Post: #1

I am posting this thread out of sheer desperation.

My little sister is the most important person to me in the world. She has been through several mental health issues and injuries through her life, and battles through each and every one of them like a champ. I won't get into the specific details of her life... I just want everyone here to know she is my favorite person I will ever meet. She radiates positivity, she shares so many similar interests as I do, and we have so many memories and inside jokes together... she just kicks ass to me.

About seven weeks ago, she started getting a headache every night at about 6:15 PM. Same time, every night. In the past, she has been somewhat of a prima-donna, so initially I thought it was some sort of performance. She would double over and hyperventilate, and slap her hands against her forehead. It would last for about ten minutes, and she would seemingly shake it off and return back to normal. No real traceable root event that caused the headaches.

But it continued. And they started getting longer and more aggressive. She would scream like a god damned banshee... She moved back into our parents place (she is 22 years old) because she finally went to the doctor. The doc immediately noticed the fact that the headaches come at the same time every day, and diagnosed her with CLUSTER HEADACHES.

Quote:The term "headache" does not adequately convey the pain severity of the condition; the disease may be the most painful condition known to medical science.[10] The pain occurs only on one side of the head (unilateral), around the eye (orbital), particularly above the eye (supraorbital), in the temple (temporal), or in any combination. The pain of CH attack is remarkably greater than in other headache conditions, including severe migraine. The pain is typically described as burning, stabbing, boring or squeezing, and may be located near or behind the eye.[11] Those with cluster headaches may experience suicidal thoughts during an attack as a result of the pain.[12][13]

Edit- Below is a video of a cluster. This girl slaps her head to distract herself from the pain, which I try to prevent my Sis from doing. Odd how the Boyfriend hits her head, but I guess it works for her. Other than that, it is identical to what happens to my sister (WARNING- super awkward to watch, very sad)




She describes it as if a hot firepit poker is getting jabbed through her eye on the front, and another is jabbing through her temple to the side. I always sit with her through her headaches in order to give her her shot of medicine and her oxygen tank mask, which provides a bit of pain relief (but still no preventative medication as per our doctor). She gets pulses of pain every 30 seconds, and the headache episode lasts from 15 to 35 minutes. She initially had one per day, but now she is getting 6 per 24 hour period. It is springtime here in Western Canada, so the flowers are blossoming and allergies are at an all time high... hopefully it will end soon.

1/1000 people suffer cluster headaches. Here is an interesting fact from the Wiki page posted above:

Quote:Robert Shapiro, a professor of neurology, says that while cluster headaches are about as common as multiple sclerosis with a similar disability level, as of 2013, the US National Institutes of Health had spent $1.872 billion on research into multiple sclerosis in one decade, but less than $2 million on CH research in 25 years.[59] Due to an occasional association with suicidal thoughts, cluster headaches have been colloquially named "suicide headaches."[12]

The reason me/my mom/my dad/my brother or my sister in law sit with her through every one is because a quarter of sufferers will attempt suicide due to the pain during an episode. When I finished school a month ago I returned home to visit, and had no idea what a cluster consisted of. I left the room for a few seconds and in that time she had already stabbed her wrists with scissors to distract herself from the head pains. Now I bear hug her and give her a wash cloth to bite into while she has episodes. My sister already has said she will not have kids because apparently 1/15 children of sufferers will inherit the gift of clusters.

I hope they are not 'chronic,' in which they will haunt her every day. Most people go through seasonal episodes and enter periods of remission. I haven't slept more than three hours in two weeks because I generally pass out at the foot of her bed after she gets middle-of-the-night episodes. I am an absolute zombie at work and so is the rest of my family, who has all moved in to my parents house to see this shit through.

Anyways, sorry for droning on here about the cluster headache issue. If anyone here has any advice or experience, I would love to hear it... As I said before, we are all desperate. Thanks so much for reading this, guys.

Post: #2

That sounds really tough man and you are an amazing brother. This might sound bizarre but LSD and psilocybin (shrooms) have been shown to not only relieve cluster headaches but sometimes change brain chemistry in such a way so they never come back.

http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavio...-headaches

Post: #3

komatiite,

If you don't mind, can you say a bit more about the "mental health issues and injuries" that your sister has gone through. Specifically, is she taking any drugs right now, prescription or recreational? This may be crucial.

