Intranasal capsacin put me into long remissions after more than 15 years of Cluster Headache

---

My first CH experience was 1983 when I was in 10th grade (age 15).  I was diagnosed by a friend of mine that was a MD/Ph.D when I was 25.  Symptoms were periods lasting 4-6 weeks with 2-4 attacks per day, repeating every 10-14 months.  For first 10 years I self treated with ice  (applied to head/eye) and chewing 2 Tylenol Sinus for immediate effect.  This continued until 1999 when I read some scientific articles about the effect of intranasal capsacin and applied ground red pepper all over the inside of my nose.  This aborted the attack immediately (~20 minutes instead of usual 2-4 hours), and with repeated treatment for all attacks over next 7 days it shortened the usual 4-6 week season to just about 2 weeks. I treated with capsacin on the next attack about a year later, and again it shortened the season to just about 2 weeks.  Then I was in remission for about 3 years, then after self-administered capsacin in remission for 5 years after that.  It's been 4  years since the last attack.  If it returns I'll treat with intranasal  capsacin again.