I've been out of work for a year this month and thankfully have not had CH since early this year ... but they're back ... and with vengence! I tried one of my Immitrex injections the other night, but it was the newest (expired a year ago) of those I had stock piled when I still had insurance and it was only somewhat effective. I'm sure the rest are even less.

Anyway, I have no insurance and can't get any because of other health issues, and my unemployment will run out next month and thus have $0 income.

If anyone has any ideas on how to get some assistance, i.e. state, federal, corporate ... I'm about to be very desperate! I'm facing a lot of challenges, but none scare me more than having no defense against the most debilitating condition.

Thanks in advance.

JEM

Keep trying your old Imitrex. Unless it has been storted in bad conditions , the expiration dates on meds are not of any merit.

In Atlanta, you should have a good array of free/low cost med services. Call the social service folks in your larger hospitals and ask; check with the United Way office; call the local govt Social Service organization -- all these are useful sources of information.

Melatonin can be used as both a preventive and abortive, although it doesn't rank high as an abortive. But cost is the clear advantage making it worth a try.

IF you have a doc who will work with you, ask for a sample of Zyprexa. You will know with 1-2 uses whether it works for you and it has the clear advantage of being much lower cost-per-dose than Imitrex and almost as fast working.
------

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

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


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.
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Check out "tips for suffers" at the top of this section.


(And don't forget "them what's" in Congress who won't vote for an extension of unemployment benefits.)

bonkers wrote on Aug 9^th, 2010 at 12:05am:


thats what i did. last cycle i didn't have insurance either.if your unemployed you may qualify for medicaid to pay for o2. if not you can rent an o2 from airgas or linde and tell them your using it for welding.

a 25 lpm or higher regulator is recommended.
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

o2 is a must

as for now try redbulls or energy drinks as an abortive. caffeine and taurine are the key ingredients.

kudzo supplements can be helpful. if you cant find them in the vitamin section at the grocery store or the pharmacy you can find them at gnc.

i highly recommend clusterbusting but be sure to read up on it before you try it

keep a couple bags of frozen peas in the freezer and put them on your face or on top of your head.

use your abortives early but dont overdo them in desperation.

aspirin, ibuprofen, or tylenol is not going to help you.

stay away from nitrates (sausage, bacon, hot dogs) and chocolate.

dont drink beer and dont smoke pot 

keep us updated and post any questions you might have

Thanks to all for the advice ... tough place to be in ... helps to know others have been (or are) there and willing to help!

This has been the weirdest cycle I've had in my 10 years of battling these things. They typically come on like a normal cycle, you deal with it and it eventually goes away. But this time, it's almost constant. I don't know if it's just a nearly constant shadow or just pain in my head from the aftermath of the major KIP 7-9's. Whatever it is, it's not left me pain free for nearly two weeks. The worst part is, I can't sleep ... virtually at all. Everytime I get pain free enough to doze off ... literally within minutes I get hit with one. I may have slept 3 hours in the past 3 days. Don't know how much sleep deprivation a body can handle, but I'm about to set a personal worst!

Thanks again ... hope to be able to return the favor someday.

Red

Hi Painfulnoodle and Welcome!

Since no one has mentioned this...
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or is another option.  You will need to spring $ for or get access through your local Social service agency for the Doctor visit to get new prescriptions.

Here are a few other tips:

4-Way Nasal spray or Dristan 12 Hour Nasal Spray helps with the annoying congestion.

Taurine and Caffeine drinks (RedBull if you like it) to help prevent a hit when you feel one starting.

Melatonin or an Allergy pill at night before bed to help avoid night time hits.

The herb Kudzu has helped a few as a prevent.   

Deep breathing through the milder hits can help too.

Yes ... I'm going very sparingly on the Immitrex. I had only stock piled about a half dozen kits and the newest one of those is over a year old. So I'm trying to wait until it's beyond controling with other means before I take the shot. I can't imagine having one without that as a backup. It's the only thing that's ever worked for me as a confirmed abortive when they reach KIP 8-9. But at some point, I have to get rid of the pain and sleep ... even if it's only a few hours before the rebound.

Red

Forgive me if I've missed this already being covered, but you've read the imitrex tip about how to stretch your doses by 2x to 3x I suppose?

I have a hard time imagining  a 1 year expired imitrex injection having  lost potency - 1 year old is fresh in my book too.  I bet it was other factors that made that shot less effective for you.

