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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Searching for answers
        
(Message started by: prest on Apr 17^th, 2008, 8:02am)

Title: Searching for answers
Post by prest on Apr 17^th, 2008, 8:02am

Hi guys,

I'm new to this site and stumbled across it when looking for a name for my symptoms.

I am still not sure if what I am experiencing are CH's or not but Here are my symptoms.

Certain periods of the year I will get mild headaches that hang around for what long periods, go away, come back etc. They are focuses on the left side behind/above my eye and cause a red, scratchy eye feeling and my pupil is sometimes smaller than the right.

During these phases I can feel lightheaded or woosy and certainly not myself. If I have red wine, I will find that I awake with an intense pressure behind/over my eye which feels bareable if I walk around for a while then try and get back to sleep.

Does this sound like a CH?

I have had this for years but the frequency is getting more and more - severity or lack of it is still the same.

Please can anyone comment.

Thanks

Prest.

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by George_J on Apr 17^th, 2008, 8:42am

Hello, Prest.

It sounds as if it's something to have checked out, particularly if it's causing you concern--but it doesn't sound at all like CH.

on 04/17/08 at 08:02:30, prest wrote:

Certain periods of the year I will get mild headaches

Have you seen a physician about them?

Best wishes,

George

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by Guiseppi on Apr 17^th, 2008, 10:00am

Does not sound like classic CH symptoms. I agree with George, while the net is useful for educating yourself, it's a far distant second to havving a doc check you out. There are literally hundreds of headache types, a solid diagnosis is the first step in an effective treatment plan. Wishing you luck on the diagnostic journey and some pain free time soon!

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by AussieBrian on Apr 17^th, 2008, 10:09am

If pain persists, see your doctor, as the two good Gs have already mentioned. Just bear in mind that the average doctor knows remarkable little about the many different types of headache (not their fault) and mis-diagnosis is horribly common.

Keep searching always because knowlege is your best weapon and whether it's Cluster Headache or not we'll help you in any way we can.

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by BarbaraD on Apr 17^th, 2008, 12:21pm

on 04/17/08 at 08:02:30, prest wrote:

Hi guys,

Certain periods of the year I will get mild headaches that hang around for what long periods, go away, come back etc. They are focuses on the left side behind/above my eye and cause a red, scratchy eye feeling and my pupil is sometimes smaller than the right.

Prest.

Could be phantom headaches. They've been discussed in the past. The "mild headaches" are the part that doesn't sound like CH to me.

But as others have said -- get to a doc and get diagnosed. Could be something serious that only tests will show up...

Hugs BD

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by Bob_Johnson on Apr 17^th, 2008, 4:14pm

Take the "cluster quiz" (left) and a like test on the OUCH site. These are not absolute tests but give a decent idea of whether you have CH or not.

However, some people who are in the earliest stage of developing CH often have changing/wandering symptoms which are not classic. If your symptoms change over several months, even a couple of years, all you can do is wait until some stability emerges.

However, again ! Sudden, dramatic pain or change in pain pattern calls for immediate evaluation.

Title: Re: Searching for answers
Post by Sandy_C on Apr 17^th, 2008, 5:41pm

Listen to Bob's advice.

Take the CH quiz, 4th button down on the left of your screen. Also go to OUCH.com and read the information there.

Keep a daily diary of when you start/stop with headache pain, what you did that day, what you ate/drank, etc. Detailed diary.

Take your diary along with info you have learned here, and at OUCH to your doctor. You need a confirmed diagnosis.

It may be CH, but then, again, it may be something more serious. You need a confirmed diagnosis, then methods, medications, and treatments can be prescribed for you.

Keep us up to date. We are here for you.

Sandy