Posted by Flash (212.140.94.82) on October 28, 2000 at 06:22:13:
There have been many, many posts on this message board over the years relating to sucessful treatments for CH (including my own using shrooms). Most of them only work once, only work for a single individual, or are short lived. A few treatments are more sucessful. Treatments come in 2 forms - abortive and preventative. Some treatments do both.
The most sucessful abortives appear to be the triptans (EG Imitrez and Zomig) and O2. They work for most people who try them.
There are a couple of preventatives that also work, however by far the most effective is shrooms. Shrooms also act as an abortive, but since a single dose will also prevent subsequent attacks I class it as a preventative. Perhaps a more accurate term is cycle abortive!
One thing there aren't many posts on are complete cures. Shrooms is not a complete cure, they must be taken periodically, although doses can be months apart. There are some surgical procedures, but these don't really cure the condition - they merely remove most of the pain associated with it.
If you look way, way back near the beginning of the message board, you will find several instances of people claiming a cure - the same cure in each instance. These people kept up their ferverent claims for almost a year, before they gave up trying to help, and got on with their lives.
From what I have read, this cure may not work for every CH sufferer - it depends on the CH being caused by an infection known as Candida. I realise that some people would like to believe that Ch is a genetic condition, but I don't buy that since most genetic conditions are hereditary (I am one of the few sufferers with a recent direct ancestor that was also a sufferer). Some would like to believe it is a mutation based syndrome, like downs syndrome. Possible. I don't know what to believe, but I do know that nobody yet produced any proof that there is a common cause for every instance of CH. Therefore it would be wrong to dispute that some instances of CH may be caused by Candida. In a recent poll I conducted, half of those who bothered to take part tested positive for a Candida infection. The incidence of Candida infection should be much lower than 50% - it's a potentially fatal condition.
Back near the inception of this message board, some people attempted to treat their CH by taking antifungal medication designed to combat Candida. It is important to note, that this medication must be taken LONG TERM to effect a complete cure of Candida. Usually for a minimum of 3 months, and often for an entire year. It is also important to note, that the medication must be accompanied by a strict dietry regime to be effective. If the medication is stopped to early, or the diet isn't adhered to, then the Candida may become resistant, something that is extremely dangerous. Of the people who tried the antifungal treatment several went on to claim a possible complete cure. I class a cure as a remission lasting several years (I think you'll find that the same is true of cancer, although it does often come back). The interesting things is that I do not recall any other incidence of several people claiming a cure, waxing on about it for months, then leaving the board.
Not everyone was cured. Some people experienced no benefit, other entered remission but later suffered further attacks. Another interesting thing is that most of those for whom the treatment failed, didn't treat themselves for long enough.
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A fellow sufferer once emailed me that he believed most CH sufferers didn't want to be cured. At the time I disagreed with him - now I'm not so sure. Trying to conduct a poll on Candida infection demonstrated an incredible level of apathy among the 000s of people who attend this site.
There are many brave people here that I have a huge amount of respect for. People who really are striving to treat and cure themselves despite medical indifference. I'm not giving up.
Perhaps the Candida test poll was an indication of who actually wants to get better...