I'm pasting in some info here that a kind person shared in a post awhile back about the HealthTrans program for saving big $ on prescriptions:

I'm with Bonkers.

Started CH in 1999 with no insurance at all.  Couple of years later got diagnosis.  Prescribed Imitrex - couldn't take it because of heart issues - so went cold turkey for another cycle or two.

I do have insurance now, if that is what you can call it.  I am covered ONLY if I am admitted to a hospital (ER doesn't count).  I get nothing for doctors visits (not even a co-pay), nothing for prescriptions - nothing - oh excuse me, I do get an annual mammogram.

Because of this, I went to Clusterbusters.com and between that, and obtaining oxygen through my local welding supply company, I am doing phenomenally well - pain free for about 4 years.

Welders oxygen is still 100% oxygen, just like medical.  I rent a humongous tank for $56.00 per year, and my refills run less than $20.  My rc seeds are horrendously cheap.

Sandy

Ok ... information overload here ... trying to make sense of all these tips. BTW ... thank you all for posting!

Is Zyprexa like Topomax (a preventative that didn't work for me) or Imitrex (my God-sent abortive)?

Tried Melatonin before unsuccesfully ... but will try again.

O2 was a great help before when I had the prescription. Will try the welders version. Appears the site is out of the masks right now though.

I have tried the RX Assist and Bridges ... because I'm still recieving unemployment (and only unemployment) I don't qualify because I make too much money! Do you think they knew what the unemployment payment amounts would be when they established their guidelines??

I went to Clusterbusters.com but I must be missing something. It's written about in here as if they offer some sort of treatment ... but all I see is more info like that offereed here on CH.com. Am I missing something??

What are RC Seeds?

I know some of this probably sounds silly to those of you who are regulars here ... but as previously stated, I've been out of the loop for a while.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some clarification on some of these items. I'm not being lazy and doing no research ... I truly am reading all I can find ... but right now I have 8 different windows open and all this information is confusing the hell outta me!

Red

Hey PainfulNoodle (I like that name! - your intact sense of humor tells me that you'll make it thru this very ruff, but very temporary patch).

Has anyone mentioned yet that Glaxo (makers of imitrex) has some sort of program for unemployed etc. folks where you contact them and they give you real cheap imitrex? I've read about it here before, but haven't looked into the details.

Well at least you're getting unemployment huh? I'm outa work almost 4 months now - was self employed before that, so no unemployment $ for me. That oughta teach me some kinda lesson or other. 

About the RC. The Rivea Corymbosa seeds are legally mail order-able online and legal to possess. Last I heard, theoretically if a law enforcement officer saw you ingesting some, somehow recognized the brew you had made as being from highly obscure RC seeds, and decided you were a horribly crimminal threat to society, you could be BUSTED though LOL. Somehow seems highly unlikely to me, and I haven't heard of it ever happening.

My preliminay impression of RC seeds is that they are basically weak compared to psilocybin. An occasional CH'er has reported success with them, but I tend to be in more of a "go for the big guns" mood.

At clusterbusters.com I did recently see a report of a new source for RC seeds that has fresher/better ones than Iamshaman.com where I ordered mine, so maybe that could make a real difference??

Speaking of clusterbusters.com, it's basically a site, and very importantly to us, a forum just like this one that focuses more on psychedelics for CH. Their message board is a great place to ask questions on the subject, and you'll find some more informed folks than me there. You'll recognize some folks that are here also being active over there.

Once you're signed up to their forum Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or , there is a "ClusterBuster Files" forum category with a lot of info to read up on.

I've tried melatonin (9mg at bed) too. Unsuccessful. It's apparently another one of those that works great for some, but nuthin' happening for others.

Personally I would leave the trex in the injector pack until needed more of a seal for preserving with injector pack.

As for reusing syringes, with repeated use you have a higher risk of infection (even with cleaning) and more ware and tare on the syringe could lead to it breaking on you.  (I know this because years ago I had to take shots of heparin due to a blood clot.) I wouldn't recommend reuse of syringes.
However you could ask your doctor to prescribe syringes to help make your imitrex last longer, not sure if that would be doable but couldn't hurt to ask him.

for what its worth - methysergide worked well for me in my last cycle and you can get it from a Canadian pharmacy relatively cheaply....not a good med if you are chronic (can't be on it for more than 6 mo) but perhaps something to discuss w/ your doc....

curious about others experiences - what is the lowest cost preventative out there? (legal, that is)