I'm 48, male, and I've suffered from, and have been treated for migraines since I was a kid. I've gone through waves...errr. CLUSTERS of them and my new Dr. yesterday asked a bunch of pointed questions (tears?  congestion?  fast onset?  excruciating? "Yes," to all).  Sumitriptan has/had been an effective abortive, but insurance has limited the number per month and I've had to ration them.

A particularly bad cluster began about three weeks ago and I've had 1-3 headaches per day.  Chugging a couple of colas and Excedrine Migraine and ice packs have aborted a few, but I ended up going to the Dr. because the headaches were getting worse (not QUITE as bad as the scary YouTube videos, but close) and even the stereotypical banging my head against the shower tiles while alternating between hot and cold water wasn't helping at all.

I've been trained in mindfulness-based stress reduction (i.e., meditation) for headaches and that stopped working for this latest round.

Anyway, I'm glad (in a perverted way) that a label has been attached and some treatment has been started (predisone for a while and verapamil 240mg).  He also gave me a few percocet, but they didn't touch the two headaches I got last night. 

Pattern started this cycle (and yes, I can in retrospect see that most of the other migraines have been in cycles, but never more than a few days) -- 2pm like clockwork at first and then after a few days an additional one between 2-3am. 

Of course I had heard the term "cluster headache" before but hadn't really researched it.  I did a lot of reading yesterday and I'm glad to have discovered this group.

No oxygen prescribed yesterday.  Dr. wants to see if the steroids break the cycle first.  I'm okay with that if it doesn't last more than another couple of days.  I've got a follow-up appointment next week and will get the oxygen in place -- It looks like my insurance will cover that with a 10% copay. 

My experience with sumitriptan (tablets) is that they work pretty quickly for me if I grind them up first and swallow with a lot of water.  Since my headaches, untreated, last 2 or 3 hours, the wait time of 10 or 15 minutes for the sumitriptan to kick in is tolerable.  The number of pills (9 per month) allowed by insurance is clearly not enough.  My Dr. checked for me and the generic at WallMart isn't much more than my normal prescription copay, so that may not be a big problem.  I AM worried about taking too much, though, since I have high blood pressure and a family history of heart disease. 

My doctor says that he diagnoses about 4 new cluster headache cases, so I turned out to be the "case of the day" yesterday for a bunch of medical students (my medical care comes from THE major teaching hospital in Durham, NC).  Fortunately, I didn't actually have a headache during the office visit so I was glad to talk with the students. 

Jeez -- I go back and read this and sound like Pollyanna and that is not really the case.  I have been in agony and have been angry/hostile to almost everyone around me the past few weeks.  My partner is used to the headaches and leaves me alone, but I have really held back in wanting to scream and rant while I've got a headache the past few weeks because he's easily upset and has a heart condition.  Mostly, I've made him get out of the house for a couple of hours (if it is not the middle of the night). 

So, I'm looking forward to adding oxygen.  I'd never heard of the mushrooms out there and am curious....

Jim

Working with the Durham folks makes it awkward to offer much advice!

Impression: your treatment program is complex and open to changes rather often, I sense. My bias is to find an effective program and then be consistent/stable. CH is often difficult enough to manage and my concern is that too many changes makes it difficult to define what is effective/stabalizing.

The Verap dose is low, by our "standards". This protocol and approach is widely used now:

Headache. 2004 Nov;44(10):1013-8.   

Individualizing treatment with verapamil for cluster headache patients.

Blau JN, Engel HO.


