Okey,

Some of you who have read my posts know that after my last cycle about 3 weeks ago, things have been going with ups and downs.

I haven't figured out if it's due to CH or topamax yet. But due to what I learned here at CH.com and the wonderful advice and shared experiences and insight of some of you, I sent a document to my doctor with info about verapamil and o2.
She discussed this with a collegue so I can visit her next Tuesday to talk about a verapamil approach and the use of O2 as an abortive.
This is meant as an in-between-step before going to my neuro.

Anyways, in the meanwhile things are still going with ups and downs. Some days I feel like I can take on the world, others I'm extremely exhausted, have trouble concentrating and feel extremely well some tingle in the back of my head.

So, I will buy some packs of red-bull tomorrow and start drinking 1 each day. Maybe that'll help. I don't really know when to drink it though? Right after lunch?

I will also start running again. I have the shoes and clothing as I used to run a couple of years ago. Maybe that'll get back my energy. I know that way back when I was a regular runner, running actually gave me energy.

I don't know what this will do, but if I should notice any impact I will let you know. I am looking forward to trying this.

Have a great wonderful weekend you all. I hope the beast stays away!
Cheers.

Hi Ruva,

As Black said an energy drink will only help if consumed very quickly at the onset of an attack.  They are very effective for me in most instances. 

I wanted to add that SOME people find exercise acts as a trigger.  While in cycle, if I even take a brisk walk  I will get hit within ten minutes after stopping.  Others find that exercising while having an attack can abort it. 

Pain free wishes to you,

Jeannie

wimsey1 wrote on Jun 11^th, 2010 at 10:13am:


There is one regular here (an Aussie bloke) who has used taurine as a preventative, and he reported fairly good results, as I recall it.

Definitely a  lot cheaper - a kilo of bulk taurine is around $30, which is 1000 x 1 gram doses at 3 cents a piece.  For about a year I was taking 1 to 3 grams of taurine daily in my coffee ... I was in remission, but using it for blood pressure/anxiety issues.

Heya all, thanks for the replies

@black, thx, I'll make sure to drink whenever I feel the need.
At the moment I don't have attacks, but weird feelings in the head. Don't know if that qualifies as shadows but want to give it a try.

@Jeannie, at the moment I'm not in a cycle. During a cycle I also want to avoid as much physical effort as possible. But since it's been a while and I've been feeling exhausted and a bit dull (as if I'm without energy to do anything) since my last cycle, I figured I should try to exercice.
I AM a bit affraid about using it quickly at the start of an attack as I've also read that it can enhance an attack if you don't drink it fast enough.
So well, I'll see if anything happens no. If nothing bad happens then well, that's at least that

@wimsey1, I'm still new to this taurine thing so I don't know if I should buy tabs already. Makes me wonder, is taurine something one can get addicted to? But, I will discuss this with my doctor. I don't know, maybe I'm too defensive about all this and maybe I should go more on the offensive.
It's just... the last thing I want to do is make things even worse :p

Thanks again all.
I'll be back after the weekend.
Cheers all of you!

Unfortunately i can't tell you for sure if energy drinks works for sure.

what i do,is drink one quickly with a DHE pill(other times instead of an energy drink a strong coffee will do as well too) since this is my line of defense.
So i guess it's all about try and result.you have to work it out as to see if and how it suits you.
As for the energy shots all i can  say is that there are other brand names which are as good as red bull and maybe even better since red bull has just established
a well known around name through wide advertisement but is also the most expensive.
From a research in supermarkets here where i live a red bull costs 1,40 euros per each while the best i ve found till now is blue bear in price of 3,00 euros a six pack which is major difference.
Sorry for the advertisement just want to say that there are other options too.And since prices differ from country to country all you have to do is search what's the best for you in your local market.
As for the running it's seems easy but it's the most diffficult exercise.If you don't feel quiet fit yet may i suggest bicycle at least for the beginning.A lot more fun and easier to start improving fitness.If you have any forgotten somewhere time to take it back on streets.
 

Hi there, RuVa!

I do hope that it's the Red Bull, which helps you out. I can tell from my own experience that energy drinks have made all the difference for me. The brand doesn't really matter, the amount of caffeine and taurine matters.

What comes to me, also caffeine tablets (the ones sold in here have 100mg of caffeine in one tab) help and during the last two cycles, also guarana tablets (500mg guarana per tablet) helped.

Naturally, I cannot promise that those will help you as well, but they're worth considering, if energy drinks work. Only you can tell yourself what helps and works best for you.

Wishing you a short cycle and lots of Pf time,

Sanna

Thanks for that link deb424, somehow I found more info on the usa link than on the belgian website for the redbull shots.

It's day 4 of redbull now, been drinking 1 redbull every day now at teh time I thought my head started to tingle/feel fuzzy.
It seems to have some effect but I'm cautious as to agreeing that it's redbull and not coincidence.
I'm still just trying this out but it looks to be heading in the right direction.

For those among you who drink energy drinks regularly...
I'm wondering if this is all very healthy though?...
Can I drink more than 1 energy drink a day? I mean... what if this feeling lasts for about 3 weeks more and I need to drink at least 1 a day? What if 1 a day doesn't seem to cover it and some days I feel I could use 2 (at least until this is over)... Is that actually recommended?

I'm trying this out because I really want to find out if it helps. If so I'd be very happy but I don't want to actually be doing unhealthy things here... My wife has a collegue who drinks a lot of redbull for fun. She has done so for a long time and now she says she gets headaches when she's off redbull because she feels addicted to it.
I guess it's the same when you're a heavy coffee drinker due to the cafeine... but even though I drink 2-4 cups of coffee daily, I have no problem quitting coffee for weeks as I sometimes do.

