Posted by Logan Hawkes (205.188.195.36) on January 29, 2000 at 01:41:06:
I mean no offense to others who have posted here, but it gets tiring and irritating to read posts from well-intentioned individuals who wish to reduce CH to a normal and reasonable human condition that all of mankind has experienced first hand at one time or another. A chronic (or even acute) CH condition is one of the (if not the most) painful afflictions known. Hold on now...I (we) don't want your sympathy any more than I (we) want your unintentional ignorance on the matter. There are certainly other, more serious health conditions that are more life threatening and fatal. But for a true CH sufferer, life can be as much a hell for us as any other single person on this planet, or beyond, regardless the extent or seriousness of their affliction. Believe me, most CH sufferers have gone the gamit in administering or participating in every form and desription of possible treatments available, some even experimental. We have tried increased light exposure; gobbled down the feverfew; consumed great amounts of magnesium and choline and lavender leaves and have experimented with just about every form of homeopathic remedies as possible. We have been to chiropractors, acupuncturists and acupressurists; refloxoligists, faith-healers; witchdoctors, shamans and pain management centers. We have visited medical doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists; nueroligists; specialists; ministers and witches. We have consulted with astrologers, astronomers and Indian Chiefs. We can pray to the Gods of a thousand religions; call upon the saints and angels by name. We can name the major pharm. co.'s by alphabetical listing and zip code. Many of us have traveled to distant locations in search of answers and remedies; have faced the devil in the dark and took our unrelenting lashings at the expense of our sanity. Please understand that while we appreciate your concern and your comments, there simply is no "simple or miracle cure" for our condition. At least not one you have discovered and we haven't tried. Forgive me, again, I wish this wasn't so. I would gladly give all my riches for a simple, direct approach to pain relief and cure of my CH condition. But it "ain't" gonna happen. Cluster headaches are not migraines. They are not tension headaches or sinus inflamation. We aren't the victims of allergies or food-type reactions. So, please, keep in mind when you post that you are addressing pain-experienced veterans who have gone far beyond normal human ability to deal with the pain and immense suffering that apparently is our destiny. Heard of a new drug? The latest in research? New developments in the medical research arena? These things are helpful to us. Your support is appreciated, but please don't get upset when your suggestion that we all face east at sunrise for 21-days as an end-all solution to our remedial health problems is not well recieved by those of us that must bear this cross to the Mount. Chances are "we been there and done that". Still, if it were not for all the well-intentioned ignornace in the world, we would only have more time to think about the pain.