good morning all.  well not really good, but it is morning.  last 24 hours have been bad for me, hope not for yall.  4 since 9 am yesterday (20 hours or so) so still room to make 5 before the 24 is up.    I did not really start this to whine though so on with the topic.

I have done a lot of reading on here about people drinking red bull as an abortive. I decided to try this "5 hour energy" shot thingy.  Its in a 2 ounce bottle so can be carried in my pocket.  I cant really tell if it is working or not. took one at begining and still lasted 40-45 min.  Does have caffine and taurine in it.
I just wanted to know if any of you red-bull'ers had tried it and if it worked or not. or if i just need to get some of the real stuff and try it.
Just looking for a hand while grasping at straws.

David

Good morning David.
I have used Red Bull to abort CH's in the past and it has worked fairly well. But my problem along with other's is that you are not suppose to have anymore than a couple per 24hr period. Not much help to me when I get 4 or more hits within that period.
My Red Bull here in Canada is 250ml cans, or 8.45 ounces and contains 1000mg of Taurine and 80mg Caffeine. It must be chugged as quickly as possible, like in one or two swallows.
Another very important thing to remember is DO-NOT take energy drinks like this one when taking other meds such as Verapamil. The side effects could be very bad.
o2 is my #1 abortive, with no side effects and can stop a hit within minutes. Check out the oxygen info in yellow to your left, it works for most of us here.
Print off some of the info to your left and talk to your doc about what might be best for you to try.
Hang in there, we are all in this together.

  Barry

barry_sword wrote on Apr 19^th, 2009 at 8:52am:



Did not know that....im currently taking verampamil only at 120 mg, but gonna change that come monday since it aint doin any good (though it has only been a few days)   I have indocin that i can take, but only 2 a day and either they or the verapamil are tearing up my stomach. i was hoping the energy drinks would keep me from taking them, or at least give me a fall back when i have passed my 2 for the day.

David, I can just offer my own personal experience with Verap. I am out of cycle right now but I was taking 480mg Verapamil daily but it can take up to two weeks to get into your system. We are not doctors but simply people who are willing to share what works or doesn't work for CH's.

The Verap did not eat up my stomach but I sure found out I needed a little help with the constpation factor. I took a small bowl of hi-fibre cereal each morning and that helped with the plumbing. The short term memory thing was also noted, but it was by far better than the latter.

There are many other prevents out there, such as Lithium, but that one was not for me. Keep posting and let us know how you are doing, this is one awesome support group and they have helped me get my life back, and I am sure we can help get your's back too. 

I've been using the 5hr energy drinks lately with mixed success.  I started doing it after the others started giving me stomach troubles.  I was getting reflux afterwards, although Coke doesn't do so.  I usually slam one and follow it up with coffee,but then I follow everything up with coffee. 

I'm with Barry and Brew on the Verap and energy drinks.  That is a no-no.  I quit taking Verap a couple of years ago though as  the side effects were worse than the hits.

Jerry

Did you tell your doctor you were doing both?

I'm not sure it does any permanent damage, btw.

Truett wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 10:17pm:

That's at least four strikes. Get a new doc. This guy doesn't have a clue.

Lottie wrote on Apr 21^st, 2009 at 6:02pm:
Lottie have you tried the cranberry flavoured energy drinks, not to bad you know...! For me personally I really don't know if the energy drinks worked or not my heavy shadows were constantly coming and going all day long it was hard to established what worked and what didn't...

Lefty..!

darn,  I just took my verap, and chugged down a red bull.  didnt know about not mixing them.  I never noticed even one side effect from verap.   have been on big doses of it too.   

Emjay wrote on Apr 28^th, 2009 at 10:00pm:

It's not triptans mixed with energy drinks that presents a problem. It's verapamil (a calcium channel blocker) and energy drinks.

I went to the neuro today and he told me any type of caffeine will result in rebound clusters and eventually raise the number you have. he said STAY AWAY from caffeine! What do you guys think??

Caffeine is a drug and should not be used to excess, as would be true of any drug!  However, it is a constrictor!  I have never heard that using caffeine would result in a rebound although if a caffeine addict suddenly stops taking caffeine, she may have a headache! 

BTW, I use the verap with the maxalt mlt and energy drinks when I am away from the O2.  Sorry I was not clear