    Background.-Verapamil is currently the best available prophylactic drug for patients experiencing cluster headaches (CHs). Published papers usually state 240 to 480 mg taken in three divided doses give good results, ranging from 50% to 80%; others mention higher doses-720, even 1200 mg per day. In clinical practice we found we needed to adapt dosage to individual's time of attacks, in particular giving higher doses before going to bed to suppress severe nocturnal episodes. A few only required 120 mg daily. We therefore evolved a scheme for steady and progressive drug increase until satisfactory control had been achieved. Objective.-To find the minimum dose of verapamil required to prevent episodic and chronic cluster headaches by supervising each individual and adjusting the dosage accordingly. Methods.-Consecutive patients with episodic or chronic CH (satisfying International Headache Society (IHS) criteria) were started on verapamil 40 mg in the morning, 80 mg early afternoon, and 80 mg before going to bed. Patients kept a diary of all attacks, recording times of onset, duration, and severity. They were advised, verbally and in writing, to add 40 mg verapamil on alternate days, depending on their attack timing: with nocturnal episodes the first increase was the evening dose and next the afternoon one; when attacks occurred on or soon after waking, we advised setting an alarm clock 2 hours before the usual waking time and then taking the medication. Patients were followed-up at weekly intervals until attacks were controlled. They were also reviewed when a cluster period had ended, and advised to continue on the same dose for a further 2 weeks before starting systematic reduction. Chronic cluster patients were reviewed as often as necessary. Results.-Seventy consecutive patients, 52 with episodic CH during cluster periods and 18 with chronic CH, were all treated with verapamil as above. Complete relief from headaches was obtained in 49 (94%) of 52 with episodic, and 10 (55%) of 18 with chronic CH; the majority needed 200 to 480 mg, but 9 in the episodic, and 3 in the chronic group, needed 520 to 960 mg for control. Ten, 2 in the episodic and 8 in the chronic group, with incomplete relief, required additional therapy-lithium, sumatriptan, or sodium valproate. One patient withdrew because verapamil made her too tired, another developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and the drug was withdrawn. Conclusions.-Providing the dosage for each individual is adequate, preventing CH with verapamil is highly effective, taken three (occasionally with higher doses, four) times a day. In the majority (94%) with episodic CH steady dose increase under supervision, totally suppressed attacks. However in the chronic variety only 55% were completely relieved, 69% men, but only 20% women. In both groups, for those with partial attack suppression, additional prophylactic drugs or acute treatment was necessary. (Headache 2004;44:1013-1018).

=======================================
SLOW-RELEASE VERAPAMIL

Dr. Sheftell applauded the protocol for verapamil used by Dr. Goadsby and colleagues, which entailed use of short-acting verapamil in increments of 80 mg. “This method was suggested by Lee Kudrow, MD, 20 years ago as an alternative to slow-release verapamil,” Dr. Sheftell noted.

“I would agree with using short-acting verapamil, rather than the sustained-release formulation, in cluster headache,” he said. “I prefer the short-acting formulation with regard to ability to titrate more accurately and safely. My clinical experience anecdotally demonstrates improved responses when patients are switched from sustained-release verapamil to short-acting verapamil.”

Dr. Goadsby agreed that his clinical experience was similar. “There are no well-controlled, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging studies to direct treatment. This is one of those areas where clinicians who treat cluster headache have to combine what modicum of evidence is available with their own clinical experience,” Dr. Sheftell commented.
=======
Our collective experience is that Imitrex injection is faster working than the pill form and is especially important because of the rapid onset of CH.

My reading of the literature is: unless you have a personal history of heart problems, there appears to be no significiant threat to you using it. But this reduced use may comfort you and it's very effective for many of our folks....
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Headache. 2005 Sep;45(8):1069-72.

Treatment of Cluster Headache Attacks With Less Than 6 mg Subcutaneous Sumatriptan.

Gregor N, Schlesiger C, Akova-Ozturk E, Kraemer C, Husstedt IW, Evers S.

Background.-Subcutaneous (SQ) sumatriptan 6 mg is effective in the treatment of acute cluster headache attacks. However, patients sometimes benefit from a dose less than 6 mg. Objective.-Therefore, we designed a prospective open study to evaluate how many patients benefit from a dose less than 6 mg SQ sumatriptan. Methods.-We enrolled 81 consecutive patients with cluster headache and recorded their use of SQ sumatriptan and oxygen. Patients regularly using SQ sumatriptan 6 mg were advised to treat attacks with doses less than 6 mg and with oxygen. Efficacy and side effects of the different treatment options (6 mg, 3 mg, 2 mg, and oxygen) were evaluated. Results.-As a result, 74% of the patients using SQ sumatriptan 3 mg showed efficacy and 89% reported efficacy after 2 mg. Seventy-nine percent reported side effects after the use of SQ sumatriptan 6 mg (29% severe side effects). After the use of 2 mg SQ sumatriptan, only 50% of the patients reported side effects, none of these were classified as severe. Patients' preference was 41% for 6 mg sumatriptan, 28% for doses less than 6 mg, and 31% for oxygen. Conclusions.-We conclude that sumatriptan in doses less than 6 mg can be effective in the acute treatment of cluster headache attacks. We suggest that patients should have experience in their individual efficacy of sumatriptan doses less than 6 mg. (Headache 2005;45:1069-1072).

