Posted by gary g (209.187.112.191) on July 23, 1999 at 15:46:49:
In Reply to: Do Chronics Ever Go Episodic? posted by jen on July 23, 1999 at 15:25:26:
8 months is only borderline chronic, technically, unless he'd been having them a long time before you met him
there appears to be no standard or absolute
mine started 30 yrs ago, each cluster 4-5 weeks with what I now know to be mild attacks
then 10 years of clusters getting longer with the contained attacks getting worse
then went chronic for about 1 1/2 years
as I understand it, chronic, means you don't get at least a month's break between long clusters, adding up to over a year without a noticeable break - a 6 month cluster, even 8 isn't chronic - it's just a long, mean SOB
the last 15 years the clusters have been coming gradually further apart, lasting 2 - 4 months, averaging a total of 4-6 months each year
other people have similar varying experiences
this is NO pattern rule at all
my own opnion is that eventually we will see chronic vs episodic as just a quick way of saying how severe a case the person has been experiencing, but essentially the same thing medically
IMHO:
THE VERY IMPORTANT LESSON IS:
start learning the "day at a time" philosophy of life NOW, if you have CH or love someone who does
they WILL ruin a "big plan/big picture" life expectation,
but with ODAAT approach, lots of absolute beauty & joy can be found in being alive, even during a real bad bout
suggestion:
every time you find yourself worrying/fearful
STOP
put the time & energy into LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING on the 'web: the more you understand the physiology, copoing skills, approaches to MDs & Ins Co's, work & family dynamics, etc, the better you will make out and there are now 1000s of info sources online
good luck