Posted by gary g (209.187.113.48) on November 15, 1999 at 15:44:02:
In Reply to: Cold Air posted by Tony on November 15, 1999 at 12:42:45:
read the same study
seen it quoted since
depends on WHAT O2 therapy theyre talking about
no way is cold air as effective a oxygen used correctly for CH-
if you don;t use the O2 correctly, then the question is meaningless
my experience - VERY cold air helps a little,and only when there is some way to inhale it at zero or below temp;not the 40 degress they quoted in the study- have rigged inhalation tubes out of the deep freeze, the whole route - very partial effectiveness
pure O2, nonrenreather mask, 8-10 liters flow, started at earliest sign of attack, will stop 'em like turning off a light switch
this has turned out to be so universal, that when somebody reports it doesn't work, I personally suspect:
1. they're not following instructions -especially starting at first twitch (critical)
or
2. they aren't actually dealing with Cluster Headache
BTW- most of us find that O2 is useless if we procrastinate getting at it until the attack begins to be painful
as far as the claim that cold air works "as well as oxygen", that could be true IF the oxygen was administered as it is for most types of medical problems - much slower flow rate, mixed with room air, etc
then oxygen is pretty useless for CH, so it would be easy for cold air to equal it
(I tried it that way twice many years ago, because doc didn't know the details, so he just prescribed it as if for respiratory disease,
and it was a complete waste of time)