PMID: 16109122 
=============
Search of PubMed in 3/09 found no abstract later than 2004 and none specific to Cluster Headache.
=============================================================

Neurology. 2004 Feb 24;62(4):563-8.
Triptans in migraine: the risks of stroke, cardiovascular disease, and death in practice.

Hall GC, Brown MM, Mo J, MacRae KD.

Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK. gillian_hall@gchall.demon.co.uk

BACKGROUND: Triptans are widely used to treat migraine but have been associated with stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and ischemic heart disease (IHD) in case reports. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence of stroke, cardiovascular events, and death in a migraine cohort, stratified by triptan prescription, and investigate whether the risk of these events was increased in those treated with triptans. METHODS: Migraine patients and matched nonmigraine control subjects were identified from the General Practice Research Database. Computerized records were searched for triptan prescriptions, stroke, TIA, MI, IHD, death, arrhythmia, and confounding variables. Incidence rates were calculated and migraine groups compared with controls using a Cox model, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: Of 63,575 migraine patients, 13,664 were prescribed a triptan. There was no association between triptan prescription and stroke (hazard ratio [HR] 1.13; 95% CI 0.78, 1.65), MI (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.60, 1.43), or other outcomes studied. The larger group of migraine patients not prescribed a triptan had an increased risk of stroke (HR 1.51; 95% CI 1.26, 1.82) and IHD (HR 1.35; 95% CI 1.18, 1.54) and a decreased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 0.72; 95% CI 0.65, 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: IN GENERAL PRACTICE, TRIPTAN TREATMENT IN MIGRAINE DOES NOT INCREASE THE RISK OF STROKE, MI, CARDIOVASCULAR DEATH, IHD, OR MORTALITY. TRIPTANS ARE PRESCRIBED TO THOSE LESS AT RISK OF THESE EVENTS.

Publication Types:
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 14981171 [PubMed ]
=========
If you want to try an Imitrex-free approach, a number of us have had excellent results with this med and its use is starting to appear in lists of recommended treatments.
--
Headache 2001 Sep;41(8):813-6 

Olanzapine as an Abortive Agent for Cluster Headache.

Rozen TD.

Department of Neurology, Jefferson Headache Center/Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pa.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate olanzapine as a cluster headache abortive agent in an open-label trial. BACKGROUND: Cluster headache is the most painful headache syndrome known. There are very few recognized abortive therapies for cluster headache and fewer for patients who have contraindications to vasoconstrictive drugs. METHODS: Olanzapine was given as an abortive agent to five patients with cluster headache in an open-label trial. THE INITIAL OLANZAPINE DOSE WAS 5 MG, AND THE DOSE WAS INCREASED TO 10 MG IF THERE WAS NO PAIN RELIEF. THE DOSAGE WAS DECREASED TO 2.5 MG IF THE 5-MG DOSE WAS EFFECTIVE BUT CAUSED ADVERSE EFFECTS. To be included in the study, each patient had to treat at least two attacks with either an effective dose or the highest tolerated dose. RESULTS: Five patients completed the investigation (four men, one woman; four with chronic cluster, one with episodic cluster). Olanzapine reduced cluster pain by at least 80% in four of five patients, and TWO PATIENTS BECAME HEADACHE-FREE AFTER TAKING THE DRUG. Olanzapine typically alleviated pain within 20 minutes after oral dosing and treatment response was consistent across multiple treated attacks. The only adverse event was sleepiness. CONCLUSIONS: Olanzapine appears to be a good abortive agent for cluster headache. IT ALLEVIATES PAIN QUICKLY AND HAS A CONSISTENT RESPONSE ACROSS MULTIPLE TREATED ATTACKS. IT APPEARS TO WORK IN BOTH EPISODIC AND CHRONIC CLUSTER HEADACHE.

PMID 11576207 PubMed

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Olanzapine has a brand name of "Zyprexa" and is a antipsychotic. Don't be put off by this primary usage. Several of the drugs used to treat CH are cross over applications, that is, drugs approved by the FDA for one purpose which are found to be effective with unrelated conditions--BJ.
===

Best wishes....

Thanks, so far for the information guys.  This afternoon's headache just ended and it was a doozy.  I feel beat up and exhausted.  And depressed.

