So I drank (or ate, I'm not sure) my booster juice way too quickly, and had one of the worst brainfreeze instances of my life.  It made me think of my clusters, and then I realized something:

I think its the closest anology to CH I've experienced.  Just imagine a super brainfreeze that wouldn't go away for an hour or two, and thats basically most of my cluster hits.

Dunno why I thought if this, but just knew I had to share.

A brain-freeze is the analogy I use to help people sort of understand the pain I go through.  I just tell them that mine last for an hour at a time though. ;)

Yes I have used the same analogy many times. That is one thing that most everyone can relate to.

Me too...  it seems to make them grasp the idea more than,  "how would you feel if I pushed  a red hot poker through your eyeball and then pounded a nail into everyone one of your teeth on one side of your head and shot hot Jalapenos up your nostril. "

  At least they can understand the ice cream/brain freeze thing,  as almost everyone has had it.

"As the cold ice cream moves across the palate of your mouth and down your throat it causes sudden dilation of the blood vessel located in the head. The nerve centre gets cold and over reacts and warms up the brain.

The pain receptors near the brain send the signal to the brain through one of the major facial nerves, the trigeminal nerve that delivers the sensory information from face teeth and tongue to your brain.

This nerve also senses pain the brain interprets this as the pain from the forehead. The pain lasts for 10seconds to 1 minute. The pain hardly ever extends to a few minutes. This ice cream headache occurs only in warm climates or on hot days. It cannot occur in cold climates. "

The trigeminal nerve, it all makes sense now!  Damn that nerve......

It's the best description I can ever think of but given the rapid passing of brain-freeze I still don't belive most really comprehend it.

Burnt-Toast
(Tom)

Thats the analogy that I have used for at least 15 years and I think it probably fits better than any other description.  And still.....I don't think a non CH sufferer really gets it!

It is the best way to try to describe the pain.

Brain freeze x 10 for 90 minutes.

Easily understood by the masses.

Steve G

I have never thought of it that way, but I will now. ;)
The brain-freeze is as close as it gets for a non-sufferer.

no mater what you tell them, If you dont get them you dont get it :-[

I will have to use this analogy form now on! what a good thought!

K~