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svargas05

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Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Apr 29^th, 2014 at 2:26pm

So, I decided to try the anti-inflammatory method of getting rid of the devil behind my eye and to my surprise it worked....for 3 days.

On the 4th day, my body laughed at my methods and gave me 2 nice, big 45 minute cluster headaches.

I swear, this thing will NOT let up. It's like it's something in your body that WANTS you to feel the pain in order to get through a cycle successfully.

Always the longest months of my life Embarrassed

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jason1212

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #1 - Apr 29^th, 2014 at 5:24pm

svargas05 wrote on Apr 29^th, 2014 at 2:26pm:

It's like it's something in your body that WANTS you to feel the pain in order to get through a cycle successfully.

I get the same feeling too, I get it with individual headaches too. If I get a quick jump on an attack with an Imitrex injection it's like it's guaranteed to come back in a few hours where as if I suffer through most of it then take an injection I seem to go longer before the next attack. It may be all in my head but it sure feels like it sometimes.

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Batch

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #2 - Apr 30^th, 2014 at 1:09pm

Hey Svargas05,

Thanks for the post with your experience with the anti-inflammatory regimen. What you've experienced in the first few days or weeks after starting this regimen is not uncommon.

There are a lot of reasons for the change in your CH pattern after starting this regimen. Most are too complicated to explain in this response... The good news is you are responding.

Stick with the vitamin D3 loading schedule to get your 25(OH)D serum concentration up around 80 ng/mL and I'm confident you'll be pleasantly surprised at the sustained pain free response... It's also important see your PCP or neurologist after 30 days...

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

V/R, Batch

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svargas05

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #3 - Apr 30^th, 2014 at 8:29pm

Batch wrote on Apr 30^th, 2014 at 1:09pm:

Hey Svargas05,

Thanks for the post with your experience with the anti-inflammatory regimen. What you've experienced in the first few days or weeks after starting this regimen is not uncommon.

There are a lot of reasons for the change in your CH pattern after starting this regimen. Most are too complicated to explain in this response... The good news is you are responding.

Stick with the vitamin D3 loading schedule to get your 25(OH)D serum concentration up around 80 ng/mL and I'm confident you'll be pleasantly surprised at the sustained pain free response... It's also important see your PCP or neurologist after 30 days...

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

V/R, Batch

Hmm, your response is reassuring...but I have a couple questions, Batch.

So my situation has been this - CHs started at 17 skipped until 19 then 21 then 22 and now at 25. My cycles have always lasted approximately a month and I usually have 1-2 headaches a day (the past 3 days have been twice a day).

If I start on the D3 regimen and they kill my cluster headaches, then I stop the regimen a few months later, do you think my body will just pick up where it left off when I started the regimen and re-start the old cycle?

Also, alcohol will trigger a CH for me within 5 minutes. While on D3, will alcohol still do the same?

I know that everybody is different so it's hard to answer, but from what you've seen, do you have an educated guess?

I'm sorry, I want to try anything that will make them go away but don't want to become dependent on anything I'll have to stay on every day for the rest of my life because if I stop they'll come right back...

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« Last Edit: Apr 30^th, 2014 at 8:30pm by svargas05 »

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Batch

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #4 - Apr 30^th, 2014 at 9:07pm

Svargas05,

Good questions... The anti-inflammatory regimen with vitamin D3 and Omega-3 Fish oil is not a cure. If you stop taking it... the next time your regularly scheduled CH cycle comes around... you'll get whacked...

The anti-inflammatory regimen is very healthy for you over and above its capacity to prevent CH... As such and at 35 to 40 cents a day, it's a very healthy choice to stay on year round...

That way when your next scheduled cycle comes around it will be a non-event... You'll sail through it pain free... We've several episodic CH'ers who have been on this regimen for over three years who will tell you this...

Regarding the "beer test..." there are plenty of CH'ers around, both episodic and chronic who have been on this regimen long enough for a pain free response who found beer, wine and spirits no longer resulted in a trigger.

If you don't want to be on this regimen year round... You'll need to see your PCP or neurologist t for the 25(OH)D lab test while you're still taking this regimen and pain free to determine your therapeutic serum concentration of 25(OH)D...

When you think your cycle has ended, just stop taking this regimen.... I'd get tested again a couple months prior to your next expected cycle to see how low your 25(OH)D has dropped... then restart this regimen so your 25(OH)D is back at the therapeutic level when the beast makes his calling...

The first order of business is getting pain free... Going on the vitamin D3 loading schedule is the best and fastest way of doing this. When you've been pain free for at least a week or two, get the lab test for 25(OH)D.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

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TeeJ2379

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #5 - May 1^st, 2014 at 5:40pm

D3 is just like Clusters, both are clubs you are in for life. My clusters are the only thing that ever made me take my pills every night. I've been on it for almost a year now and I'm 99 percent sure it keeps my clusters away. Come June 1st we will know for sure, as that is one year since my first ever attack....Good luck and keep strong.

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svargas05

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #6 - May 2^nd, 2014 at 8:31pm

Batch wrote on Apr 30^th, 2014 at 9:07pm:

Svargas05,

Good questions... The anti-inflammatory regimen with vitamin D3 and Omega-3 Fish oil is not a cure. If you stop taking it... the next time your regularly scheduled CH cycle comes around... you'll get whacked...

The anti-inflammatory regimen is very healthy for you over and above its capacity to prevent CH... As such and at 35 to 40 cents a day, it's a very healthy choice to stay on year round...

That way when your next scheduled cycle comes around it will be a non-event... You'll sail through it pain free... We've several episodic CH'ers who have been on this regimen for over three years who will tell you this...

