Posted by Laurence on August 14, 1998 at 20:33:38:
Hi to all you cluster folks again. I’ve been back from holidays for a few days now and it’s err… great(?) to see so many new names on the message board. It’s taken me ages to read through all the messages. Wow, it has certainly been busy around here.
On the medication front, for those that can’t remember these things and new for those who have just joined or rejoined the club, I had been taking 800 mg of Lithium per day (two 400 mg tablets). I then took 500 mg of Prednisone over a couple of weeks (maximum 50 mg per day and then a taper over a week or so) along with the Lithium. Backup for break-through was provided by a trusty tank of O2 for the nice wake-up you calls from a cluster.
After finishing with the Prednisone and its side effects (I got the euphoric side effect!), I started off on 120 mg of Verapamil per day along with the Lithium. Either the combination of the two drugs or just the after effects of coming off the Prednisone made me throw up a few times, so I stopped taking the Verapamil and went on holiday with the family.
On packing the car, we discovered there was no room left for the O2 tank. Well it was a close call - O2 or leave one of the kids behind. I took a chance as the clusters were in any case only down to a shadow at the time. I also reduced the Lithium to just one 400 mg tablet per day to see how things were working out. I didn’t in any case have enough tablets with me to last the whole holiday. Nothing like being prepared for holidays eh?
Well the shadow kept clearing more and more each day with just the occasional set back. I stuck my head in the freezer a few times when the shadow seemed to be getting just a little too strong and bordering on a real pain in the head. The freezer certainly works for me for mild attacks. Having used up all the Lithium tablets, I restarted on one 120-mg tablet of Verapamil per day to keep the shadow at bay.
Things seemed to be going OK for the last week or so but last night and tonight the shadow turned into a pain behind my right eye and in my head just strong enough to make me get up and walk around a bit for 15 minutes or so. As a precaution, I’ve started taking one 400-mg tablet of Lithium per day again as I hope the demon is not about to break free once more. If it does come back in full force I think I might try out the Ritalin therapy which is new on the scene here. I am also going to get the O2 tank out of the garage tomorrow just in case.
Bye for now
Laurence