Posted by John B (216.85.128.83) on February 24, 2000 at 19:25:11:
In Reply to: Class Discussion! posted by Mrs Holloman on February 24, 2000 at 09:28:38:
Mrs. Holloman, I feel I must point out that there may be a false premise in this assignment. You said "What keeps us from going mad?" Are you sure something has? ;-)
Before finding ch.com, one of the things I did was to learn as much about cluster headaches as I possibly could. Every time I went to see a new neurologist, I would beg literature, and wound up with quite a few books. I kept diaries for several years. I did research at the library and on the Internet, after it became available (I have had CH since before Al Gore invented the Internet).
I experimented with treatments, be they conventional or exotic, including acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic, herbal remedies, some street drugs, (although I never tried LSD or mushrooms; wish I had, now I'm too old and lost my contacts), exercises, meditation, changes in living environment and altitude, quitting smoking and drinking, quitting drinking coffee and tea, all caffeine, quitting all foods and eating only mashed potatoes, taking long hot baths every night with mineral salts and aromatic candles (I recommend this), and too many other trials, vitamins and cathartics to list here, and keeping copious notes of the whole process to determine the effectiveness of each thing I tried.
I have been reading the message board here for over a year and with the exception of the shrooms and LSD, there isn't much that has been presented here that I haven't tried. That is what I was doing to amuse myself before I found ch.com to preserve my sanity. I will leave it to others to determine if that effort was successful. So, learning and experimenting with cures. That's my answer. Yes, Regis, that is my final answer.
LYG
John