Posted by Frank (204.111.49.123) on November 07, 1999 at 20:50:20:
My first CH attack, twenty years past, sent me to an Army doctor who said he thought I had glaucoma. After CAT scans, EEG, eyeglasses, dental exams for TMJ and accusations of being a crybaby, another Army doctor, (a real neurologist) said "clusters." He sent me home with prednisone and continued chronic pain. I switched Army neurologists and got some Sansert for six months--no longer, might cause permanent liver damage, they said so casually. For five years, I went through the regimin of ergots and anti-depressants and even a few begrudged pain killers--so called. After a combined treatment of sodium lithonate (sp.) and prednisone, (oh, they like prednisone) my pains disappeared for a few months. Since then, they have been seasonal, lasting through most of each year with short respites. The countless times when I had the knock-down, drag-out mothers with no abortives or pain relievers, will be forever tatooed on my peanut brain. I'm terrified of them; that's why I fell madly in love with Imitrex and oxygen. They are the only reliable treatments I have found to take away the pain. That's all I care about: Stop the pain! Until someone shows me that they have found the permanent preventive, I will have no faith in, nor will I take, any of the preventives that are said to help. Perhaps they do help some people. I personally think it's possible that the damn things are just taking their own course, and the cessation or decrease is coincidental. I'm intrigued by the discussion of melatonin and sodium and seratonin levels and their affects on oxygen supply to traumatic nerves, but there is only one thing I know for sure: breathing oxygen at nine LPM is my sanctuary. I LOOOOOVE oxygen! I'm beginning to think I can taste a difference from one tank to another, like the vintages in wine. Come to think of it, a tank costs about the same as a decent bottle of cabernet, but at the right time, tastes better than the $100 bottle. Sorry about the length--got carried away with the romance.