I believe that the following things will help alleviate the condition over time:

-- She needs to be on a regular sleeping schedule, day in day out
-- Abstain from alcohol, coffee and cigarettes
-- She should supplement some magnesium in powder form, specifically this one:

http://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Magnesium...27-g/1101#

-- She might consider asking for a prescription of Mirtazapine (brand name Remeron) which is a unique antidepressant/anti-anxiety drug with many interesting properties. It is an unusually effective and benign drug, especially for females. This paper about Mirtazapine and cluster headaches, while anecdotal, is suggestive:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.10...8A3.f02t04

Post: #4

(05-31-2015 09:21 AM)Robert Plant Wrote:  That sounds really tough man and you are an amazing brother. This might sound bizarre but LSD and psilocybin (shrooms) have been shown to not only relieve cluster headaches but sometimes change brain chemistry in such a way so they never come back.

http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavio...-headaches

This. Cluster headache sufferers grow their own psilocybin mushrooms. As well, if you can get a hold of it, 2-Bromo-LSD, a non-psychedelic cousin of LSD, has been shown to be effective for treatment.

Post: #5

Liz- I hate to post her specific health issues on the public forum, it's rather illustrious. If I ever get found out here, I would hate people knowing what she has done. As such I will PM you if that's OK. Thanks again for posting this study.

Post: #6

It's hard to explain to people what a migraine is, they just think it's a really bad headache and people who complain are being a little bitch. You also don't want to tell them that you've had some so bad that you wonder if taking the 9mm pill would be better than waiting for the Tylenol or whatever else you have taken to kick in. I couldn't even imagine dealing with a cluster headache.

Good luck and let us know if we can help in anyway.

Post: #7

Is she seeing a specialist? Probably a neurologist would be the best specialist.

Post: #8

(05-31-2015 12:25 PM)Soma Wrote:  

(05-31-2015 09:21 AM)Robert Plant Wrote:  That sounds really tough man and you are an amazing brother. This might sound bizarre but LSD and psilocybin (shrooms) have been shown to not only relieve cluster headaches but sometimes change brain chemistry in such a way so they never come back.

http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavio...-headaches

This. Cluster headache sufferers grow their own psilocybin mushrooms. As well, if you can get a hold of it, 2-Bromo-LSD, a non-psychedelic cousin of LSD, has been shown to be effective for treatment.

I second this. Really give psilocybin a serious consideration if the condition isn't resolved. Get them from your local pot dealer if you have too.

I imagine cluster head aches to be probably the worst condition a human being can experience.

Best of luck to her.

Post: #9

Post: #10

Thanks for all the posts fellas. As of now she is sceptical to try antidepressants but due to a week straight of 180+minutes a day of clusters she may have finally opened her mind to mushrooms. There's a site called clusterbusters that swears upon Zoomers. Sketchy but at this point we will try anything. Not sure if I should scout out a top drug dealer or order spores in a syringe online and try to grow at home in an aquarium. I guess I should ask one of my druggie buddies their thoughts!

Post: #11

The reason she is sceptical on antidepressants is due to the fact that she was on them a few years ago and they fucked her up pretty bad. Wish she would consider it over mushrooms but there isn't enough info on remeron to convince her, and our doctors in Canada are so busy-she's facing a year waiting list to see a neurologist. Maybe we should go to the USA first to get a full prognosis... Tough decisions with me and my dad right now

Post: #12

I don't have headaches quite to that degree, but I do get migraines from time to time. I take Maxalt. It really helps me...might give it a try.

Post: #13

I remember seeing a segment on Drugs Inc about cluster headaches and magic mushrooms. From what the video says, 1 trip would keep the headaches away for 6 months to a year.

Was able to track down the clip.

I'd take my chances with zooms over some dodgy pharma meds any day. Also, they are easy to grow. I can pm you some good sites with loads of info if you like.

Post: #14

Thanks for the post OP. Great video there.

I had a very short period of my life when I had a lot going on (a lot of stress) when I got these, tho not nearly as severe as the descriptions above. Same thing tho, behind the eye, sharp pain.

I was building my house, me and my brother were building the staircase to the basement. My bro still recalls: "Yeah, all of a sudden I looked up and you were gone...I was like, 'heavy, where'd ya go?'...nothing."

I was hardly able to drove to my apartment and down some drugs to get rid of it. Just totally bailed on my brother, it was that quick of an onset.

Mine went away, only had a few, but they were bad.

Post: #15

just saw this thread, I have battled clusters and won. Looks like you are still active on the forum. Will PM you in a bit. I hope your sister is doing alright, these things really keep people down.

Anyone else having this trouble? Reply here, I will be happy to help out.

Post: #16

Normally a few bowls of herb cure a headache for me. Might be easier to acquire than magic mushrooms and easier to administer (smoke).

Shrooms give me the worst stomach pains. If it's the most effective treatment, i'd suggest mashing up a bunch and weighing out a specific dose into a gelatin capsule.

Post: #17

Thanks for the Pm araveug
I can't really update this thread without giving out personal details in public. If anyone wants to talk about these you can PM me or even better, ask Araveug who is well educated on this matter.