Tanyana wrote on Jan 30^th, 2009 at 4:35pm:

  Who is your insurance  provider?

     Kinder gentler potter

I have Idaho heathly connections medicaid. not to be confused with medicare. some do confuse the two.  hi potter

I might be able to buy a new regulator off of ebay when my husband gets paid 2-5, but will probably have to wait until 2-20.  As, the fifth check always goes to rent and elc. and gas for the car until next payday.  is there any other way to get increased flow with out changing the 15lpm regulator? or the way the resivor bag holds and recievers o2?

Brew wrote on Jan 30^th, 2009 at 4:53pm:



I know playing with o2 is dangerous. Don't plan on blowing anything up. Just looking for things I could be doing besides rolling over and playing dead. Thank you for your concern, brew. My husband said the same thing.

Tanyana,
I wish I had better advice for you however what I do when O2 or meds are not available is to simply put a moist wash towel in the microwave for 20 seconds (depends on the size of the towel) and when it is barable (if it comes out too hot, I swirl it in the air a bit to cool it down) I place it over the center of my forehead and right eye and then below my ear. If a microwave isn't available I use hot water, An ice pack seems to help as well.
Hang in there! You are soon to be blessed!

Jim

I'm at a bit of a loss here.  Are you saying that they won't let you get health care of any other kind?  Do you have a primary care physician?  Can you get him to refer you to a neuro?  And that in itself is not necessarily a miraculous answer (as many here can attest to).

Would your ob be willing to contact one of the headache clinics and get advice on treatment? 

Print the information off this website and take it to your doc.  You may have to do a lot of your own research and take it to your ob.  Have you thought about trying to e-mail one of the clinics and explaining your plight?   

I know I'm jumping all over the place and from one subject to the next, but I have severe brain drain right now and I'm doing really good to string together words and make a coherent sentences (I almost said, "make sense", but that's not possible at any time  ).

As a last resort, pm E-double and ask him to talk to his sister, Rori, she has clusters too and her littlest boy isn't that old.

Carolyn

I asked my ob about a referral and he said that he does not approve and will not give the refferal during THIS pregnancy as there is nothing that the nero can do for me.  This pregnancy is a high risk pregnancy and my ob is a specialist in high risk pregnancies. Even though the reality of it all blows, I would probably be risking my baby life if I switched doctors. In the wash, the baby is more important. My ob knows nothing about cluster headaches, but a lot about babies. He said that any natural remenidy that I want to try he will listen too, and he is not against me bring in information or bring him a speciliast phone number etc.  I had a long talk with him late this afternoon. I still don't know what to do and am on my fifth kip 6 of the day With all of the pm, responses and emails, I am no longer panicin and am ready to rearm and fight the beast.  or.. rather trying to convice myself that I am.   
Thank you, Tanyana

  Hi Tanyana . . . sorry the beast is giving you such a rough time.

  I'm sure Chuck is handling the 02 issue and hope it will prove effective SOON for you.

  Since your ob is against all our favorite preventatives . . . ask him about water treatment (see "water X 3" . . . link on left).  It's NOT easy to do, but as you seem to have no other options . . . might be worth trying. 

  Water has been my preventative for over four years now.  When I came here (2/02), it was Verapamil and 02 that gave me my life back.  At the time, my wife (who found the site for me) tried to get me to try the water route, but I really didn't consider it and opted for the scripted meds . . . which did work and I had some control over the beast.    Well, in 2/04 I had surgery for bladder cancer (after a year of other surgical procedures/treatments), and they removed my bladder & prostate (I had a wonderful surgeon, new nerve-sparing procedure . . . and NO stoma) . . . lymph nodes were positive for cancer, so scheduled chemo.  Now during all this, I was taking the Verapamil and always had my 02 handy which kept the beast at a manageable level.  During the recovery period and before the start of my chemo, my attacks lessened in frequency/intensity.  Right before the chemo, I stopped the Verap altogether as my BP was uncomfortably low (also stopped some other meds just to lessen the number of chemicals in my body in preparation for the chemo).  Well . . . the attacks remained infrequent and low-level . . . most easily handled with the 02 . . .  had one Kip 9-10 (triggered by a beer . . . had gotten a bit cocky with several PF days), and the rest were all low-level hits  Kip 6 and under.  I thought it might have been the chemo "juices" . . . started a thread about same  . . . nope.   To make an already long story a bit shorter . . . the only constant since my major surgery was water.  I was/am required to consume large quantities of water to keep my neo-bladder and kidneys flushed to prevent UTIs (had at least six the first year . . . one in the last year).  In addition, if I slack-up on water intake . . . I get hit.  If I drastically reduce water intake . . . get slammed and can set off a series of attacks. 

  I do take a multi-vitamin and other supplements (B-12, calcium, potassium), and you definitely want to talk to your doc if you're going to try this . . . especially with the baby-on-board.  It shouldn't do any harm . . . might help reduce the frequency/intensity of the hits . . . the price is right.

  Sending positive vibes your way.

    Be Safe,   PFDANs

      Richard

Tanyana wrote on Jan 31^st, 2009 at 12:25am:


You're not asking to switch doctors, you're asking for a referral to a neuro so your neuro and ob doc can work together to help you through this pregnancy/cluster headaches.

If it were me, I'd start be researching all the headache clinics and e-mailing every one of them, explain your situation and ask for their assistance.

TBH, having clusters at that frequency/rate isn't real helpful to you or the baby.  The headaches themselves are creating undue stress on your body.

Mind if I ask why your pregnancy is high risk?