Regarding the "beer test..." there are plenty of CH'ers around, both episodic and chronic who have been on this regimen long enough for a pain free response who found beer, wine and spirits no longer resulted in a trigger.

If you don't want to be on this regimen year round... You'll need to see your PCP or neurologist t for the 25(OH)D lab test while you're still taking this regimen and pain free to determine your therapeutic serum concentration of 25(OH)D...

When you think your cycle has ended, just stop taking this regimen.... I'd get tested again a couple months prior to your next expected cycle to see how low your 25(OH)D has dropped... then restart this regimen so your 25(OH)D is back at the therapeutic level when the beast makes his calling...

The first order of business is getting pain free... Going on the vitamin D3 loading schedule is the best and fastest way of doing this. When you've been pain free for at least a week or two, get the lab test for 25(OH)D.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Batch,

Can you try to explain to me why my clusters get significantly worse on the D3?

I started taking again today and it seems as if they brought on an attack, but I'm taking your word for it as far as that not being uncommon.

I just want some enlightenment.

Thanks!

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« Last Edit: May 2^nd, 2014 at 8:32pm by svargas05 »

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blacklab Ex Member	Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up Reply #7 - May 3^rd, 2014 at 2:58am svargas, trust batch, he knows what he's talking about ! it can take a while for your levels to rise to the green zone. if you haven't been tested, its guess work, took me a month to go from deficient to the green zone ! that's where you've got to be. stick with it !! colin
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svargas05

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #8 - May 3^rd, 2014 at 10:14am

Quote:

svargas,
trust batch, he knows what he's talking about !
it can take a while for your levels to rise to the green zone.
if you haven't been tested, its guess work, took me a month to go from deficient to the green zone ! that's where you've got to be. stick with it !!

colin

Oh, I trust him...

I just wanted to know because it seems that the D3 brought on heavier headaches, for longer and more frequent than if I wasnt taking any supplements at all.

I'm used to 1-2 a day(mostly just once a day) and with the D3 I had 2 within the span of 5 hours last night. Each an hour long.

Not fun.

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« Last Edit: May 3^rd, 2014 at 10:18am by svargas05 »

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jon019

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #9 - May 3^rd, 2014 at 2:20pm

Hi Svargas,

There may be "part" of the regimen that is causing problem...I seriously doubt it's the D3.
Many years ago I noticed that taking a multvitamin was causing the same situation you describe...I had to stop...there was an ingredient in there that wasn't friendly (for ME).

I never figured it out, also while I currently take most of the recommended regimen (for ch and other reasons).. just can't do the fish oil....which also caused increased hits. It has been a few years now so I should probably re try...but tempting the beast takes more guts than I currently have.

Batch...whadda ya think?

Best

Jon

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svargas05

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #10 - May 3^rd, 2014 at 4:24pm

jon019 wrote on May 3^rd, 2014 at 2:20pm:

Hi Svargas,

There may be "part" of the regimen that is causing problem...I seriously doubt it's the D3.
Many years ago I noticed that taking a multvitamin was causing the same situation you describe...I had to stop...there was an ingredient in there that wasn't friendly (for ME).

I never figured it out, also while I currently take most of the recommended regimen (for ch and other reasons).. just can't do the fish oil....which also caused increased hits. It has been a few years now so I should probably re try...but tempting the beast takes more guts than I currently have.

Batch...whadda ya think?

Best

Jon

I started to wonder the same....I just recently took D3, Magnesium and K2. Left out the fish oil and multi-vitamin (which I'll be honest, I was taking my girlfriend's prenatal vitamins, haha)

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Batch

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Re: Anti-Inflammatory Got My Hopes Up
Reply #11 - May 3^rd, 2014 at 10:47pm

Hey Svargas,

Sorry you're having a rough time... I'll be the first to admit I don't have all the answers... and it's likely some that I do have may be half baked...

That said, the human body runs on vitamin D3, (cholecalciferol - actually a prohormone)... It is so important that our skin has the capacity to generate vitamin D3 when exposed to the UVB in sunlight...

As nutrients go, vitamin D3 is among the safest and most important. It takes part in or controls many of the physiological processes and organs that keep us living.

You can go to the FDA's database of adverse reactions to prescription and over the counter medications and supplements and you'll find vitamin D3 has the fewest adverse reactions and no deaths... We can't say that about all the other CH preventatives and abortives less 100% oxygen.

Like prednisone, vitamin D3 is a powerful anti-inflammatory, but without the adverse side effects associated with long term use of prednisone.

The Omega-3 fatty acids are also potent anti-inflammatories. They are found in highest concentrations in anchovies, herring and salmon. Combining vitamin D3 and Omega-3 Fish Oil makes a very effective and vary safe naturopathic anti-inflammatory that gives name to this regimen.

Back to the increase in the frequency of your CH after starting this regimen. Roughly 5% of CH'ers who start it experience this phenomenon.

The best thing to do at this point is don a Sherlock Holmes Deerstalker hat and do some sleuthing by using the elementary process of elimination on the supplements used in this regimen.

Start by taking only the vitamin D3 for three days. If there's no increase in the frequency or intensity of your CH, add just the magnesium. 24 hours should be sufficient to determine if magnesium is the culprit. Add the Omega 3 Fish Oil next. Again, 24 hours should be sufficient.

The calcium citrate or Mature Multi formulations each have a number of nutrients and minerals rolled into one pill... Among them are the cofactors zinc, boron and vitamin A. Take it last.

Take care and please let us know the outcome...

V/R, Batch

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You love lots of things if you live around them. But there isn't any woman and there isn't any horse, that’s as lovely as a great airplane. If it's a beautiful fighter, your heart will be ever there

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