Welcome to the board Lydia. The good news is you do not have to live like this anymore.
Read the link Mike gave you on oxygen. I'm a 33 year CH'er and NOTHING compares with oxygen to abort my attacks. I average 6-8 minutes from "oh shit here it comes" to pain free. But it must be used correctly or it's worthless. The keys:
High flow rate of at LEAST 15 LPM, preferably 25 or better. A NON RE BREATHER MASK. Nasal canulas and re breathers don't work as the key is getting 100% oxygen to your lungs at a rate to support hyper-ventilation. Get on it as soon as you feel the attack coming on. A delay of even 2-3 minutes will increase my abort times by several minutes.
I’ve had CH for 33 years, they haven’t killed me yet! You need an organized approach to managing them so they don’t manage your life. I use a 3 pronged approach, many use a similar approach:
1: A good prevent med. A med I take daily, while on cycle, to reduce the number and intensity of my attacks. I use lithium, it blocks 60-70% of my attack. Verapamil is the most common first line prevent, topomax also has a loyal following. Some have to combine lithium and verapamil together to get relief. That's what he's using the neurontin for.....but that shouldn't be a first line prevent as Verapamil has a substantially better track record.
2: A transitional med. Most prevents will take up to 2 weeks to become effective. When my cycles start, I go on a prednisone taper, from 80 mg to zero over a two week period to give me a break while my prevent builds up. Prednisone will provide up to 100% relief for many CH’ers but is harsh on the system and should only be used for short periods of time.
3: An abortive therapy, the attack starts, now what? As mentioned above, Oxygen should be your first line abortive. Here's that link again for the oxygen:
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!! You need to
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Imitrex nasal spray and injectables are very effective abortives. I use the injectables, they’re expensive, and I rarely use them, mostly just when I get caught away from the oxygen. The pill form generally works too slow to be effective for CH’ers.
Go to the medications section of this board and read the post "123 pain free days and I think I know why." It’s a vitamin/mineral/fish oil supplement, all over the counter stuff, that’s providing a lot of relief for people who have tried it, it’s a long read, worth the time.
For now, get some energy drinks. Rock Star, Monster, any containing the combo of caffeine and taurine, chug it down as fast as you can when you feel an attack starting. Many can abort or at least really reduce an attack using these.
Finally, visit our sister board for “alternative” treatment methods outside of mainstream medicine. As you’ll see from all the success stories on this board, there is something to it.
clusterbusters.com
Read everything you can on this board, if you are a CH’er, knowledge is your best ally. We’ll help you all we can. Yeah, girls really do get CH. Even of they don't smoke or drink. There's still a lot of CH Myths out there we're trying to overcome through education. Welcome home.
Joe
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