 3-4 days afterwards.  I would get around 8 migraines a month.  So I was a frequent flyer to the ER but i had a note from my neuro saying this is the protocol for me so they didn't argue.  I had no dependance issues and the migraines where hormonaly triggered.  Once I had my hysterectomy the migraines stopped.  So haven't had dilaudid in a long time.  Please note a caution.  I was in ER one night and the 4 mg didn't work for me to get rid of migraine.  So the dr. said I can either give you 2mg more(6total) or send you home like this.  I opted  for the 2mg additional of dilaudid.  I do not remember leaving the ER.  Husband said he dressed me in ER and walked me out.  I got home and went to bed asap.  My husband went downstairs to watch tv.  The phone rang and for some reason he took the call upstairs across from our bedroom.  He looked at me and noticed I was blue, and not breathing.  He called 911.  They gave me narcan and pulled all the dilaudid out of my system and saved my life.  They said another 15 min and I would be non recoverable.  The dr that ordered the 6mg of dilaudid was waiting at the hospital when I was admitted for the overdose.  He stood at the door declairing she walked out on her own accord!  Trying to cover his own butt.  Please I urge caution with this medicine and make sure someone is around to monitor your well being after getting this medicine.

From personal experience, when I went to the ER once they gave me a shot of Dilaudid along with Toradol, Reglan and Benadryl, and it really did nothing.  They gave me another shot, but by that time it was coming down on its own anyway.  Everybody reacts differently to different medications though. 

Personally, if NOTHING was working for me and I was offered narcotics and they worked, I would take them.  I know how feeling suicidal goes because I get that way when mine are out of control, and feeling that way is really nothing to mess with.   

Thank you everyone. Karla; I can't believe the doctor would give you that in a short amount of time. The most the WE will give me is 2 milligrams if that doesn't work they will try the "migraine cocktail" which is seveal non-narcotics. They normally try that first except for when I have already used triptains earlier. But I will be careful. I haven't had to use any of them yet. I'm hopeing its the verapamil working. How long does it take to start working? I'm also doing the D3 regimen. So maybe that's working as well.

Verapamil normally takes about 7-10 days to become effective at any given dose level, so when starting or changing dose, give it at least 14 days at least before deciding if it is effective or not.