Bob, clearly you've got a lot of information and look forward to hearing more.  I didn't mean to brag at all about Duke doctors in general -- many of them are pompous jerks.  Please, I need all the advice I can get!  What are side effects of high doses of verapamil?  I'll see about a higher dose if the current dose doesn't help. 

I've already emailed my doc about oxygen and getting imitrex in injectable form.  Is there a generic?

The Prednisone is already tearing up my stomach.  I'm not sure I'll continue with it, especially if there will be rebound to deal with. 

Oxygen:  do you guys just have it at home, or do you also keep a cannister at work? 

What is it about red bull that helps?  The caffeine?

Again, thanks -- While I'm feeling okay right now I'll read some more on the message boards.

Jim

Your prednisone dose should be taken with/after food and be accompanied by a famotidine to protect the stomach. It is also not uncommon for potassium supplements to be prescribed with prednisolone, if taken at high dosages.

LAST SENTENCE!!


Verapamil warning
« on: Aug 21st, 2007, 10:38am »   

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I posted this information recently in the form of a news release but more details here.
__________________

Neurology. 2007 Aug 14;69(7):668-75. 

 
Electrocardiographic abnormalities in patients with cluster headache on verapamil therapy.

Cohen AS, Matharu MS, Goadsby PJ.

Headache Group, Institute of Neurology, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK.

BACKGROUND: High dose verapamil is an increasingly common preventive treatment in cluster headache (CH). Side effects include atrioventricular block and bradycardia, although their incidence in this population is not clear. METHOD: This audit study assessed the incidence of arrhythmias on high dose verapamil in patients with cluster headache. RESULTS: Of three hundred sixty-nine patients with cluster headache, 217 outpatients (175 men) received verapamil, starting at 240 mg daily and increasing by 80 mg every 2 weeks with a check electrocardiogram (EKG), until the CH was suppressed, side effects intervened, or to a maximum daily dose of 960 mg. One patient had 1,200 mg/day. Eighty-nine patients (41%) had no EKGs. One hundred eight had EKGs in the hospital notes, and a further 20 had EKGs done elsewhere. Twenty-one of 108 patients (19%) had arrhythmias. Thirteen (12%) had first-degree heart block (PR > 0.2 s), at 240 to 960 mg/day, with one requiring a permanent pacemaker. Four patients had junctional rhythm, and one had second-degree heart block. Four patients had right bundle branch block. There was bradycardia (HR < 60 bpm) in 39 patients (36%), but verapamil was stopped in only 4 patients. In eight patients the PR interval was lengthened, but not to >0.2 s. The incidence of arrhythmias on verapamil in this patient group is 19%, and bradycardia 36%. CONCLUSION: We therefore strongly recommend EKG monitoring in all patients with cluster headache on verapamil, to observe for the potential development of atrioventricular block and symptomatic bradycardia.

PMID: 17698788 [PubMed]

« Reply #7 on: Today at 1:01am » WITH THANKS TO "MJ" FOR POSTING THIS EXPLANATION. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The article summarized in layman terms from the website below.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

"Cluster Headache Treatment Poses Cardiac Dangers 
Off-label use of verapamil linked to heart rhythm abnormalities, study finds 

By Jeffrey Perkel
HealthDay Reporter   

MONDAY, Aug. 13 (HealthDay News) -- People who use a blood pressure drug called verapamil to treat cluster headaches may be putting their hearts at risk.

That's the finding from a British study that found heart rhythm abnormalities showing up in about one in five patients who took the drug in this unapproved, "off-label" way.

"The good news is, when you stop the drug, the effect wears off," said study lead author Dr. Peter Goadsby, professor of neurology at University College London. "So, as long as doctors know about it, and patients with cluster headaches on verapamil know they need EKGs [electrocardiograms] done, it is a completely preventable problem." 

The study is published in the Aug. 14 issue of Neurology.

In a review of the medical records of 217 patients given verapamil to treat their cluster headaches, a team led by Goadsby found that 128 had undergone an EKG, 108 of which were available in the medical records.

Of those 108 patients, about one in five exhibited abnormalities (mostly slowing) in the heart's conduction system -- the "natural pacemaker" that causes the organ to beat. Most of these cases weren't deemed serious, although one patient did end up having a pacemaker implanted to help correct the problem. In four cases, doctors took patients off verapamil due to their EKG findings.

