Hey Visperas,

Welcome to the anti-inflammatory regimen...  Good questions and I understand obtaining some of the nutrients in this regimen can be difficult for CH'ers not living in the US.

Let's start with the vitamin D3.  If there's any question as to what's available is vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) or vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)...  buy the cholecalciferol in the highest concentration (strength) possible. 

Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) is much less effective in preventing cluster headache than vitamin D3. 

We've had a few chronic CH'ers take vitamin D prescribed by their PCP and it ended up being vitamin D2 - (ergocalciferol). When they were unable to achieve a pain free response after several weeks taking vitamin D2 they stopped taking it and purchased some 5,000 IU vitamin D3 capsules...  Two days later they experienced a pain free response...

In many countries, 400 IU vitamin D3 liquid soft gel capsules is the highest concentration you can buy off the shelf without a prescription.  Taking 25 of these a day is a pain...  Get a prescription...

One of the exciting things about vitamin D3 is you can take 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 every day, 70,000 IU once a week, or 280,000 IU once a month and you should get nearly the same resulting 25(OH)D response.

If the pharmacy only has vials of vitamin D3 make sure it says "cholecalciferol."  Ask the pharmacist "What is the total International Units (IU) of cholecalciferol in the vial?"

If the total amount of vitamin D3 in the vile is 300,000 IU, divide by 10,000 IU/day and you get 30 days...  That means you can safely take the contents of the vial every 30 days.

Some vials of vitamin D3 have the contents measured by weight... usually in micrograms abbreviated as mcg or µg. In this case 250 micrograms = 10,000 IU of vitamin D3.

Some liquid vitamin D3 preparations the dose is listed as IU/drop as illustrated in the photo below where one drop = 2000 IU of vitamin D3:

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The bottom line is talk with the pharmacist to ensure you know how much vitamin D3 you'll be taking by serving size and that you need 10,000 IU/day, 70,000 IU/week or 280,000 IU every four weeks.

The other important thing to do is ask your PCP for the 25(OH)D lab test after a month taking the vitamin D3.

The alternative to the above process of obtaining vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) from a pharmacist is to order the nutrients from over the Internet.  The following photo illustrates the nutrients, I take each day to prevent my CH:

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As far as the minimum supplements to take if you can't find all of them... take the vitamin D3, Omega-3 Fish Oil, magnesium, vitamin K2 (MK-7), zinc and a good multi-vitamin...  preferably one for seniors.

You're correct, a teaspoon of raw honey a day will provide the needed boron.  Most multivitamins for seniors contain boron and vitamin A.

Hope this helps.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Thierry,

The latest regimen update will call for 220 to 500 mg/day calcium... 

I'm a cheese head so go through a lot of cheese a week along with a serving or two of salmon, a daily glass of orange juice, and lots of dark green veggies.  I also go through nearly a pound of mixed nuts a week for snacks and an occasional serving of ice cream, so my intake of dietary calcium is likely a little higher than most.

Accordingly, 220 mg/day calcium is a good supplemental level to bring me up to the calcium RDA of 1000 mg/day.

Hope this helps.

V/R, Batch

Hey Thierry,

We just finished a delightful block of Dubliner chedder...  so I know you've got some fine cheese there in Ireland...

Take care,

V/R, Batch