Posted by Stu (205.188.198.161) on December 07, 1999 at 02:44:33:
In Reply to: Quacks posted by Jim on December 06, 1999 at 07:20:55:
It's not clear to me if you have CH or not. Some meds, like imitrex and cafergot, are pretty specific to CH. Others are less so. Many people with CH will get a HA almost immediately after even a little bit of alcohol (like a half glass of wine or less). One (if you ask me sadistic) diagnostic is to give a sublingual nitroglycerin tablet. If you've got CH you'll get a doozer of a HA with 5 minutes. If it's not CH, it'll probably have no effect.
As far as preventatives go, I've had pretty good luck with verapamil (240 mg extendtabs 2x/day) and have had some luck this cycle with neurontin (2700 mg/day) plus DHE injections (1/night). Oxygen's the most benign way to stop a HA that I've found, unless meditation, biofeedback, or prayer works for you -- they haven't for me.