Cluster headaches

Im a sufferer of cluster headaches ( the suicide headache ) and this year they are worse than ever.




Ive just been prescribed Rizatriptan melt tabs to help cope with the pain but to my horror when i looked at what they contain i found Aspartame! This has to be the craziest thing ever it helps with the pain but now im at risk from brain cancer! Big pharma certainly knows how to secure repeat business..!

Is there anyone here at BTS suffering from this condition? i would be interested in hearing what people are taking to help prevent the attacks and to abort them when they happen.

Note - I realize that some of the possible treatments include natural substances ( Ergot & Psilocybin ) that are illegal in some countries so i would ask that people don't mention these at all or this thread is likely to be removed.

[edit on 9-9-2009 by VitalOverdose]

The Rizatriptan seems to be working very well its knocked the pain down to about 20% of what it was. You cant imagine the relief

[edit on 9-9-2009 by VitalOverdose]

reply to post by VitalOverdose


I suffer migraines, but have had a couple of clusters in my life..I take imitrex for the migraines and they work.

What has always amazed me is that I take morphine and oxycontin for another problem of mine, and when I have a migraine, even morphine won't really touch it..

I feel for you though, and I guess you will take the aspartame laced melts just to get rid of the agony.

Why don't the pharma companies realize that you don't care if the medication is "bitter". That's the last thing on your mind.

For people that have never had this sort of pain, I'll tell you. I had to get rid of my firearms as they are that bad, and although it sounds stupid, I was thinking about using one once during a bad episode. Didn't want them around for an easy out the next time..

Im glad to hear imitrex is working for you , ive read that it is one of the few that work well.I read that morphine is no good for migrainous neuralgia but i was considering trying it a few days ago i was i so much pain.

From Wiki...Recently, researchers have linked low testosterone as a possible cause of cluster headaches, which can be especially troublesome since the most effective pain medications for clusters, like morphine, reduce testosterone levels

Another thing i was considering was hypnosis but i dont know how effective that would be in this case.

Id love to meet whoever discovered tryptophans and shake them by the hand.


[edit on 9-9-2009 by VitalOverdose]

Just a quick update on this thread.. i found out why aspartame is being used in these melt tabs. Its because the strong taste of the pills can make the pain a lot worse before they have time to work. I know this can happen because im finding that strong tasting mouthwash can bring on an attack at the moment.

reply to post by VitalOverdose


My father had them, I had them, my son has them. My father died a long time ago. It was so sad for us to watch him crying, crumbling into little pieces when these things came on. Then they started with me too. About five years ago, I started practicing qigong. Shaolin qigong, to be precise. I don't practice very often anymore but I never have cluster headaches anymore. I get regular headaches sometimes, but then I just sit down and meditate it away. Pills never worked for me anyway. Dunno why doctors won't prescribe morphine more freely.

Originally posted by VitalOverdose

Another thing i was considering was hypnosis but i dont know how effective that would be in this case.

A little over 6 years ago I was in a Biofeedback/hypnosis study. I learned a lot like getting my finger to heat up on command, and there was a game where they put electrodes on your head and you "played" a very simplistic video game.

All of this was to reduce stress, not for pain relief.That was never mentioned.

But I swore that the hypnotist had me floating over my chair..

I did however start meditating and haven't stopped since.