Bear with me here, this might be worth your time.
I've suffered from cluster headaches for over 10 years now, constantly searching for relief... like everyone. I'm a pretty holistic person, so I always searched for my own "home remedies". Basically just feeding whatever craving I felt would help. It started off with:
2nd year in: mountain climbers oxygen, little co2 type canisters in a little holder with a mouthpiece. I'm pretty sure we all know how ineffective that would be now. But it said something about myself after searching to find that indeed, oxygen WAS a prospective therapy for CH. Who'd a thunk it. I still had no health insurance though, so I lived with this method for nearly 2 years, and a couple of thousands of dollars in cartridges.
4th year in: the discovery of my local welding store. Full size tank here we come, 400 bucks plus $40 refills! Completely changed my life. BUT, sometimes oxygen just isn't enough. It helps, but is just a "go to" really, not an eliminator.
5th year in: mountain biking in utah, they wouldn't let me take my oxygen on the plane, no local vendor for oxygen there. In came the bandana. I tied it as tight as I possibly could around my head. Ehh. Sort of worked, but I was craving spicy, or hot now. I ran to the nearest supermarket and got cayenne pepper pills. I took 2. Within minutes the headache was gone, only to be replaced by THE WORST stomache ache I've ever experienced.
7th year in: O2 and this bandana have been my "go to" except that I wet the bandana in order for it to not slip out of its knot. A cold bandana felt too good to be true, but my body heat dissipated it's frost too quickly, and I was still suffering on average for an hour or so. Not good enough.
9th year in: my father picked up a headband from lowes or home depot, in short, he said you get it wet, snap it, and it stays cold for am hour or something (you guys may have heard of this, it's called an endura-cool or arctic cool). Again, life changed, it was incredible, but still not good enough, elimination in about a half an hour. I'm getting it down though!
10th and current year: I have multiple headbands, all arctic cool, and I keep them soaked, and in the refrigerator all the time, oxygen to my side. 1 headband gets tied loosely around my forehead, the second as a blindfold. I put disposable foam earplugs in and head to town on my oxygen. A partial loss to senses helps. HERE'S THE PART WHERE IT MATTERS. I craved something weird this time, and it's been working consistently for the past 2 months with everyday headaches, and I'm sorry for the loners out there, but this takes a teamate. With my current setup, eyes and ears blocked, I hold my nose and sit with my head draped over the sink, face up, and my fiance pours a cold bottle of water over the headband covering my eyes. It feels good for like a second, then the "searing eye pain" comes and gets too unbearable to take, in seconds. I pull the headband off of my eyes for relief, and poof, CH is GONE!!!!!!! For $20 in headbands and a $1 bottle of water, they are gone, in seconds. I was reluctant to post this until I had tested it numerous times. It works, for me anyway.
I would love feedback from anyone interested in trying this method, does it work for anyone else?
P.S. my oxygen tanks has been sitting full for my entire cycle thus far.
P.P.S. this has not aborted my cycle, I still suffer once or twice daily, conveniently for me they are happening at 7 am and pm, so my fiance is always home with me. Anyway, thanks for reading, and the best of luck if you decide to try it.
UPDATE: After being denied by pharma/insurance to cover my oxygen, I developed an attachment for my o2 tank that preserves the oxygen so to speak. Rather than using a "tight fitting mask" as suggested by my Neuro, I bought a scuba mouthpiece. This has a check valve that doesn't release oxygen unless I actually inhale, giving me approximately 60% more o2 per tank (every exhale o2 is lost, plus time in between holding my breath) I will post a link to a picture of it shortly. Rather than going through a knee high tank every 2 days ($20 refill at welding supply) it lasts nearly 2 weeks with multiple daily attacks. Best part is I can leave my o2 valve open and inhale as necessary, never concerning myself with how much I'm losing anymore.
Submitted November 09, 2017 at 06:32PM by hooskserdoo http://ift.tt/2m7VO5J clusterheads
