I'm one of the fortunate ones with long remission periods.  I had a cycle at the end of the Winter which is unusual for me, I normally get them every other Summer.  At the time I figured I would be skipping this Summer. 

Normally, I will get some shadows before a cycle, then the cycle, then a couple more shadows.  This Summer has been a series of shadows, but no cycle. 

I was curious if this has happened to others and if there was some advice for dealing with shadows.  I've tried oxygen, but it only helps me when I'm in pain.  I haven't noticed a difference with the shadows.

Thanks for being there for me, helps just knowing you guys are out there.

After you have read stuff here for a few years you'll see that nothing is new or a surprise. Variation is the theme song and while interesting, it has no meaing which has been detected.

Stubborn shadows can be hard to kill. Some things I've seen on here are: Caffeine, 4 way nasal spray, Advil, or aspirin. Sometimes pain meds can help, but be careful, they can also trigger.

Don

Hi Keith

I've been having shadows six times a day for the last two years since my last cycle and I've found energy drinks like Red Bull with a caffeine , taurin combo to be the most effective way of getting rid of the most annoying ones.

Could be worth a try , but please do take care if you are using verapamil as a preventative.

Hope this helps

God bless

Nigel

I consider shadows just a very mild cluster that I can take without resorting to abortive measures. I personally have found that I can get rid of them with caffeine, but I usually get a nasty rebound later on. :-?

I find soluble aspirin to be the most effective option for me for shadows, although it takes 20 - 30 mins to take effect.

I often try to ignore shadows but after a while they get quite annoying and distracting so end up taking the aspirin. I can put up with them if I am not doing much but find them distracting if I have to do something important, or if I am trying to get to sleep.

For low level shadows I take 600mg and for stronger shadows I take 900mg (we generally have 300 mg tablets in Australia). Once the pain gets above a kip4 I find the aspirin is no longer effective. 

High dose aspirin (900 - 1000mg) was suggested by my doctor and there is some research valdity to it (although the research relates to migraine rather than CH).

Have sometimes had success with energy drinks, but results are variable. Sometimes it seems to work well and then othes not at all.

I have only tried oxygen a few times for shadows and didn't find it helped much. Works great for the strong ones though.

I experienced a lot of what you described during my last cycle--all day, low pain level attacks that O2 didn't help much.  I was able to get some relief with a combination of caffeine and a cold compress.  If you can locate the tender spot at the base of your skull behind your ear on the affected side, an ice bag or frozen gel pack on that area for 15-20 minutes can be helpful. Also, try some ginger tea next time.

Thank you all for the advice.  This may sound rediculous, but it didn't occur to me to start over trying the things that didn't help with a typical cycle.  I have found some relief from a cold compress, but it takes a while to start and comes back later.  I'll have to try and mix things up, see if any combinations work better for me.

Thanks All!!

Do you have a proper O2 setup with a NON-rebreather mask with a bag on it and no open holes on the side and at least 15LPM flow? If you haven't pls read the Oxygen link below it's for CH.

O2 stops shadows for me and many others, but not everyone. Getting 100% pure O2 is needed for CH. Hyperventilating the O2 is the most successful way to abort, so we must have enough flow to support it.

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Don