Posted by Andrea (63.160.78.74) on October 04, 2000 at 15:18:59:
On Friday...I started calling neurology groups in an old Cinci yellow pages I had in the house. I happened to call one who has a headache clinic in their practice. They were scheduling for December....but put Taco on for Monday because he was in cycle. We came home from there with a prescription for a proper rebreather mask and prednisone. The Doc was a bit lacking in the personality department (I'm being extremely diplomatic), but he seemed fairly competent & intelligent, so I guess we'll hang with him for a bit and see how the relationship develops. His partner at the clinic suffers from cluster headaches, and is having good luck with the prednisone, so I think that's their first course of action. They also want to do an MRI in 2 weeks. Sounds like alot of money to me...and I'm not convinced that it's a necessary test. He's had 2 CAT scans now since 1998...both have been read as acceptable. I suppose I'm not clear about what an MRI will show that a CAT scan cannot and whether or not problems that it does show are things that would need fixing.
I believe the cycle is ending now (Hurray!!!!). Taco's been basically pain free since Friday night. He got a little cocky on Sunday and tried to have a couple of beers...the beast came knocking immediately, but he was able to scare it off with an ice pack on the neck & temple. Last night was our first real attack since Friday. We tried the Lidocaine...with moderate results. He says it tastes like shit and that it seemed as if the beast was actually trying to jump to the other side of his head. His pain never switches sides, so that was kinda strange. It got him settled enough to take O2. We had the sucker licked in about 20 minutes. It felt like a real victory.
We haven't started the prednisone because he seems to be at the end of the cycle. The Doc said that if the cycle hasn't ended, then take an 8 day tapering dosage...but if it has ended, then just keep them for the next cycle.
Oh, the other big thing...He told Taco that he had to quit smoking in 2 weeks...or as soon as this cycle ends. Taco has smoked since he was about 14 years old. That'll be something else!