Posted by Margi (207.148.142.57) on July 28, 1999 at 11:31:23:
Hi Gang,
With so many new people visiting our site lately and all the side effects being reported from some of the drugs that are being prescribed, I thought it might be timely to mention some successes that have been experienced using non-medicinal treatments by a few people here.
1. Of course, I am going to mention the water treatment and I've taken the liberty of reprinting the posting from "Dr. Jerry" from last year, detailing the hows and whys and precautions...it's at the bottom of this message. Sorry DJ for taking up so much webspace...
2. Ice. We use those gel-filled ice bags - I keep 3 in the freezer at all times. Mike wraps one in a tea towel and places it on the back of his neck to stay cool and it also helps to keep him calm. He believes it slows the bloodflow to the brain, thus reducing the severity of the attack.
3. Dramamine/Gravol: 3 before bedtime can prevent the middle of the night Beast. Doesn't touch the pain if one does hit but if it might give you a night of uninterrupted rest, it may be worth a shot.
4. Oxygen: inhaling pure O2 at the onset of an attack. The secret is catching the Beast before it gets going. We can't get a prescription here in Calgary from our "doc", so Mike uses welder's O2...there's been a lot written about this subject in the archives.
5. Relaxation: this may sound hokey to some but Mike has found that if he can really concentrate on staying calm and focus on the pain that the attack ends sooner than if he gives in to the Beast and gets angry. Plus, this also helps him to control his blood pressure, which in turn lessens the severity.
OK, here's "Dr. Jerry's" memo from last year.....
"Stunning positive feedback by literally everyone who embarked upon water therapy. Also, I am no passing the 14 day mark (as you know my first pain free period in 2 years). The only very slight set backs (3 in total)guided me towards the following revolusionary insight. All three these "slight set backs" followed within 1 hour of having consumed salt in some form or other. Back to the biology text books I went. Listen to this:
The human body performs a highly sophisticated balancing act regarding the water/salt ratio in our molecular cell structures. The brain structures governing this process are the preoptic nucleus and hypothalamus, and the transporting mechanism of neural messages in this regard is serotinin. Brilliant research in recent years have, listen carefuly, discovered that the hypothalumus and the neurotransmitter serotinine are per excellence involved in cluster formation! What am I saying?
Well, it therefor is clear that the previous discoveries(of which biological brain structures are involved with clusters) and another known fact (the actual brain structures regulating the water/salt balance in our cells) are linked!! This is starting to explain, thus, (although not conclusively as yet)why water intake, alcohol (a diuretic), salt (an anti-diuretic agent), nicotine (an anti-diuretic) have been reported to be associated with clusters!!!!!!!!!
The black sheep of the above substances, nicotine, (because reports re its impact upon clusters are controvertial), cannot be ignored just because of its controvertiality. It has a distinct anti-diuretic (water retaining) effect on the body.Why do sufferes report that by stopping to smoke does not end their clusters? Because 1) (speculative): Nicotine does some damage to the biological water/salt regulator which is not being undone by eventual avoidance of nicotine!
2)Because the cluster triggering influence of salt intake has up to now not being reported in any studies I have read(it does not mean they do not exist!). So, it all means that focussing on the water/salt reulator of our bodies have brought us sufferers closer to a victory than what we've been before. Why? Well, try drinking a large glass of water on the half hour while awake (at least on the hour), have another glass or two when you wake up at night, and have 2 to 3 glasses at the onset of a cluster. Place a total ban on alcohol, and avoid salt (at least in its pure form on chips, on peanuts, on meat, in soup, on eggs, etc.) Do not force the smoking restraint upon yourself at first, but plan to gradually let go, for the prevention of longer term re-occurrence of clusters. Be prepared to gain the benefits within the first couple of days. Careful: Please involve your doctor, as intake of vast quantities of water should be medically monitored, especially if you are taking medicine. Specifically, those of you who are on Lithium, (one of the chemical success stories for clusters) should really go on water therapy and salt therapy in close association with your physician! The uncanny and strange thing about Lithium is that it is a chemical substance, conspicuously similar to salt!! Why does it prevent clusters, and real salt appear to trigger it? We do not yet understand, but listen to this: Lithium impacts upon the serotinin levels of the the body! (again serotinin, therefor again the preoptic nucleus and the hypothalumus!!!) "
Hope there is something in this message that can help some one out there!
Water Water Water
Margi