Well, if some if you could share some insight and experience it would make me more comfortable 

Thanks again all, and sorry for being such a pain 
Cheers

Brew wrote on Jun 15^th, 2010 at 7:05am:


Oh!! Thanks for that tip. I have an appointment tonight with my doctor about taking verapamil so your timing with this tip is great!.

I'll let my wife know too, my memory has been pretty sluggish lately! Thanks Brew!

I've been using the Monster Hitman series - the blue one is sugar free, 2g of taurine - I also spike it with an orange flavored Goody's powder, 325mg tylenol, 500mg aspirin and 65mg of caffeine extra - for me, sometimes it helps, sometimes not, but worth a try

Back with a more specific update after having some time on my hands again.

energy drinks do have a temporary positive effect on me. Sometimes even aborts the shadows (if that's a correct way of describing my feelings)
Whenever my head gets a buzzing feeling or that ice/fire pick feeling through my head, igniting a mood swing in the process, I immediately drink a red bull.
(not that red bull undoes the mood swing, I don't even drink a red bull every other day so that can't be it :p)

I don't know what exactly triggers that buzzy feeling in my head or that fire pick feeling.  Sometimes I get that feeling after having gone grocery shopping after getting home from work.

I have also noticed that taking a warm shower is not good. I should wash my hair with a lower temperature than I wash the rest of my body. For some reason, warm water on my head seems to induce the fire pick feeling in my head.

During those moments when I have that buzzy feeling I get pretty annoyed, but when the firepick busts in I just want to be left alone. It doesn't hurt or so it's just really annoying. Well anyways, drinking a rb helps, gets that annoying feeling out of me, helps me relax and that's good.

Some other good news is that I've been getting better and better. The aftermath of my last cycle was the worst of my 4 cycles so far. It's taken a while but now the buzzes are far less tense and far less common. Just the fire pick is very annoying but it doesn't kick in too often.
It feels I'm getting my rhythm back, my vigor, my vitality.
I'm not just happy again but more than happy and that's been a while

the energy drink tip I received from some of you certainly helped a lot so I am tremendously grateful!
It probably didn't solve anything, but at the least it softened some symptoms at peak moments, making things much more endurable and far less exhausting!
I was sceptic at first, but I tried it and somehow it has a great effect!

So from the bottom of my heart, thanks all!
Cheers,
Ruben

Oh, btw...
haven't been running for a while...
At 9pm it's still 28+ degrees Celcius and very moist here lately so... but the first runs were ok so I plan on picking up when it cools down a bit.

RuVa wrote on Jun 23^rd, 2010 at 7:54am:


Questionably related also, for many years I had a sedentary job during a term of many years that progressed to chronic.  Worst when actually becoming unemployed, mixing in a mental turmoil. 

With a much more strenuously active job almost the last three years since, a very short sparing happened last fall, then fell back to the usual.  But in February this year there was a total disappearance lasting until July 1st recently, the longest ever. 

Whatever contribution this lifestyle change may have had, I have the feeling of a very fortunate return to episodic after over six years chronic. 

While this single circumstance not may not be the alone factor, there has also been a more experienced use of verapamil in many years along the way, trying to gamble artfully with its most conservative use.  Presently so far it's assuredly needed again, but this 240mg/day dose is by far the surprisingly lowest used of yet to maintain.  Of course a change developing to more familiar CH will be no surprise.

Your improvement over a shorter term may lead me to be aware these circumstances are not so similar with the considerable component of a cycle's length. Activity stepped-up affects each different, but I've no explanation of being pf awhile and then managed again by such light aid so far.


Continued good progress to you.    

Hey everyone.  Some more caffeine thoughts.  I drink a coca cola every morning at 9am while in my cycle.  My attacks usually start around then and I drink 12-20 ounces before it starts.  That delays my attack until the afternoon.  Around 1pm or so, I either have some more caffeine drink or a no-doz/vivarin caffeine tablet, 200mg.  This has worked.  I don't feel I need the taurine, but if I get into a bad cycle again I will try it out.

Now I use the psilocybes and only need limited caffeine to handle shadows as I bust the entire cycle.

Dana, Ibuprofen and acetomenaphen are not usually known to help us.  It has been my experience that it is the caffeine in the excedrin that is the pain relief and the other stuff just ruins our stomachs.  That is the common thought here usually so be careful with those drugs.  We are all a bit different so maybe they work for you.  If you are sure those 2 drugs work then separate them by buying them seperately and see if it still works.  My bet is on the caffeine since you are taking redbull plus excedrin.  3 tablets = 200mg caffeine. 

Good luck everyone!

--Shaggy

Hello Everyone:

"5 hour Energy" is what I'm trying!

Tried it once or twice and didn't get the nightly visit. I haven't
tried 2 days back to back so we will see.

No visit since 3am on 15th  Drank 1- 5 hr energy
and 1 5 hr today will see if I get a visit tonight!

Normally even on 150mg Topomax and 600 of verap I was
having 2 CH's a day
will pop in tomorrow to let you know if the beast rattles
my cage  tonight!

Cheaper then imitrex and less taxing if by chance it may
work 2 days in a row!  Who TF knows, anyone?

And I slept like a baby, first time in a month and a half.
uuummmmm........  Maybe tonight too!.


Peace,

Boski