One in three (34 percent) developed non-cardiac side effects such as lethargy and constipation. 

"It is a very nice piece of work, because it provides commentary on a boutique [that is, niche and off-label] use of the drug," said Dr. Domenic Sica, professor of medicine and pharmacology in the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. He was not involved in the study.

Cluster headache affects about 69 in every 100,000 people, according to the Worldwide Cluster Headache Support Group Web site. Men are six times more likely than women to be afflicted, and the typical age of onset is around 30. According to Goadsby, the disease manifests as bouts of very severe pain, one or many times per day, for months at a time, usually followed by a period of remission. 

Verapamil, a calcium-channel antagonist drug, is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and high blood pressure. The medicine is typically given in doses of 180 to 240 milligrams per day to help ease hypertension. 

However, the patients in this study received more than twice that dose for the off-label treatment of their cluster headaches -- 512 milligrams per day on average, and one patient elected to take 1,200 milligrams per day. The treatment protocol involved ramping up the dose from 240 milligrams to as high as 960 milligrams per day, in 80 milligram increments every two weeks, based on EKG findings, side effects, and symptomatic relief. 

Many patients may not be getting those kinds of tests to monitor heart function, however: In this study cohort, about 40 percent of patients never got an EKG. 

Given the typical dosage, Sica said he was surprised so many patients were able to tolerate such high amounts of the drug.

"When used in clinical practice for hypertension, the high-end dose is 480 milligrams," said Sica. "Most people cannot tolerate 480."

Dr. Carl Pepine, chief of cardiology at the University of Florida, Gainesville, was also "amazed" at the doses that were tolerated in this study. "The highest dose I ever gave [for cardiology indications] was 680 milligrams. This might give me more encouragement to use the drug at higher dose," he said. 

But Sica said he thought cardiac patients -- the typical verapamil users -- were unlikely to tolerate the drug as well as the patients in this study, because verapamil reacts differently in older individuals, who are more likely to have high blood pressure, than in younger patients. The average patient in the United Kingdom study was 44 years old. 

According to Sica, two factors would conspire to make older individuals more sensitive to verapamil. First, the metabolism of the drug is age-dependent, meaning that older individuals would tend to have higher blood levels of the drug, because it is cleared more slowly than in younger individuals.

Secondly, the conduction system of the heart (the natural "pacemaker" becomes more sensitive to the effects of verapamil with age, Sica said. 

"It's likely that an older population would not be able to tolerate the same dose," he concluded. 

According to Goadsby, the take-home message of this study is simple: Be sure to get regular EKGs if you are taking verapamil for cluster headaches. Goadsby recommended EKGs within two weeks of changing doses, and because problems can arise over time -- even if the dose doesn't change -- to get an EKG every six months while on a constant dose. 

"The tests are not expensive, and they are not invasive," he said. "They are not in any way a danger to the patient."

For the most part, Goadsby said, should a cardiac problem arise, it will typically go away once the treatment is halted." 

neetnut wrote on Jun 6^th, 2010 at 1:01am:


My health plan is a PPO but they will only cover 4 shots per mo. for a work around my Neuro also prescribed the nasal Imitrex, the ins. will cover both types in the same month.  The nasal doesn't work as well as the shot or as fast, but eventually it does work.  I try to save my shots for hits at work and use O2 or nasal at home, for the milder hits I will use a nasal Imitrex at work.

Good Luck with your new ins.

I read about the imitrex tip the other night and will diffidently give it a try. Anything to make them (shots) last longer is a benefit for all us sufferers.

Between headaches this weekend, I've been voraciously reading posts on CH.com.  My partner thinks that I'm obsessing too much and that I need to take my mind off it and relax between bouts. 

I didn't get my normal 2pm headache today, but I did wake up this morning with a MIGRAINE on the other side of my head.  Definitely not the searing moster hit of a cluster and much like the migraines I've gotten since I was a kid.  I'm scared to death that the two are going to overlap for a while.  I managed to get an imitrex into me this morning and that took away the migraine on the right side, but I've had a definite shadow of a cluster all day on the left side. 

Do others of you have both types of headache? 

