Posted by John R (209.240.200.72) on December 23, 1999 at 11:36:58:
In Reply to: Holiday Greetings posted by Rick H on December 23, 1999 at 10:34:12:
As we head into Christmas weekend, how is everyone doing? Is the water still helping folks? (My neurologist recomends against it for some reason.)
How's the lights? I've used those in the past and they seemed to help somewhat, but other times when I've just gotten up early and read without the lights it seemed to help, too.
Is that Topomax study in Colorado just for locals? A friend sent me a clipping asking for cluster headache sufferers to contact them. I may give them a call.
My Sansert & Depakote combo seems to be working pretty well finally. Instead of one headache after another all night long, I'm now getting to sleep from whenever I go to bed til about 4:30am when I wake with one that comes on slowly enough for me stop it with oxygen nearly every morning. If I go back to sleep I get another at about 7am.
I recently went back and reviewed some of the postings on capsaicin (9/98 or so). Alex Perez in Israel and others uses various drops and ointments up the nose. Alex was chronic and due to nearly fatal effects of Sansert and perhaps other heart problems (I don't remeber all the details), the only things he could use were ice, oxygen and capsaicin. He finally got breaks for months at a time after laying down and putting of drop of 0.075% capsaicin in his headache-side nostril at onset of pain before he got his icepack and O2 going. After 2-3 wks of 1-2 headaches (and thus 1-2 drops/day of capsaisin) he experienced his remissions. I think they were the first he had ever had in 20 yrs as a sufferer.
Capsaicin is the stuff in hot peppers that makes them hot so it burns like heck for a while when you put it up your nose. I had a compounding pharmacy make some last year but didn't try it for long. It was a nasal spray so more of got up in there so it was a lower % capsaicin. If I try it this year I'll use a spray again at 0.025%. Even though I didn't use it long last year, a while after using it I had my first remission from being chronic (eith