Posted by drummer (209.105.134.22) on October 24, 1999 at 21:44:37:
In Reply to: Succes-and its because of you! posted by Graham on October 24, 1999 at 20:48:50:
Hey Graham,
Glad to see you back and glad to hear that your headaches are less frequent and less severe.
Question 1) Don’t fuck with a good thing. Verapamil was the first medicine that knocked my chronic Cluster attacks from 6-12 per day down to 2- 4 per day. Keep an eye on your blood pressure, as long as your blood pressure is NOT too low you will be fine on up to 960mg of Verapamil. Keep a journal of your headaches, if you find that your headaches are becoming more frequent and more severe, then check with your doctor and ask him/her about increasing the dose of Verapamil by another 180mg or 240mg per day. There are other medicines that you can add to Verapamil like anti-depressants and/or anti-seizures. BUT, like I said, why fuck with a good thing. Sounds like the Verapamil is “working” for you.
Question 2) Yes, people have gone from chronic to episodic. Have the medicines done this? Who knows? Personally, I don’t drink alcohol and I don’t smoke. My 6-year-old daughter told me that smoking and drinking are unhealthy. I think she’s right. Sooooo, I don’t smoke and I don’t drink. I’m still chronic. Go figure.
Question3) You’re right, see question 2. I don’t think that ANY medicine will “break” a cycle. There is no “cure” for Cluster Headaches. Cycles have to just kind of run their course. So far my cycle has been running for 15 fucking years.
Question 4) This is one of my favorite questions Graham. Thanks for asking it and I’m glad that you have found some of my advice to be helpful. Here is my answer to your question: “I think SOME people are fucking assholes”.