Posted by Mike L (38.31.170.111) on December 03, 2000 at 02:42:58:
In Reply to: the M-word posted by annemarie on November 25, 2000 at 18:08:59:
I do have clusters and migraines. They are completly different. The 4 Neuros that I have seen Have always listed them as seperate types of headaches. When I was at the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago I was told that their experience was that even though different they seemed to "feed" off each other. I was told that because I was only trying to treat the clusters that I would have a tough time getting relief. They also told me that this was more difficult to treat and that a 50% reduction in attacks would probably be the most I could expect. Luckily my Drs. back in Utah still tried to get the frequency and intensity of attacks to go even lower then 50% (which was still 2-3 3 hour attacks each day. I was reffered to a pain clinic for the possibilty of surgery. I made an appointment for a nerve freeze and I got a cluster attack just before being wheeled into the O.R. When the Dr. saw the intensity of my attack he knew he couldn't probe my head to try and locate the nerve site to freeze as I would have to hold very still for this. Instead they put me under anesthesia and gave me more pain meds through an IV when I awoke. After that I spent a week trying to see what the Dr. wanted to do. He would not call me back and charged my insurance for the surgery anyway. Finally he talked to me and said that he just didn't want to try and help and refferd me back to my Neuro. A while later I was refferd to his associate and I had a much better experience. He had me come to his clinic and wait until I had an attack. Then he inserted long Q-Tips soaked in cocaine solution down my nostril to try and block a nerve to see if it would help. At the time I also had a migraine to start with and the experiment didn't help. He thought that the surgery wouldn't help either. Then he started me on low doses of methadone and increased slowly for a few months. Finally My attacks slowed from 5-6 attacks a day to less then 10 a week. What luck. I still use this therapy and have been at worse 50% functional at work and at best 90% functional. It was wise for me to never give up. I feel blessed. Thanks Mike L