Question i am in the second cycle of my life been about 5 weeks now! i have a shadow all day to remind me that the "beast" is still there just waiting to brew!! anyone else have this?
thanx
anthony

This is especially true when you are first developing CH: Variation in pain type/degree/location/time--virtually all the features of CH--are often fluid. It may take months to years before a very stable picture emerges for you.

Which is to say, a major survival skill is to develop patience and tolerance.
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Cluster headache.
From: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article--link, line above--if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]

Jeanne, do you mean a nasal decongestant spray? I have 12-hour that I could give to Joe to try. The shadows are really kicking his butt.

Christy,

I do find that the 12 hour spray helps me. I buy the one that specifically says for sinus.  It couldn't hurt for Joe to try it.  I do have to use a pain reliever like Excedrin Migraine on top of it though.

Jeannie

Thanks guys, he was awake all night cause of shadows, he's gone to the store this morning to buy both excedrin migrain and 4-way. We'll let you know how it goes. Hopefully he'll get a good nap this afternoon.

QnHeartMM wrote on Jan 21^st, 2010 at 10:02am:


O2 works well for shadows too. Also I am convinced the ginger trick helps for shadows (half teaspoon powdered ginger in water, drink it down). That works for me better than any OTC pain meds.

QnHeartMM wrote on Jan 21^st, 2010 at 6:22pm:

I've gotten  to the point that I can go back to sleep after drinking a Red Bull.   The caffeine in the Excedrin would bother me.  I would guess it's individual though.

Thanks for the tip. Got slammed yesterday and used 02 to abort.........slammed a red bull and 2 excederin migrain to prevent the come backer I usually get. It worked, will try eliminating the excedrin next round and see if the red bull will keep it at bay by itself.

Joe