Posted by Ueli (195.162.175.19) on September 19, 2001 at 22:20:20:
In Reply to: Good job, bro. posted by Paco on September 19, 2001 at 20:31:54:
I agree, the first part is a good description. But if you print it out to give to your doctor, skip the last part with the 'treatment recommondations' of Judy Lane, M.D., medical director of the Colorado Neurological Institute’s Head Pain Center in Denver, Colo.
She gives her institution a bad name with the crap she was quoted with:
... Among the latter is educating patients to promote adoption of lifestyle changes such as avoiding sleep deprivation, alcohol and tobacco -- all of which are believed to be related to cluster headache.
- yeah, it's all in the head, and clusterheads are all notorious smokers and drinkers. But she forgot the ruddy complexion, with orange peel skin, and the hazel eyes. And, how the heck, do you maintain a regular sleep pattern if you get hit every time after 1.5 hours after fall asleep???
..., there are certain drugs that physicians believe shorten or decrease the severity of cluster attacks. These include verapamil, which is given at the onset of an attack ...
- As every clusterhead knows, Verapamil is a preventative, to be taken on a regular basis - not just before an attack - to maintain a constant serum concentration.
... and acts to decrease the irritability of nerve pathways, ...
- ahem, others say it slows the respond time of the smooth muscles around the vessels and thus breaking a feed back loop. No wonder many docs have no idea how to use Verapamil for CH.
... and the anti-seizure medication topiramate.
- Topiramate is a preventative too, to be taken on regular basis, not just before an attack.
Other quick-acting, injected and inhaled analgesic medications are directed toward relief of the acute pain associated with these very painful attacks.
- The old fairy tale that analgesics are of any use. The time honored ergot compounds, the Triptans and oxygen are not analgesics in the sense that they have an influence on pain transmission, they all constrict the blood vessels, thus breaking the pain producing loop.
It is sad, that on a generally excellent site as drkoop.com, and in an article giving good information on our disease such crap about treatment is added.
Ueli :-(