I would advise you to try drugs from the oxicam -family, e.g. meloxicam. They are long-acting painkillers, so you would need only one per 20 hours or so.

Also get a stomach-protection drug along with that, for example pantoprazole.

Incidentally, I got around 10 days of pain-free time after beginning taking meloxicam. The normal CH drugs didn't work.

- Best regards and PFDAN,
Rosa

Hi Niel and welcome. Painkillers do not work on Ch's. By the time the pain killers start to work the CH usually has susided, making us think the pain meds worked. This has fooled me many times in the past before I knew what was going on with my head.

Ask your doc if she is willing to script you o2. If not, time to search out a doc that knows more about CH's.

You will need:
100% oxygen with at least a 15 LPM regulator with a non-rebreather mask, no outside air what so ever, Get on it at the very first sign of an on-coming hit. The o2 takes care of those persistent shadows and low end hits as well.

As a preventative, I take Verapamil at 480mg daily, but that has to be your docs call. There are many prevents available, just have to find what works for you.

Hope this helps in some way,  Barry

I have to agree- some painkillers work pretty good for me, too.  I'm resistant to the usual meds,  but I've found that fioricet and amitryptaline work well for the bigger attacks (although they make me a bit drowsy) and for the smaller beastlets I use Anaprox.  Good luck!

I suggest that you print out both of this articles and share with your doctor. They represent the most current thinking on the medical treatment of CH.

The use of any pain medication carries the risk of rebound headaches if used too often. The broad rule in the U.S. is 3x or more a week increases the risk.
==================

HERE ARE TWO MAJOR DOCUMENTS WITH RECOMMENDED TREATMENTS FOR CLUSTER HEADACHE, ONE FROM A U.S. PHYSICIAN, THE SECOND FROM EUROPE.
_________________________________________
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or
Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002. Rozen)
================
Treatment guidelines from Europe

------
A. May, M. Leone, J. Áfra, M. Linde, P. S. Sándor, S. Evers, P. J. Goadsby:
EFNS guidelines on the treatment of cluster headache and other
trigeminalautonomic cephalalgias.
European Journal of Neurology. 2006; 13: 1066–1077.

Download free full text:
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or
(Thanks to "cluster" for link.)

For me, any painkiller causes rebounds from Hell, so I do not recommend any of them.

I had CH for 28 years and pain killers didn't do anything to help me either.  Just gave me a stomach ache.

Thanks everyone for your replies.
I’d like to say, the paracetamol/ibuprofen combination definitely DOES work (for me), though it seems to leave a ‘space’ where the pain was.  Does that make sense to anyone?
N

deltadarlin wrote on Jan 20^th, 2009 at 8:41am:


This is specifically a COX-2 inhibitor.  O2 and ice packs are probably the most effective and least harmful to you on a regular basis.  Some might add an energy drink with 1000 mg of Taurine and 80 mg or so of caffiene.  Personally, if I have persistent shadows, I have an Rx for 800 mg of Ibuprophen that I take with coffee and a piece of bread, as it can raise heck with your stomach.

I hope this helps,

Ray

The oxygen is your best bet. Even if the ibuprofen and tylenol are working for you, I highly reccomend you get it.

Things can change over time, on top of that, the oxygen won't upset your stomach! An alternative if they bother you stomach too much would be to see if your doctor can give you something to coat the stomach.

Pain killers do work for some people with cluster headaches, but still, oxygen is the best choice.

For the oxygen you'll need 15 to 25 liters per minute, with a non-rebreather mask. If you don't have those two things, it's not gonna work that well for you.

Good luck, and PFDAN
Mystina

Neil I am on a lower dose of Verapamil now and also have painful shadows for most of the day. It took about a week on the Verapamil for the shadows to subside. But my doc increased the dose and shortly after, about 1-2 a week the shadows persist. I use an ice pack and pressure and if they start to intensify a combination of ibuprofren (liquid gels) and tylenol (fast-release) help to cut down the pain considerably but not relieve it.  Hope this helps.

Thanks everyone.
Like I said, with the dose of verapamil I am on now, the pain is at worst only about a 3/4, so I don't think it warrants the inconvenience (and alarm it would cause others) to get oxygen. 
But I do like the sound of meloxicam, I’ll suggest it to my doc.

N

NeilB wrote on Jan 23^rd, 2009 at 5:22am:


Just take a pill if ya just got a headache, works every time.

                Kinder gentler Potter