Hey Maggi,

Give the folks at OxyTravel a call...  It's run by the Linde Group of companies.  Once they have a confirmation you have a valid Rx for oxygen therapy, they can arrange for oxygen to be delivered to your travel locations in most countries.

The Linde Group also includes BOA, AGA, PanGas and a few other companies who supply medical oxygen around the world.

The OxyTravel home pages for Iceland, UK and Hong Kong follow although only one call to the office in Reykjavik is all that's needed...  You can have your Doctors office fax or email them your Rx.  After that you can give them your travel itinerary and you're good to go.

I've used them all over the world and the oxygen is always at the hotel or my travel destination when I arrive.

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

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

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

A second suggestion is to ask your doctor for the lab test for 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, a.k.a. 25(OH)D, the metabolite of vitamin D3 used to measure your vitamin D3 status.

I suspect you're vitamin D3 deficient and that deficiency has been contributing to your cluster headaches.  Nearly all of episodic CH'ers with active CH who have gone in for this test have had their results come back less than 30 ng/mL, (75 nmol/L).  Some chronic CH'ers have tested as high as 55 to 61 ng/mL.

The really interesting news is nearly all of the CH'ers who have gone pain free or had a significant reduction in the frequency and severity of their CH while on the anti-inflammatory regimen with 10,000 IU/day or more vitamin D3, have tested in a range of 60-110 ng/mL.  A few have tested higher between 130 to 150 ng/mL.

So far the efficacy of this regimen with nearly 150 CH'ers participating is 75% and most have a favorable response in less than three weeks. 

Most of the other 25% who have yet to respond to this regimen may have other medical conditions that prevents them from building 25(OH)D reserves high enough or metabolizing it further to 1,25(OH)2D3, the active metabolite.

The only note of caution is to use the vitamin D3 softgel capsules (5,000 IU are best), and not cod liver oil.  Although cod liver oil will work, it has a high level of vitamin A and too much vitamin A can interfere with the benefits of vitamin D3.

The 5,000 IU liquid softgel vitamin D3 capsules can be hard to find in some countries... If you run into that problem, you can order them over the internet easily from several sources...

Please stop by Jimmy's Kitchen for me while in HK and have a bowl of their French Onion soup...  It's the best I've had and one of my favorites.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey Maggi,

Thanks for the feedback...  and great news about starting vitamin D3 therapy.  If this regimen is as effective for you as it is for 75% of the CH'ers who try it...  you'll be pain free in less than three weeks and may not need the OxyTravel services...

Make sure you take calcium and the cofactors.  I recently completed another stress test of my 25(OH)D reserves... This time by taking 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3 and 2,000 mg/day. Omega 3 Fish Oil, but no calcium or cofactors... after a month my serum concentration of 25(OH)D dropped to 60 ng/mL...  so at least for me... the cofactors are very important.

I briefed the Linde Healthcare managers from all over the world at a conference in Munich a few years back about the results of a study we conducted on the demand valve method of oxygen therapy.  All of them were amazed that this method of oxygen therapy was 3 to 4 times faster in aborting a CH than a flow rate of 15 liters/minute and that the efficacy was better than 95%. The folks at AGA across the Scandinavian countries and Life Gas here in the US were there and have been among the most proactive to make the demand valve method of oxygen therapy available to CH'ers.

Regarding cod liver oil - There's a difference between cod liver oil and Omega 3 Fish Oil...  There's very little vitamin A in the Fish Oil... and unfortunately, you don't always know how much vitamin A is in the cod liver oil...  Too much vitamin A can cause problems...

You'll get enough good vitamin A and the β-carotene, the vitamin A precursor, from a serving of carrots, squash or spinach.  Fried chicken or beef liver once a  week will also keep your vitamin A levels in the optimum range.

As far as the shrooms and busting go...  I've tracked at least 25 CH'ers on the ClusterBuster web site and so far, 20 have gone PF on the anti-inflammatory regimen and none have reported any problems between using the two methods of preventing CH at the same time...

In fact, from researching some related studies, it appears the ergocalciferol (vitamin D2) in the shrooms may be providing some of the CH prophylaxis when busting with them.

I envy your trips to Hong Kong.  I was a WestPac sailor flying off the aircraft carriers USS Hancock, USS Midway and USS Kitty Hawk between '71-'81.  During that time I had the good fortune of making 8 port calls in Hong Kong.  I made my last trip there in '87.

My first stop after arrival in HK was always the Cow Hoo Shoe store...  to have more shoes made to order...  The last time I walked in in '87, I was wearing a pair of their handmade loafers and the manager commented..."Nice shoes... and of course we made them." 

He asked to see one of my shoes, looked at a number inked inside the shoe, then walked into the back room only to return with the original pair of hand carved wooden lasts dated Feb 1971 for LT Pete Batcheller...

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey Maggi,

Thanks for the update and trip report...  I'm glad you liked the onion soup at Jimmy's Kitchen. 

20,000 IU/day vitamin D3 with a 50,000 IU loading dose once a week should be sufficient to elevate your 25(OH)D into the CH response zone of 60 to 110 ng/mL as fast as possible.  You'll have a better idea how much longer it will take to go pain free once you have your 25(OH)D lab test results.

Some of the upset stomach could be due to the  magnesium as too much can easily cause lower GI tract distress.  Cut it back to 200 mg/day.  You can also cut the Omega 3 Fish Oil out completely for a couple days to see what happens.  600 mg/day calcium should be sufficient.

The only other thing to try is some Centrum Silver multi-vitamins.  A single tablet/day has the right amount of the vitamin A that's needed for the autocrine mode of vitamin D3 metabolism that takes place in the body's cells as long as the serum concentration of 25(OH)D is high enough.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch