Posted by Bill on October 31, 1998 at 12:52:55:
In Reply to: Re: OH MY GOD!!!! - followup posted by Cassandra on October 31, 1998 at 01:44:55:
Cassandra,
Thank for so perfectly speaking MY mind! You may have just become the official spokesperson for
clusterheadaches.com. No one - not even a doctor can speak to the pain and terror associated with
a cluster headache except a CH sufferer. We have all tried to describe the experience to someone
only to have them say, "Oh yes I get migraines all the time...My mother used to get migraines and
have to lay down in a dark room for two days...I get those too - it's tension..." Blah, Blah, Blah!
What we are talking about here is a whole other animal.
I guess I am feeling a little bit sorry for myself this morning. I had two "number 13's" on a scale of
1 to 10 last night. Not to mention the "8" I had at work yesterday. This is the first time in my 25
year history with CH's that i have had so many so close together - and of such severity. I had used my
Imitrex injection when I had the attack at work so I screamed while my co-workers watched in terror for
an hour while my wife frantically flew to get refills. Then only to have another attack at midnite where
I again used the last injection. 5:00 am found me having the WORST attack EVER. Without my "14-minute miracle"
Once again, my wife (whom I am nominating for sainthood) began calling around until she found an all-night
pharmacy & off she went at 6:45. At 7:30 she was back with the Imitrex - in the newer packaging for which I
did not have a means of injecting myself!!!! The old apparatus used standard type syringes which I used by
themselves. The newer design is not useable without the injector. That's when I fell completely apart.
Wrapping my head i a towel since it was now daylight, she got me to the car and back to the pharmacy where they
gave her an injector at no charge. I took the shot sitting in the parking lot. This time, something strange happened.
Perhaps because it had now been three hours since the onset, when I took the shot, for nearly 30 minutes following,
the pain intensified what felt like two fold.
Not sure why I am rambling on about my experience. My intent was to thank you - so let me do that again.
When I first discovered this wonderful place for CH sufferers, I knew that I had found something I'd been looking for
for years. I also felt a little guilty after reading the accounts of others on this site who's experiences sounded so much
worse than what I had experienced - until last night.
Here's wishing pain free days and nights to my new friend and cyber spokesperson, Cassandra.
Sincerely,
Bill