What about your jobs?  I've got a management, number-crunching, stare-at-a-computer-most-of-the-day kind of job and the powers above me are getting frustrated with my headache time.  I've got intermittent FMLA paperwork in place, but I've always been an over-achiever and in the past year or so my superiors are starting to indicate that I'm not performing up to expectations.  I've got pretty good health insurance and need it for both myself and my partner, who's had cardiac bypass surgery.  I'm beginning to think that I need to, at least for a while, get myself into a less stressful (and, ugh, lower-paying) job while I try to get the newly-diagnosed cluster headaches under control.  It is a delicate balance -- I'm axious about potentially being labeled as a whiner and not "being there" (physically out sick more than average) as a manager needs to be all the time.  I can (and have) successfuly argued that my headache time away can't legally be an excuse to reprimand me, but in the work world there are always work-arounds to subtly punish people who are sick.  I'm lucky that I have an office where I can close the door and use ice packs or hot packs and be by myself -- I hope that very soon I'll be able to keep some oxygen there, too.

I know working with someone with chronic headaches can be tough -- or any chronic severe pain, for that matter.  I know (years ago) I used to get annoyed with a co-worker who was out freqently for back pain.  I had to cover for her when she was out.  Now, for the people who work under me, I make sure that nobody feels guilty for taking time off when they need it for pain or illness.

One more thing:  I've been in (psychological) therapy before for headache-related depression, but haven't done it for a few years.  Do any of you find talk therapy helpful? Ideally what I'd like is to participate in a local support group of fellow cluster sufferers.  My at-home support is good, but I still feel the need to shield my loved ones from my attacks and retreat to be by myself and pace around in one room when my pain is at it's worst -- I want to minimize their feelings of helplessness and, frankly, I get annoyed when I'm in pain and anyone wants to touch me.

Shadow is starting to get darker -- must go drink a Red Bull and try to keep calm....

Jim

Hi Jim.  The things you are describing are common for a lot of us.  Strange work things, frustration, depression, lonely sufferer, slacker....Whatever you want to call it, I have felt all those things.

We learn to deal with it I guess.  With the help of this site and all the great folks here and Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or we don't just 'deal with it', we counter attack! 

That's what everyone here is saying and it works.  We can't cure it, but we have found a few treatment options that can manage and minimize the pain.  Some people manage with prescriptions and some go without.  In either case almost everyone here has taken matters into their own hands, read everything they can find and pushed their doctors for the treatments that fit their life.

Sounds like you get a 2pm'er?  Drink your redbull at 1:45 and that should help with your work life.  Get the nighttime hits?  Try the melatonin cocktail that the nightimers take.  Have oxygen on hand at work and at home.  Definitely obsess for a while until you get this under control. 

Since I have been working with the fungus (mushrooms) I can abort whole cycles if I am paying close enough attention.  We usually have these for life so it pays to pay close attention.

And yes there are migraine/cluster people here.  I am one of them and to prove it I spent a morning a week ago throwing up on my floor .  Migraines are rare for me, some people more often.

Talk to your dude when you are both feeling good.  It was hard for me to talk about it for a while because I was so frustrated and I couldn't figure it out myself.  Once I came to this site it enabled me to be able to talk openly to my friends, coworkers and family.  The collegue letter mentioned above is really good.

Hang in there daddy-o!

--Shaggy

When I have an attack I go to my little room and the wife knows, don't talk to me, touch me or even look at me. Of course if I'm out this is a bit more difficult, but I hide as best I can. I hate being caught in public...

It took a few cycles for the wife to understand, if I need anything I'll ask for it.

I have been to therapy 3 times for the depression from CH. It did help but I don't like the meds, they seem to make me care about nothing.

Don

neetnut wrote on Jun 7^th, 2010 at 10:49am:


That is something your Doc can help you out with.  Disability is hard to get on and your Doctor has to state that you are disabled and fill out paper work.  Discuss this with your doctor and make it clear that this condition is affecting your ability to work. 

As to the details of filing I couldn't help with that, never done it, but I'm sure there are others here who have.  My advice to get more information on this would be to start a new topic 'probably in cluster headache specific' titled "need help with Disability filing" I'm sure you'll get helpful replies.

I feel for you and all others who are having problems with their employers over this condition, I've been there and done that, and it SUCKS!   

Best Wishes!

I would think that if your CH is episodic you would not be able to collect SSDI, let alone any state programs. If chronic it's still going to be an uphill battle.

Hopefully you can work on finding good preventative therapy and then use O2 to abort like so many here. That would give you the ability to resume living your life instead of letting CH destroy it!

Just my 2 cents. Wishing you some relief.