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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1368354307 Message started by Trekker4747 on May 12th, 2013 at 6:25am |
Title: Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! Post by Trekker4747 on May 12th, 2013 at 6:25am
Hi. I'm a 34-year-old male and I've suffered from cluster headaches since I was 14 years old. Usually one a day every other day or over the course of a couple of months before a a couple month long remission. It was when I was about 21 or so that I finally got to a doctor about them, who knew what they were and prescribed me Verapimil which has done a fantastic job of keeping the headaches away. Except....
Occasionally there'll be a medication SNAFU that'll lead to me missing a dose of Verapimil, usually this is me being between refills and not yet having a chance to get to the pharmacy, most recently it was a mix-up in my pill-box which I had filled with a different, similar-looking, medication that was in a prescription bottle near-by. No big mistake as far as the medication goes as the other medication was simply a pain-killer from a recent wisdom-tooth extraction but a BIG deal in terms of my headaches. After missing a couple of days of Verapimil, as it has been in the past, it's like the headaches want to make-up for lost-time and they come RIGHT back. Seriously, I miss two or three days and then they come back with a vengeance rather than simply waiting until a new cluster-cycle would have started. On top of this they don't go away again when I restart the medication. Usually taking a couple of months (essentially a cluster cycle) to go away again. I'm told this is because it takes the medication time to re-build in the system. Which doesn't make sense, the last one I had before the recent bout was a couple of years ago. I don't see how missing two days of a medication could undo two years of flawless consumption. Anyway, we all know the "aura" one gets when a headache is coming. You know it. You feel it. It's sort of like how your grandfather claims he knows its going to rain because the arthritis in his knee flares up. Only way more accurate. So a month or so ago when the current cluster period started I got the "aura" and decided I couldn't handle a headache, called in to work and then drove to the ER telling the desk what my problem was and that I simply could not handle the headache. Inside the room I was given O2 (though through a nose-breather) and some pain-killer and anti-nausea medication (first few headaches I get cause severe nausea) via IV. I did this again four days ago with one of the more recent headaches because with that "aura" I could tell it was going to be a terrible one. This time at the ER I was given the mask with the O2 and talked with the ER doctor who said he's going to try and to set me up with a specialist he knows on cluster headaches. (The guy is a hard-to-see neurologist.) Anyway, sorry for the Life Story (R) up there entitled "Cluster Headaches: Proof God Hates Me" but it boils down to my essential question: Anyone else have experienced this? Where if you miss a day or two of your preventative/prophylactic medication the headaches come RIGHT back to make up lost time? |
Title: Re: Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! Post by AussieBrian on May 12th, 2013 at 7:04am
G'day Trekker, welcome, and it's great that you're off to see a headache specialist. Reason being that some headaches mimic CH but are really serious instead. Others aren't CH at all and are more easily treated and managed.
Between now and seeing the neuro it might pay to start a headache journal keeping track of times, duration, intensity, what you've been eating and drinking, that sort of thing. Give him something to work with. Knowlege is power so keep asking questions. We're here to help. |
Title: Re: Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! Post by Trekker4747 on May 12th, 2013 at 4:30pm
They're cluster headaches that's pretty much been confirmed through 20 years of this nonsense. They just really, really hate me.
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Title: Re: Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! Post by wimsey1 on May 13th, 2013 at 7:22am
Hey Trekker, and welcome. CHs hate everyone. The beast is a rampaging nondiscriminatory life wrecker. Having said that, I have found that my current med/supplement list of preventatives appears to be just as delicate as is yours. When I miss a round of morning or evening doses, I am in danger of a hit coming. So I work hard at not missing one. I especially try to not to miss a dose of verapamil since that is my front line preventative. And I never run out of O2. Never. Good luck and God bless. lance
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Title: Re: Cluster Headaches.... They KNOW! Post by repguy2020 on May 20th, 2013 at 6:01am
If I miss a dose of verapamil, I'm sure to pay in pain. It doesn't happen very often, maybe once or twice a year because the consequences are so severe.
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