grateful for this sight. I am new so bare with me.. finally ppl who understand, reading some of these stories actually brought tears to my eyes. My CH started in november, i was actually hospitalized for 6 days and put in a drug induced coma. they thought i had spinal meningitis. i lost 20 lbs in 10 days ..some would last 15 min w/ only 30 min of relief... i ended up lying to get out of the hospital cuz i felt like a guinea pig. MRI's while in a cluster, by far way worse, being forced to have ur head caged in while listening to tones and sirens for 30 minutes, while i was choking on my own vomit... brings tears to my eyes just to think about it. on top of that i have regular migraines and usually i get both...completely debilitating me for 3 to 5 days. i dont know what to do, i have been allergic to all of the imitrex, maxalt, ect. i have had to take 2 medical leaves from school, and am scared to go back i hate to fail. what job will hire me? I try to live my PFD's to the fullest but then night falls and extreme anxiety sets in, like russian roulette, will it come? i have been accused by er doctors as a drug seeker, i had no idea ppl actually did that, however my regular doctor knows i am not, but considering most attacks occur in the middle of the night i am forced to deal with doctors that make me feel even worse over a pain that is so intense i at times feel like dying. u tell them that and they will just think u are crazy or its just in your head. i am grateful oxygen works during the day for the most part....i am a single mom and have a lot of guilt that my precious 5 yr old has to see me laid out for days at a time...i am essentially missing out on her life, which is my life. my doctor gives me a pain shot, steroids then percocets so i dont have to keep coming back...but what kind of life is that, to be drugged all the time? but during an attack i  feel no other choice. immediately following a CH i get a regular migraine then the cycle continues...for days...i like reading how positive some of u are, and pray i can get there at some point...but depression i feel is consuming me...hope just talking about it to ppl who understand can help

And get to a headache specialist. You have a lot going on, relying on a different ER doc each time you go in is a recipe for a lot of pain. CH requires a management program....many find good results using the following 2 pronged approach.

1: A preventative medication. A med you take daily while in cycle to reduce frequency and intensity of your attacks. Verapamil is a common first round prevent, I use lithium, topomax also has a loyal following.

Many like me use a 2 week prednisone taper as a transitional med as it takes about 10-14 days for most prevents to become effective. Prednisone will usually provide relief during that period.

2: A good abortive. Oxygen should always be your first line abort. Read the oxygen info link on the left as it must be used correctly. Keep an E-Tank by your bed for the night time hits. Sorry you have issues with the imitrex, when all else fails it'll usually save me.

You have a great deal of reading to do. Most doctors do not know about CH. It is incumbent on you to educate yourself and then work with your doc to plan your medical treatment. We'll help you every step of the way. Hang in there....31 year sufferer here, you get it under control you can rule it instead of the other way around.

Joe

thank you all. i will def. keep reading and learning from what has helped you. at times i feel like my own doctor..sounds stupid, but what i dont understand is how ur clusters last a short period of time...i would compare it to later, pain for minutes to hours then gone then back again. my HA specialist thinks my clusters are triggering regular migraines or vice versa  and that is why i am not getting a break. the pain is literally non stop...i know when i am having a CH episode, when i want to stab myself in the face! but i dont go to the er until my vomiting starts because with regular migraines...in my case anyways if i dont get that under control when i get my next cluster i am literally exhausted from all the vomiting and i feel like it is worse...as far as my depression goes, you all are right talking and righting does help...my mom is so worried about me, when i pass out in pain her and my father feel there is no other option than to take me to the er.....do any of you suffer from both and are they on top of one another? i have a huge stack of all the medication tried on me...now i can go through that and compare it to what ppl on here have tried...although u are all an inspirational how do u get through not knowing if u can ever live a normal life. its crazy how one can be in soo much pain...clearly...and a doctor of all ppl makes u feel worse because i have to tell them what works for me.
again thank you all for your feedback

Hi Angela Lynn,

I second what bejeeber said. If you read the posts by Bonkers on this site and on Clusterbusters, I think you'll find a case quite similar to your own. We are finding our way out of this Hell and you may well be able to do the same. Please feel free to PM or email me if you have any questions that you're reluctant to post. I'm not an expert, but I can point you in the right direction for answers that I don't have.

Good luck,

Ron

My 3 abortives of choice are Oxygen, triptan (you are allergic) and Zyprexa.  If you havent tried any of these, you should!

Get to a specialist right away!!!

Keepr reading and posting here.

Hi Angela Lynn.  To maybe answer one of your questions, this morning as I thought I awoke with a Kip 4-5 CH (kind of strange timing for me) only to have it NOT go away in an hour or so AND followed by some world class vomiting.  My stomach was so upset I couldn't get any medicine down it and I was quickly realizing that what I thought was an out-of-cycle CH was really a migraine.  I usually get 1 or 2 per year but nothing too bad.

Even more ironic given my previous post on another thread about the differences between the 2 headaches and my thought that I could always tell the difference.  I'll eat my words people

So I am fairly unclear what exactly that was??  Probably a migraine that pounded the same part of my head as the clusters because I am not in my cycle right now, but I have been having stray CH shadows.  So I busted with a light psilocybe dose today (take that!  BOOM ) just in case my cycle was coming back. 

Anywho, my afternoon went better than my morning, after I pulled myself off my floor around 1:30pm, but I have a new found respect and sympathy for the migrainers of the world.  The head pain isn't as sharp and wrenching, but the whole laying on the floor hurling thing sucks extra.

I know other people have a combo pack of head pain (migraines and CH) and there is a thread somewhere around here with it. Soooooo, read what you can and eventually you will figure out your routine.  Don't give up yet, sounds like you are still new to this.  Hang in there! 

mean guy to ward off evil head spirits!

--Shaggy

yes, i am just now 28...i have been on depakote and have went through many of the things you have suggested and have highlighted the ones already used....O2 works for me as well if i get to it in time....not a pfd today....er visit was 14 hours, i was dehydrated from vomiting and had my attack on my way home from school (45 min) away...i pulled over got out passenger door and fainted in pain...its getting hard to explain the bruising on my face it sounds like i have to do my own research and advocate from ppl on here and try their meds, suggest them to my doctor. i love my reg. doctor and i know he will try anything...lithium,omg heck no, that made me soo soo sick...my doctor is stumped and my neuro, well he is all i can get at this point. my fam doctor gave me his hime phone if i have problems and i gave him this sight because i told him i found it...and i dont have all the meds i have tried...thank you all again and i will check out those other links...cuz by the sounds of it i get a reg. migraine then the cluster follows but between the fainting and vomiting i cant figure out what to do... ......but am soooo happy to find u ppl! ...its kinda like that MJ song..."you are not alone i am here w/ u tho ur far away i am here to stay" ....hope pfd for all!