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(Message started by: aesthete on May 23^rd, 2004, 6:24pm)

Title: i'm new to this
Post by aesthete on May 23^rd, 2004, 6:24pm

hello everyone,
i'm not really sure where to begin...i'm pretty sure i'm suffering from cluster headaches, but haven't been to a doctor yet to recieve a diagnosis. about a week ago i was at home with my three year old son when i suddenly got this sharp pain that started behind my right eye, shot down into my temple and down along my jaw. i am a frequent migraine sufferer, but i have never in my life experienced pain like this. i felt like my eye was going to burst and my head was going to split open. the pain was so intense i actually threw up several times. i wanted to put my head through the window just to make it stop. i'm a single mother and i was home alone with my son, and i think he was as scared as i was. i kept crying and squeezing and pounding my head and pacing, anything to make the pain stop, and then just as soon as it came on...it was gone. i was left with a mild headache that came and went throughout the rest of the day, and throughout the week i have three or four of these headaches a day that start as a sharp pain behind my right eye, although they're not as intense and don't last more than half an hour(the first lasted about an hour). the headaches are always accompanied with sinus drainage on the side the headache occured, and i'm afraid if i go to the the emergency room, they're just going to tell me it's a sinus headache due to the allergies i suffer from. i'm not sure that treatment with medication would help anyway because as i said i'm a frequent miraine sufferer and i can't even find medication that works on my migraines, forget about the intense pain i experienced last week. i've been in constant fear for the past week that i'm going to have another attack, especially since i live three and a half hours away from any family, and have few friends where i live due to my very busy schedule. what causes these headaches? is there any way to prevent them? what other treatments are there out there? any info would be greatly appreciated.
-mel

Title: Re: i'm new to this
Post by BobG on May 24^th, 2004, 4:06am

on 05/23/04 at 18:24:29, aesthete wrote:

hello everyone,
i'm not really sure where to begin...i'm pretty sure i'm suffering from cluster headaches, but haven't been to a doctor yet to recieve a diagnosis. We're not doctors and can't give a diagnosis but we can say to click the 'cluster quiz' button on the left side of your screen and take the test. Then tell us what the results are.

about a week ago i was at home with my three year old son when i suddenly got this sharp pain that started behind my right eye, shot down into my temple and down along my jaw. i am a frequent migraine sufferer, but i have never in my life experienced pain like this. i felt like my eye was going to burst and my head was going to split open. the pain was so intense i actually threw up several times. i wanted to put my head through the window just to make it stop. It does sound like cluster headaches.

i'm a single mother and i was home alone with my son, and i think he was as scared as i was. He probably was. Children are very protective of their parents and he was scared because he couldn't understand what was happening and couldn't do anything to help. They also sometimes think they have done something bad and it is their fault the mom is hurting. A 3 year old is old enough to be told, in simple words, what was happening. And it is important to let him know that it was not his fault.

i kept crying and squeezing and pounding my head and pacing, anything to make the pain stop, and then just as soon as it came on...it was gone. i was left with a mild headache that came and went throughout the rest of the day, and throughout the week i have three or four of these headaches a day that start as a sharp pain behind my right eye, although they're not as intense and don't last more than half an hour(the first lasted about an hour). the headaches are always accompanied with sinus drainage on the side the headache occured, and i'm afraid if i go to the the emergency room, they're just going to tell me it's a sinus headache due to the allergies i suffer from. They probably will do just that.

i'm not sure that treatment with medication would help anyway because as i said i'm a frequent miraine sufferer and i can't even find medication that works on my migraines, Imitrex doesn't work for your migraines?

forget about the intense pain i experienced last week. i've been in constant fear for the past week that i'm going to have another attack, especially since i live three and a half hours away from any family, and have few friends where i live due to my very busy schedule.

what causes these headaches? Nobody knows for sure. Seems that something in the hypothalmus is broken.

is there any way to prevent them? Yes, there are preventative meds that many have been successful with. Verapamil is one.

what other treatments are there out there? Pure oxygen is a good start.

any info would be greatly appreciated.
-mel

Title: Re: i'm new to this
Post by TxBasslady on May 26^th, 2004, 12:56am

Welcome to the board

Listen to Bob......he gives good answers....follow the advice he has given.

Hope you decide to stay with us and learn all you can.
Read....read.....read....!

PF vibes,

Jean