Posted by Jack Boyd (167.206.58.39) on October 06, 1999 at 17:44:11:
Sorry for all the postings lately - it is just that I am on vacaion this week and except for golf I am not doing too much - need to get a life.
Anyhow one of the things that interests me most in this cluster game is the course of clusters over a lifetime. Now I know that we all have different stories and we can't predict too much from an individual case history but I wonder if there are some patterns.
What I am getting at is why don't we post our cluster bios from time to time. The message board is great and the survey results are fine but I don't get a feel for how these things evolve. I find myself jumpin back to the guest book from time to time to see what an individual's story really is. I also would like to know more about my fellow clusterheads ( sort of a bondng thing).
Here is what I have in mind and I will use myself as an example:
_________________________________________________
First bout at 20 years of age - episodic for the last 30 years.
Cycle always 6 weeks long. Middle 3 or 4 weeks the most intense.
Sleep is principal trigger ( hate that term ) and in the middle of a cycle will get attacks durng the day
Time between bouts has grown steadily from 1 year to my current 3 years.
First 15 years or so were unmedicated.
Discovered Oxygen and verapamil - work very well.
Other treatments tried - elavil worked once did not work 2nd try.
Otherwise good health.
Other comments of how my clusters have changed over time:
Individual attack always has a quick and discreet beginning - I call it the twinge. The end of a headache used to be well defined but over time became less so and it takes longer to feel completely over an individual attack.
end of story
_____________________________________________________
If the case history / bio stuff has interest it could evolve into something more formal with DJs permission and blessing.
My humble suggestion for now is this - why not informally join me in posting your case history and see what happens. Probably best to keep it simple and to the point.