Posted by Hal (199.224.94.206) on July 26, 1999 at 17:36:06:
In Reply to: Do you ever adjust to the pain? posted by Liz on July 26, 1999 at 10:54:13:
I didn't start to get any real relief till I started taking 480 mg. of Verapamil. This reduced the attacks to shadows that I could control with Darvocet. I still take 240 mg. of Verapamil, but I don't take any other meds except an occasional hit of aspirin-free Excedrin for what's left of the shadows. It took about a week for the Verapamil to reduce the clusters to shadows. I took a 240 Vep right after breakfast and another 240 right after dinner. The Demon still attacked as soon as I dropped off to sleep, but the attacks were so weak that a Darvocet or two was enough to let me go back to sleep. Finally, the attacks became so weak that I could just ignore them and go back to sleep on my own. (I've suffered from The Demon for over 43 years and I have trained myself to wake up at the slightest hint of a cluster attack; otherwise, I probably would have just slept through the weakened attack in the first place.) The only side -effect that I've had is constipation, which is caused by both Vep and by any narcotic, like Darvocet. Eating plums or prunes or drinking prune juice will take care of the constipation. Now, I take half of a 240 Vep after breakfast and the other half after dinner and don't take any Darvocet at all. About once or twice a month, I get a shadow and that's all.
Unfortunately, because the only thing that we clusterheads have in common is unbearable, indescribable pain, this may not work for you at all, just as lithium, ergotamine, etc. don't work for me. But, it's worth a try!