Quote:
May I ask why you have decided not to use oxygen?
From what I researched pure oxygen is also toxic. I am not a *your body is your temple* sort of person so I hope I am not sounding like that =) I am 60 now and so many little things affect me that I am reluctant to tamper with the balance any more than age and weight are doing. I smoked for years and since I gave up (ten years ago) I believe I am seeing the wages of it. To add another buzz to the mix seemed like a risk.
On a practical level, I now live in Germany. I have not looked into getting the oxygen here, although I did when living in UK. I will shamefully admit that, as I seemed to be on a cluster sabbatical, I thought I would not have to delve into that again.
My sympathies and empathies with your hubby. Sometimes rocking, and resignation is all we can do in the end. At the start of a bout I do everything, the whole exercise regime, the prevention things, the ice packs, hot showers, hot packs, treadmill, stepper, skiprope. After six weeks I am just sitting there, knuckles pressed to whatever part of my head or face that is being poked with red hot irons. That is the exhaustion setting in. You cannot easily get woken from REM sleep for weeks and still function well or with any energy.
Quote:
The turning point for us in dealing with his headaches was knowing what it was. He'd dealt with it for years, missing work, having doctors tell him it was sinus infections, migraines or even one said "The pain's not that bad." He literally thought he was going crazy until he saw a 1 minute segment on some morning talk show.
I was lucky really, incredibly lucky. During my first bout I was just petrified I was dying in small stages and I telephoned the NHS hotline. I think I got an absolute star of a responder who, once I described the symptoms said "Oh, that sounds like cluster headaches". And I love the internet where I then I found the OUCH forums.
I believe my brother suffered from cluster headaches, I recall his agony and symtoms. This was in the 1960s though and nothing much was known about clusters, especially where we lived in Africa. They drilled his sinuses once, and gave him drugs that knocked him out mostly. He was a wonderful man, bright and funny, who ended up sad and hopeless.
Quote:
and, most dramatically, was acupuncture
Froggydawgy, I did try acupuncture and it did not help. I am not at all sceptical, I used to suffer from kidney problems with recurring pain every few months. I tried acupuncture for that, after suffering for seven years with it, and I never again had an attack.
There is so much we don't know about stress related illnesses. They have connected clusters to that, to serotonin problems, to malfunction of the hypathalamus, to problems with a particular nerve in your face. They have associated it with SAD (which makes sense if connected with serotonin I guess plus my bouts occur with the onset of Autumn). But really they suggest all sorts and a lot of it is just hard to prove. I would love if acupuncture had worked, I am a fan.