Posted by gary g (208.133.217.160) on August 20, 1999 at 12:52:29:
In Reply to: Can anyone help? posted by Darren on August 20, 1999 at 11:29:00:
sounds like your doc is well-meaning , but blindly "shotgunning" the meds, based on migraine literature
this doesn't make them "bad" docs
there is a tendency to go only with treatments spec'd in medicaljournals & the PDR, and if they can't finds it for the disease at thand, they try the "closest"
well, we KNOW migraines & clusters are related about as much as a "cold" and "flu"
which is to say - MANY people & docs see them as the same kinda thing, but they are really totally different
research all the info on oxygen in the CHMB archives & print 'em out - take to doc & ask for 02 scrip
8-10 liters.min, pure 02, NOINrebreather mask
start at earliest sign of each attack
stay on until all attack symptoms habe been gone for several minutes
MOST people report relief in 10-29 minutes, without having attack get seriously painful
as far as reliable way to STOP entire cluster:
lots of brainstorms out there, but NOTHING yet proven to work consistently in even a small % of CH patients
good luck