Will it help?

My headaches recently came back after a 14 year absence.

I went to the doctor yesterday and Verapamil is recommended at the beginning of a cycle to shorten or lessen it.  He prescribed it to me for the next cycle.  What if you're already damned near peaking though?  Will it help any?

Also, what dosage.  I'm 6'2", 250#, smoker, drinker, and an all around nice guy.

Well ya really can't be a nice guy with these, like inviting them with a drink.  You'll have a real bell-ringer of a buddy -- till the booze runs out.  It keeps'em going. 

Catching a peaking episode can take some time, and you can't hurry it ramping up too fast on verapamil, it needs to be gradually introduced.  However, if something needs to be done, a week to ten days of prednisone from your doc will keep them away while the verap digs the trenches in a defensive perimeter for you.

See what your doc prescribes, see the effects, and let him know how it's going. 


In such a case, I've had to go to 640mg.  Gradually.  But yeah, it helped.

Oxygen should be your new best buddy now.  When CHs come pounding at the door ... pull up a chair with your tank, breathe, and they just go away.

Kevin_M wrote on Sep 27^th, 2012 at 8:05pm:

Oxygen should be your new best buddy now.  When CHs come pounding at the door ... pull up a chair with your tank, breathe, and they just go away.

Yup, I've got a big tank by the bed and a small one for the truck wherever I go.  Non-medical grade with a custom regulator setup that I had to dig out of the garage.  It works though. If I catch them within the first minutes, I can kill it in a few minutes.   

Alcohol doesn't trigger for me luckily, but if I try the green tobacco while in a cycle it's a guaranteed head banger in five minutes or less.

Whats really odd is that if I drink to the point of a serious hangover headache the next day.  I can most of the time get a two to three day break from them.  (That's pretty hard to do with the experience level I'm at though, maybe I'll try a box-o-wine)  I'll take a massive hangover any day over these headaches.

I was looking at the 14 year absence and wondered if you had known about oxygen.  Good to do what you can, and you are.  And alcohol can generally bring them on for most episodics.  Should have known you'd have figured that connection by now if it existed. 

Starting verapamil now is at a state in which you've suffered to the extent that you did see a doctor yesterday.  Which can mean basically its a time you've had enough and decided to try and stop or prevent them.

A week of prednisone will give a space of absence from the clusters for the verap to work.  This is usually a way to start verapamil, until it can be gradually increased to an effective level.  Without it, when the prednisone ends, CH can come back strong and steady.

Should you then feel like the episode is ending, it can then be tapered back down to nothing.  So it's temporary, 'til the cycle ends, hopefully another 14 or more years.

Unless you are so sure of the timing, etc of your cycles that this is going to end very soon, I would suggest starting a high dose of Verapamil ASAP mixed with a Pred taper as a transitional treatment to assist while the Verap is titrating.

Understand you are asking for an opinion from others afflicted by this same disease and we all will have our own ways of handling the torture by the dragon. 

My recommendation is based on my last cycle (last Fall) where I tried the anti-inflammatory vitamin regimen for several weeks in hopes it would work as an alternative to taking Pred/Verap/etc.  Unfortunately, the vitamin regimen did not work for me in the least. 

Then about halfway into cycle (as you refer "deep into a cycle") I started my Verapamil and Pred taper which after trial/error of dosages provided a reduction in frequency and intensity of attacks. 

Search the archives on Verapamil and read as much as you can and absorb the knowledge so you can talk to your doc ASAP with intelligent recommendations being a self advocate advising your doc what you think is best for you.

Good luck ;)