hi i am new to this so bear with me. after 18 yrs of agony on the right side of my face and after seen specialists who gave me blood tests scans xrays and a load of differant tablets and pain killers which none of them worked they said its just one of them things and i will have to deal with it (yeah right)sometimes the pain would be so bad i felt like sticking a drill in my temple
and that was the only thing that would take the pain away so this week i payed £170 to go private and im so glad i did with in half an hour and telling him my symptom's he said he knows exactly what was up with me cluster headaches and prescribed me some oxygen and some tablets and imigran injections and i hope to god they work i felt a hugh amount of relief knowing i finaly know whats up with me although he said there was no cure there was only help with my deal with headaches or help during my headaches i have got go back to see him in a month to see how im doing

Good for you!  Hang around here and read.  You will learn a lot and get great support!

oxygen tablets?  Does your Doc. have a license to practice medicine?  Read this. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

          Potter

    I googled o2 tablets .  If yer a fish, yep they are good for ya.

Hi Cuz and Welcome to Clusterville

  First . . . congratulations on finding a doc who recognized this condition.  But, next visit you need to go armed with more (recognized) info for him.

  I'm not familiar with oxygen tablets (I think I've seen them mentioned once).  Most of us use oxygen to abort (works for 70%+) attacks.   VERY important to use at the first sign of attack for maximum benefit and to reduce the pain level of the attack.  See the "oxygen info" link (highlighted in yellow) on the left.

  Imagran (called Imitrex here) injections will work in minutes, but as you're limited to the amount you can use daily, important that you read the "imitrex tip" link on the left also.  This will double the amount of hits you can abort and lessen the amount of Imagran you're using.

  You need to ask your doc about preventative meds to help reduce the frequency/intensity of your attacks.  There are many available, some with fewer side effects than others.

  You have much reading to do . . . and please feel free to ask any questions you might have . . . there aren't any that haven't been asked before, and the answers you will get here come from folks who truly know your pain.

  What country are you in?

    Be Safe,    PFDANs

      Richard

I assume you are in GB??

If so, your excellent support group is at:

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
=====

HERE ARE TWO MAJOR DOCUMENTS WITH RECOMMENDED TREATMENTS FOR CLUSTER HEADACHE, ONE FROM A U.S. PHYSICIAN, THE SECOND FROM EUROPE.
_________________________________________
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002. Rozen)
================
Treatment guidelines from Europe

------
A. May, M. Leone, J. Áfra, M. Linde, P. S. Sándor, S. Evers, P. J. Goadsby:
EFNS guidelines on the treatment of cluster headache and other
trigeminalautonomic cephalalgias.
European Journal of Neurology. 2006; 13: 1066–1077.

Download free full text:
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE
(Thanks to "cluster" for link.)
=====

 
Cluster headache.
From: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article--link, line above--if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]

sorry my fault meant say some oxygen and some tablets and some injections

C'mon you guys!  Even I didn't read it as *oxygen tablets* and my right eye isn't functioning properly!  ;D

Gratz on the diagnosis. It only took me 5 years to get mine.

Oxygen tablets have to be lighter than this blasted M tank. I'm gonna look for some water tablets too. Heh!

Definitely look over the oxygen page. O2 is badass.

Hello, my name is Eric and I am an O2 addict.

PFDDoooood.
Eric

deltadarlin wrote on Nov 11^th, 2009 at 6:56pm:

C'mon you guys!  Even I didn't read it as *oxygen tablets* and my right eye isn't functioning properly!  ;D

OH I agree!
Why is everyone hungup on this LOL.  He never MENTIONED OXYGEN tablets... Sounds like he's getting proper treatment.

oxygen tablets? cmon guys. really? even if they exist, aren't they for fishes? (thanks vietvet2tours)

i also been prescribed methysergide tablets but got do a blood test first does anyone known is they are any good

Quote:

i also been prescribed methysergide tablets but got do a blood test first does anyone known is they are any good

I havent heard the latest opinion on methysergide but I have used it in the past and it worked extremely well as a preventative. However, I no longer use it because I was told by my doctor not to use any triptans(imitrex) while on it.

Sheepdog


                     

---

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."       Thoreau

sheepdog wrote on Nov 16^th, 2009 at 12:35am:

[quote]  "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."[/i]       Thoreau

Hey Sheepdog-
I just love H. D. Thoreau!