The Worm.

There have been times in my life where I have completely fallen apart.  It is no exaggeration to say that Cluster Headaches and the chronic pain have at times almost completely destroyed me. As someone who suffers from cluster headaches, any treatment is preferable to no treatment.  If they are not somehow stopped, my bouts can last months.  And currently, very few reliable treatments (read: none) are available.  "The Worm" as I call it (others call it "The Demon" or "The Beast"), is tricky - while some treatments, medications and therapies might work once, most do not work at all.



During my last breakdown, I told my neurologist that I couldn't go through another day of attacks.  At the time, I wasn't even sure what I meant with those words, only that I knew I had come to the end of my tolerance, and could no longer withstand the pain. 

"I can't do it again."

With those words, he asked me to bend my neck, and right there and then extracted anesthetic from a small ampule.  Terrified, I bent my neck forward as he injected my neck and head to numb the nerves.  Relief.

And so it was with cautious optimism that I read about Autonomic Technologies, which had made a presentation at the Congress of the International Headache Society a couple of years ago.  I see once again this morning, that AT is back in the news.   And with this, any news is a faint hope.