Posted by Jonathan Ettinger (208.217.100.163) on September 01, 1999 at 09:10:38:
I am a new subscriber to the board, having just been diagnosed with Cluster headaches after nearly 20 years of battling them.
My doctor has prescribed Nifedipine to prevent the attacks. A dose of 25 mg/day seemed to prevent attacks for about a week, but they started again. He has now up the dose to 50 mg/day. Does anyone have any thoughts on that -- particluarly what side effects I might see?
Also, I have been using oxygen, which has been very effective at stopping nithtime headaches within about 20 minutes (at a flow rate of 6 Liters/min). The literature seems to suggest a higher dose -- i.e., 8-10 Liters/min. Any thoughts?
Finally, I am considering Imitrex as an alternative to oxygen when I travel. I read that there is a nasal spray version. Does this work, or should I learn to deal with self-injection?
Many thanks to any responses. I am glad to have found such an extensive support network and wealth of information.