Hey Paulina,

First things first... Howz the head? 

You bring up a good point. Vitamin K1 or “Koagulationsvitamin” as it was called when discovered, helps control clotting.

The vitamin K2 complex is a different story... These are the menaquinones (MK-4 & MK-7) and they're not directly associated with clotting.   Instead, they help direct serum calcium away from soft tissues and arteries towards building bone mineral density, (BMD). 

Medical researchers have only recently (last 6 to 8 years) started doing studies of vitamin K2... mostly at the Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands and a few in Taiwan.

The super K with advanced K2 complex contains vitamin K1 and the two vitamin K2 menaquinones MK-4 and MK-7.  They work in concert to maintain a healthy clotting factor. You can buy vitamin MK-7 by itself.

The best course of action is to talk with your OB/GYN or PCP whoever prescribed your birth control pills before taking any vitamin K.

In the mean time, the folks at LEF have an excellent page explaining how all three work in concert.

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Read through the source references for the really good stuff on the vitamin K2 complex.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey Visperas,

The 25-Hydroxyvitamin D lab test goes by several names depending on the country.  The "vit D 25-H" and 25(OH)D lab tests are one in the same... Different labs use different assay methods but the results should be roughly the same give or take 5 ng/mL.

At a 25(OH)D serum concentration of 10.7 ng/mL... you were clearly vitamin D3 deficient.  The normal reference range is 30 to 100 ng/mL.  The vitamin D3 experts say the real normal reference range is 50 to 100 ng/mL.

In either case, you were vitamin D3 deficient...  The optimum 25(OH)D serum concentration is 60 to 80 ng/mL. That said, CH'ers have reported a cessation of CH symptoms in a 25(OH)D range of 60 to 110 ng/mL.

Hope this helps.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey Visperas,

Are you taking the accelerated vitamin D3 loading schedule?  If the answer is yes and you're still getting hit... cut the calcium supplement in half for a few days to see what happens.

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Visperas,

What you're taking sounds right... I wouldn't change a thing. When you've reached two weeks at a daily vitamin D3 dose of 20,000 IU/day plus the two 50,000 IU loading doses, (one each week), drop the daily vitamin D3 intake to 15,000 IU/day for another two weeks.

At the end of the 4-week vitamin D3 loading schedule, drop the daily vitamin D3 intake to a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day and get another 25(OH)D lab test.

Check your Multivitamin 50 Plus for vitamin B-12.  If each tablet contains 25 µg (micrograms) or less, pick up some 1000 µg vitamin B-12 tablets and take one a day for at least a month.

Dr. Stasha Gominak, MD treats her patients with migraine and sleep disorders with a vitamin D3 regimen very similar to the anti-inflammatory regimen...  The only difference is she tests for vitamin B-12 along with the vitamin D3 and treats any deficiencies.

She has a 5-part video on youtube that's worth watching.  You can find it at the following link:

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Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Visparas,

Good move on both counts.  The beauty of vitamin D3 at the doses we take is there's really no such thing as an overdose. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you can...  Even if you miss two or more daily doses, take them together along with the regular daily dose. Just remember to take the vitamin D3 with the largest meal of the day for optimum absorption.

We would need to take 50,000 IU/day for more than two months to push our 25(OH)D from 30 ng/mL to the lower threshold of toxicity of 200 ng/mL.

I based the present vitamin D3 loading schedule on a study of 48 adults who were give a single 600,000 IU oral dose of vitamin D3...  There were two other studies using a similar dose.  Three days later their 25(OH)D had risen an average of 60 ng/mL above their starting value...  There were no cases of vitamin D3 intoxication and no other adverse reactions.  In other words, a safe method of vitamin D3 repletion.

The vitamin D3 loading schedule has the same 600,000 IU of vitamin D3, but taken over a 4 week period.

Given your starting 25(OH)D serum concentration was 10,7 ng/mL, it will likely take you up to three weeks before you start experiencing a sustained pain free response.

Take are and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Visperas,

Thanks for the detailed feed back with lab results on your experience with the anti-inflammatory regimen and the accelerated vitamin D3 dosing schedule.

The optimum 25(OH)D serum concentration we need to shoot for as CH'ers is 60 to 80 ng/mL...  That you're already up at a 25(OH)D serum concentration of 92.9 ng/mL indicates the accelerated loading schedule has worked as expected.

