Hello all,

I remember getting my first "stabbing headaches" in 5th grade and have been episodic cluster since then, clinically diagnosed for the first time around 1998.  I'm now 27, a non-smoker, vegetarian and I very rarely drink.  Typically, I have remission periods that last about 9 months on average and then 2-3 months of episodic clusters in the wintertime.  My worst ones have been Kip 7-8 (I empathize with those that get higher than that!).

Here is something strange that I experienced last cycle that I haven't seen talked about yet.  As I've said above, I've been 9 months off, 3 months on since I was in Elementary school.   I never missed a single cycle and I would write reminders on my calendar in early December each year to stock up on supplies before the insanity returned.  

This last remission period, however lasted from 3-2007 until 7-2009 - two full years+!  I can think of only one variable that explains the extended remission period - my brief foray into boxing.

I decided to take up amateur boxing as a sport in the summer of '07.  This was in the middle of my usual remission cycle and I wasn't thinking about any sort of relationship between getting hit in the head and my diagnosed headache disorder.  I'm not very bright.  

After being hit in the face a bunch of times, I started getting these deep, bi-lateral non-cluster headaches that would last for hours on end.  Doctor told me they were migraines and told me to stop boxing.  I stopped boxing in fall of '07, and my new headaches went away shortly thereafter.  Oddly, my clusters, which had been so regular in my life, stopped too.   When December rolled around in '07 - no clusters.  I kept expecting them to start at any moment, but they never did.

I had two winters completely free of clusters.  I got to the point where I thought they were gone for good, but last Wednesday I got frigging NAILED at 2AM with a Kip 7.  Since then, I've had another minor one and then a moderate one earlier today.  I may start boxing again and see if I can score another 30 months of remission.  

Anyone else ever had something weird like that disrupt the usual cycle?  

-Ken

Hi Ken, welcome to the club to which everyone wishes they did not belong.

Your break in clusters I'm sure was welcomed relief. Others have had periods of no headaches, some even longer than yours. About the only thing we know is that for some the breaks last awhile, for others the cycles increase in frequence and/or duration. I wonder if you were taking any  medications after getting hurt, such as prednisone or anything that perhaps blocked a cycle?

Hopefully this will be a short cycle for you and that you have good preventatives and abortives.

Christy

Because the cause of CH is no known and so much of the process has yet to be uncovered, these sorts of variation are beyond explanation.

However, the head trauma really suggests the need to be working with a headache specialist re. the hidden trauma which can be associated with a variety of responses.

I just went thru a 5 year PF period. I thought they were gone, during this time I had no shadows or anything and then 6 weeks ago I woke in middle of the night back in hell. I could not believe it. Ive had CH for 25 years starteed with 2-3 short cycles per year then became 1 long (3-4 months) cycle per year, then the long remission. I have been to ch.com many times in the past but was never a member. This new cycle made me become a newbie and I wish I would have joinrd a long time ago as it has been a tremendous help reading all the post's and realizing there are so many wonderful folks who share this horrible hell. I thought I was alone. Anyway welcome to the club, hope you get as much relife as I have from this site.