Posted by Mark T (158.152.204.139) on January 18, 2001 at 08:38:36:
Hi everyone,
I just found your site today and I would like to congratulate you all on a job well done. The site is informative, well presented and best of all, reassuring.
I have suffered with CH for about 7 years (since I was 18) and I usually get 1 bout per year of 3-4 weeks @ 1-2 attacks per day (almost never at night, thankfully).
I feel so relieved to have found other people who suffer with the same condition, because for years I didn't even know what was wrong with me, never mind what I could do about it. I have seen three doctors and only the most recent diagnosed CH during my last bout in late-1999.
I just started a new bout this week and I thought I would seek help. Thank god I found you guys!!
But to get to the point, I have been using the same treatment for about 6 years now and it is pretty ineffectual. They are tablets that I take when I feel a headache starting but they never work quick enough to abort it and it usually takes 30 mins + to even start to relieve the symptoms.
The thing that troubles me is that my doctor insists that this is the _only_ treatment available to me for CH, but you guys are using all kinds of nasal sprays/injections/etc.
Is this a regional thing (I live in the north of England)? Are these treatments only available in the US? Is he just not telling me about them because they are not available on the NHS?
I would really like to see my doctor tomorrow and ask him about specific treatments to see if there are any other options open to me. Can anyone help?
Sorry about the length of the post, I am rambling because I am so pleased at finding this site, thus proving that I am not the only one suffering and I am not going crazy...