Hi everyone. I did not off myself over the winter. I got a new diagnoses of Trigeminal Neuralgia to go with the Cluster headaches and that seems to be what is making this a living hell. The doctor is reluctant to give me anything at all for pain. I am in a remission currently with the CH. WHOO HOOO!!!!!!!!!!! And now I have shingles on my face and neck which is making the TN flare up even worse. I do get vicodin for the shingles. At least I can sleep a little now. I am still trying to go to school and learn danish. I am also trying to work with my husband on our house to get it ready to sell. My family, my husband and my friends are sick and tired of hearing me complain about my pain and so I have been trying to learn not to scream and cry. I have learned that with me sometimes crying is an involuntary response like breathing and so is screaming. No matter how hard I try or what I do the tears and screams just come out. I have learned that my family, husband and friends take my grumpiness personally no matter what I say to the contrary. I have the first and second most painful diseases known to mankind so I think if I am grumpy sometimes they can be understanding. It seems I ask too much or am grumpy too much or something, because the understanding I aint gettin. There is no way I can work now. And there is a lot of pressure on me to get a job. I go to school, come home and study for about 4 hours and then work around the house. By the time I am done with that I am reduced to tears again and as soon as dinner is over and I load the dishwasher and clean up I crawl in bed to cry it out. I am hoping my neurologist will let me have pain medication so I can live a fairly normal life with the TN. The cluster headaches suck but I can live with those. I just dont want to. So that is where I am. If I dont post much that is why. I am just busy trying to stay alive right now. Thanks for being here and caring. Sophia

Sophia,
 Sorry to hear about your plight. Having one of these pain conditions is bad enough. Your nero probably knows that giving you narcotics can make you CH much worse.  I believe that TN can be treated with surgery. Some people with TN are misdiagnosed with CH. Either way you probably should be on steroids to reduce the swelling that causes both pains. I hope and pray you get relief and understanding soon.

Paul