Doc's Cluster Headache Journal

Monday, June 11, 2007

Capsaicin spray

Doc's cluster headache cycle is just not going away. No screaming bad ones, but he has a headache almost constantly since about February. Saturday we went to three different health food stores looking for this capsaicin nasal spray which is said to help with migraines and anecdotally with some peoples' clusters too. The first one was just a distribution center in an office park (closed), the second one was Roy's Natural Market (closed on Saturdays... seriously, WTF?), and Whole Foods did not carry it. We may have to order it online.


***Edit***
See this post for my experiences with Sinol and Sinus Buster as they relate to cluster headaches.

posted by Katy at 2:06 PM

6 Comments:

  • Hi Doc,

    I have been using Sinol Nasal Spray since February for my chronic migraines. It is an all natural capsaicin based OTC and found at CVS. The spray works immediatly for me when my aura's forst begin, I sometimes have to use it 2 or 3 times depending on severity. I am pretty much down to 1 episode a month from 3 0r 4.

    By Blogger Alyson Pisani, at 8/30/2007 8:44 AM  

  • I read this post about Sinol a month or so ago and am so glad I did. I am a classic migraine sufferer and have been since college (21 years ago). I bought my Sinol right after reading this post. I use it when my headaches first begin and whoa they are genrally gone in a matter of minutes. I have warded off multiple headaches with this product and have introduced it to others I know. Sinol works!!!
    Amy Carruthers

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9/14/2007 1:57 PM  

  • Unfortunately for me it had no noticeable effect on my cluster headaches or the newer migraines that I have been getting.

    During the period that I had a migraine for two weeks solid I tried the spray several times carefully monitoring if it would have any effect...

    I can honestly say that for me it did not work in the least.

    By Blogger Murdock Scott, at 9/14/2007 3:46 PM  

  • See this post for my experiences with Sinol and Sinus Buster as they relate to cluster headaches.

    By Blogger Murdock Scott, at 1/04/2008 4:13 PM  

  • Sinol works for me as well. I have found that I must use it when my auras first appear or else it only takes the pain down a notch. Dont give up on it!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/08/2008 9:08 AM  

  • OK, this is starting to get bad. Last night someone just blatantly posted Sinol marketing boiler plate in the most recent entry of my blog. Something smells fishy.

    Anonymous,
    A "notch" although welcome, is not what cluster sufferers want or need. If you are a real person who uses this product and gets results from it then I am certainly glad it helps. But for me, it did NOT HELP. What exactly is there to give up on? Either it works or it doesn't? Should I not give up on forming a habit? Not to the drug mind you... but to the placebo effect I eventually convince myself it is having?

    The effect it provided was not noticeable enough to warrant me squirting this stuff up my nose in the quantities that would be necessary against the warnings of the manufacturer. It was like trying to swat a rino with a flyswatter. Yes, it had a very small effect, but did that effect matter? NO.

    People with regular headaches may be confused by all this... just take it on faith. Clusters are "different" and worse than any headache you have ever had. Also many people with clusters respond to treatments that others do not...

    Here is what I suspect may be going on.

    Several "people" who have posted in the comments of this blog are marketing people associated with Sinol. They, disguised as cluster sufferers, can make any claim they want including that it is ok to use the product in massive amounts... a claim they advise AGAINST on the packaging.

    All this was speculation untill last night when someone posted what was essentualy an advertisment on my personal blog proving to me once and for all that this company has no scruples.

    If you are someone that this product helps then, thats great, but I am afraid it has never helped me and I gave it plenty of chance. That is my opinion and this is my blog. Someone just does NOT like what I am saying here and is trying to spin it.

    So next time you reach for their product on the store shelf ask yourself if it really helps enough to warrant risking the using it the way most of us cluster sufferers would need to when such heavy use has most likely never been studied? Maybe you will come to the conclusion like I did that it is mostly placebo with a touch of minor relief that is hardly perceivable. They are counting on you needing that quick short drop in level so you keep spraying... do you want to be one of Pavlov's dogs?

    Like I have always said maybe it works better for other people but that was my experience. I would have had to stand over a sink for an hour squirting constantly to get a very minor "dip" that I was never sure was not just imagining. As most cluster sufferers can tell you this time could have been much better spent beating myself in the head or begging for death.

    Then please remember that this company has no qualms about spraying corporate graffiti all over a non-commercial blog of a fellow cluster sufferer.

    By Blogger Murdock Scott, at 4/08/2008 11:09 AM  

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