Posted by Art Verbin (207.168.135.35) on January 03, 19100 at 13:21:52:
In Reply to: HELP PLEASE!!! posted by Luanne on January 02, 19100 at 22:57:34:
Dear Luanne
I have been a sufferer for more than 25 years and the other night I had the worst episode ever - the closest I have ever come to destructive thoughts and potential action. I have had serious episodes in the past but nothing to match this one. Only constant thoughts of my wife and family kept the shotgun in the closet. It lasted from 1:00AM to 4:00PM in varying degrees of moderate pain to outrageously extreme pain. Over the past two weeks I had experimented with the water treatment when an attack began and I found that it seemed to shorten the attack if I drank 16-32 oz of water at the onset - similar to the effect of Imitrex. I wasn't sure of it's effectiveness since I was also taking Prednisone and Amerge at the same time. I called my Dr. on Sun afternoon to see if I could get some pain relief and the Dr. on call suggested that I take 3 Advil. After telling him that telling a Cluster sufferer to take 3 Advil was akin to telling a fireman to pee on a forrest fire I hung up. So much for idiot medical practicioners. So, I decided to seriously try the water treatment and last nigh was the first night in more than two weeks that I didn't have an attack. I drank a glass of water every 1/2 to 1 hour from 4:00 PM until I went to bed at 12:30 AM. Maybe it was because I never got to sleep for more than an hour at a time without getting up to pee but it sure was a hell of a lot better than getting up every 1 1/2 hours to scream. Each time I woke up I drank another glass of water. This recent episode comes after not having an attack for five years and thinking I had finally outgrown them. I urge you to seriously try this water treatment no matter how ridiculous it seems.
Good luck and hang in there
Art Verbin