Posted by rp (141.214.123.128) on September 13, 1999 at 12:45:07:
I am a physician and it took a long time before I diagnosed my HA as Cluster (yes my neuro ENT and friends all missed it)
It lso took long time before I tok any Rx. I used to just go about what I do with the HA. It would last for about 20 mts to 2 hrs.
I hated and still hate taking any meds. I tried Imitrex tabs but it did'nt work well. I am scared of needles and so never tried the shots.
I discovered that O2 just breaks it within a minute. Yes I have had releif with just one or two deep breaths of O2 even in peak HA.
Sometimes it may take upto 5 mts of breathing O2. There is a study done with hyperbaric O2 which seems to help more than regular O2.
So what I do is take a deep breath with high flow (15 or more l/mt) O2 and hold or strain a bit. The HA just disappears. Other than this
Imitrex nasal spray seems to help (not as quick as O2)
Amerge - the new tryptan from Glaxo also helps.
Lack of sleep seems to precipitate a cycle. If I go
on call for 2 or 3 days at a stretch i get it and it stays for two mos.
So I am careful to sleep regularly.
I am not on any regular meds (including imitrex and amerge) but am considering this time.
RP