The best information available indicates the lower threshold for vitamin D3 intoxication as indicated by total calcium serum concentrations above normal, is 200 ng/mL.  Some experts opine the real lower threshold for vitamin D3 intoxication is actually closer to 300 ng/mL.

Many of these same experts say we start passing excess calcium in urine when serum 25(OH)D concentrations are above 80 ng/mL.

With all that in mind... and given your 25(OH)D serum concentration is 92.9 ng/mL, which should not be a big worry... there's no need to continue the vitamin D3 loading schedule any further.

I'd suggest dropping back to a vitamin D3 maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day and start tuning the cofactors.

There are several options in tuning the vitamin D3 cofactors.  You can reduce or eliminate calcium supplements for a few weeks to a month to see what happens.  You can also increase the Omega-3 fish oil (I double mine to 2000 to 2400 mg/day when needed).  I've also increased the magnesium intake to 600 mg/day and zinc to 25 mg/day. You also need to make sure you're getting at least 3,000 to 5,000 IU/day of vitamin A (retinol) as it plays an important role in genetic expression.

Your vitamin B12 lab results and daily dose are a little confusing.  B12 (Cobalamin) lab results are normally listed in ng/L (Mas concentration), or pmol/L, (Molar concentration).  Check the lab report just to make sure.

I take 5000 mcg (µg) sublingual vitamin B12 tabs.  1000 mcg to 5000 mcg, (1 to 5 mg) vitamin B12 should be more than sufficient.

Finally, there's diet...  Cut back on red meat, high gluten bread and eliminate sugars.  Fish and chicken are fine...  Eating an alkalizing diet like GOMBS can help.  GOMBS stands for Greens, Onions, Mushrooms, Beans - Berries and Seeds - Nuts. 

A handful of each a day can help elevate your arterial pH making it more alkaline and less acid.  I keep a jar of mixed nuts next to my Mac for snacks... See the following links for info on GOMBS diets:

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If arterial pH gets low (but still within the normal reference range), this condition results in vasodilation and that makes nearly all the cluster headache methods of intervention become less effective.

Hope this helps.  Please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Visparas,

No need to stop the Multicentrum Select 50+...  Every thing else you're planning looks great.

Vitamin A (retinol) plays a key role in genetic expression of vitamin D3...  There should be a little in your Multicentrum Select 50+ but it may not be enough...

I've found a good source over the internet but you may be able to find it at most super markets...  It's call A & D...  5000 IU vitamin A (retinol) and 400 IU vitamin D3.  There are several brands that offer this formulation.

I've also been in touch with Dr. Stasha Gominak, MD, a neurologist in Tyler, TX.  She's been prescribing a vitmain D3 regimen very similar to the anti-inflammatory regimen to her migraine patients for over six years with good results... 

She suggests rather than vitamin B12 to take vitamin B 50 for three months...  After that the Mulitcentrum should work just fine.

The B 50 formulation is 50 mg each of all eight of the B vitamins.  Three months on vitamin B 50 should take care of any deficiencies.

Take care and please keep me posted.

V/R, Batch

Visperas,

Looks like you're taking all the right supplements at the right doses.  Your 25(OH)D is also in the "Green Zone."  You might want to drop the B12 and add a three month course of vitamin B50...  This should take care of any other B vitamin deficiencies...

As to your question on response times...  The latest data from the online survey of CH'ers taking this regimen indicates 70% of the CH'ers who respond to this regimen do so within the first two weeks... Most of the rest respond over the following month.   That said, some chronic CH'ers have taken as long as two months for a favorable response.

Regarding the recent increase in frequency and severity of your CH...  A number of CH'ers have reported similar problems...  I suspect the increased pollen count that happens this time of year may be the culprit.

Allergic reactions to allergens like pollen can trigger an immune response.  My thinking now is this immune reaction gobbles up the active vitamin D3 metabolite, 1,25(OH)2D3 leaving too little to prevent CH.

I've had the same problem for the last 3 weeks, primarily from maple pollen that's coated my pickup with a thick yellow dusting...  I've increased my daily vitamin D3 intake to 40,000 IU/day, increased my zinc to 20 mg/day and added a 1000 mg vitamin C tablet two to three times a day. 

This is working well for me with great sleep and only an occasional shadow, easily dispatched 2 to 3 minutes with oxygen, after being out in the woods cutting fire wood...

Hope this helps...  Take care, hang in there and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch