I always suspected there was more to the water X 3 tab at the left...  and the following link helps explain how important proper hydration is to good health...

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Water, Energy, and the Perils of Dehydration

Written By:
Nicholas Gonzalez, MD

What if water, plain and simple, was the most critically lacking substance for energy and health promotion in the modern lifestyle?

A great read...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Very interesting hypothesis!  I hope more research will be done to prove or disprove this idea.

Although the biochemical actions in this article are a bit too technical for me, I can certainly speculate as to how sub-clinical dehydration could have far-reaching and long-lasting effects.

On a practical level, consuming 10 cups of water a day, above and beyond other liquids, can be challenging--not to mention giving up caffeine.

I have to wonder two things--could this much water cause someone on the D3 regimen to lose much needed magnesium? And then there is the possibility of a placebo effect which can apply to most therapies.

I'm giving this a modified try, mostly for the possibility of more energy. I have other conditions besides CH which could benefit based on the claims in the article. An unbalanced parasympathetic system causes many issues besides CH.

BTW...unfortunately, the author of this article passed away quite recently. I hope others will keep up the research.

Hey Pattik,

I've been drinking at least six 8 oz glasses of water a day for the last two months and haven't noticed any changes in CH... I'm still pain free. 

What is interesting is my average at-rest and seated BP dropped from 145/80 to 135/75...  I attribute this to the water and a cutback in caffeine. ...   I still drink 2 cups of coffee every morning but I've cut way back on Diet Coke from 2 cans a day to 2 cans a week.

While I can understand a placebo effect, the odds of preventing CH as a result of a placebo effect are relatively low.  The highest possible placebo response in CH is 14 to 43%.  The lowest value of 14% was reported using the strict endpoint; cessation of headache attacks.  Nilsson Remahl AI, Laudon Meyer E, Cordonnier C, Goadsby PJ. Placebo response in cluster headache trials: a review. Cephalalgia. 2003 Sep;23(7):504-10.

However, I looked at the data they used in this study and roughly 70% of the CH'ers surveyed were episodic.  Given end of cycle is a classic confounding factor in studies of CH preventatives where it is easy to confuse a favorable response with end of cycle, it is very likely that the 14% placebo effect is too high by 4 to 5%.  That leaves us with a highest possible placebo effect of roughly 10% among CH'ers in general.

I have my own rain gauge...  We've only had a half inch of rain since March so it's very dry here in the heart of Puget Sound on the Kitsap Peninsula near Bremerton, WA.  With no rain, the spring pollen that's been laying around since March stirs up with any wind.   

Accordingly, I'm taking 15,000 to 20,000 IU/day vitamin D3, one Benadryl tablet/day, 400 mg/day magnesium plus the rest of the regimen in order to stay pain free.  If I drop back to 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3 or stop the Benadryl, the beast starts prowling around... If I miss a vitamin D3 dose, I'll get whacked in less than 24 hours...  Sooo, until we get a good soaking rain, I'll stick with 15,000 to 20,000 IU/day vitamin D3. 

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch