I've been getting these headaches for 9 days now.  This pain is by far the worst i have ever experienced.  Same place (eye temple) every time.  It feels as if someone is scrapping my brain with a spoon thru the temple.  My eye feels as if it's gonna pop out of my head.  My face feels as if it's gonna explode!  It has hurt so bad I actually wished for the end!! 

What can I do?  Please help!!! 

Have you got an energy drink?  Slam a Redbull.

         potter

Hey CraigWilliam,

Sucks and sucks badly that you're going though that right now.

There's LOTS of stuff you can do to obtain relief, fortunately.

Possibly the most popular thing around here is the newer method for using oxygen to abort attacks. Here's a critical link for you regarding that:
START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

This is something you could potentially be doing as soon as tomorrow, if you could get to a welding supply place to acquire the O2.

Do you live in an area that is cold right now? Breathing cold air - with your nose on the blasting car air conditioner vent if necessary - can abort an attack for some of us. It will for me in the first week or so of an episode.

You sound like you have a real rager going on. Maybe slamming a down a Red Bull right at the onset of an attack, then immediately deeply breathing really cold air through the nose for 10 -15 min could do something for you (The Red Bull hasn't done much for me all by itself, but I've drank it in conjunction with O2 or an Imitrex injection many times just because many people here swear by it, and who knows, maybe it helped)....

If you stick around here and research and read read read, ask many questions, you'll have a very good chance of being helped significantly, as have I and so many others.

With a good informed strategy you'll beat this beast back one way or another, Good on ya for coming to the right place.

ice pack, frozen veggies and apply to back of your neck, side of temples, over your eye....massage your scalp under water-ice cold/very hot-you decide what makes you feel better as everybody has their own preference....oxygen...imitrex injections...running....bicycle....elyptical....print off info from this website and take to your doctor and/or ER-Emergency Room as you might/probably will have to educate the doctors and it will be easier for them to read than listen to you while you are in pain....do not take no for an answer...they have no clue how much pain you are in, you do!!!  so demand a script for oxygen with a non-rebreather mask at rate of up to 25 lpm (25 liters per minute) get a script for imitrex injections, dont mess with the nasal spray as they are usualy not effective due to nasal congesion affiliated with CH attack..and imitrex pills rarely work in the needed timeframe if at all...getting preventative medications such as Prednisone (start high and taper down over 2 or 3 weeks) this Pred will help while Verapamil at high dosage (480mg + daily is common for CH sufferers) is in the process of getting into the bloodstream...Verap should be immediate release, NOT extended release pills, and monitor your blood pressure while on Verapamil as it lowers your blood pressure whic could create addtyl health problems....research as much as you can from this site as it truly is the #1 best resource available worldwide.  Few doctors are even aware of CH's and how to treat them as there is such few people afflicted by CH's, therefor YOU need to be the educated person and teach the doctors, with paperwork printed from this website, include o2 info, preventative and abortive med info, etc.  also a great resource is the OUCH website, link is on this board, seek and you shall find....sincere good luck, we ALL here on this site understand what you are going through you are NOT alone, we do feel your pain and empathize with how you are feeling...it sucks, but you CAN ad WILL get through this...keep us updated, good news, bad news, just keep in contact here and we will get you through it safely and hopefully with as minimal pain as possible....hope this helped you....good night.   

Hang in there Pal!

Some really good news!!!:

This condition is TREATABLE!!!!
There a many different approaches, medications ( my salvation so far) I have just completed a cycle and suffered only a few hits where normally (without meds) I would have had 6 to 8 bad hits per day/night for 4 to 6 weeks! Piece of cake!!
02: everyone on the site swears by it, (haven't tried yet) I will be prepared with an 02 set up before my next cycle. I would prefer not to be on meds if possible.

Many other approaches! (you'll read about them all on this site)

It definately sucks you're getting hit so hard, and I know when I've got a bad one that I can't shake, a hit that keeps blasting me for an hour, then an hour and a half, I've begged God to please "make it go away", I've thought let it just end!! It helps me alot to remember that all the folks on the site get hits like this too! I'm not the only one. Also I know that at some point really soon (of course never as soon as I would like) this horrible pain will just evaporate! And when it does, OH Boy what relief!!

I'm a newbie to the site too, so I know very little, however I would be happy to tell you in detail what med regime I used (all suggested from this site). My cycle started just as I changed jobs and have no med insurance. I printed out the medication chart from the "ouch" site and brought it with me to the ER. The young Dr. didn't have a clue, but listened read the chart, got out his little yellow book of medications and said "yeah this makes sense" and prescribed me what I asked for. Result: a piece of cake pain free cycle!!

PM me if you wish or just really go through this site, ask questions and I'm sure that as a clusterhead your life will greatly improve!!

Good Luck

Keep reading this site. Everyone has different ideas...Somethings work at different times in the cycle as well. A Red Bull or I prefer a Monster works well at the beginning and end of my cycle but not in the heat of the middle. Mine ramp up day by day, stay there for a while, then start to ramp down...
Is this your first year? Have you seen your doctor? If you haven't been to your doctor yet it's a good idea to print out some info from this site to bring.
Hang in there!

There are a multitude of medical conditions which show up as headaches, even appearing as cluster headache.

However,it's very unwise to assume you can diagnose yourself--and possibly miss a rather more serious condition. First step then: see a good headache doc for a work-up--find out what is going on.
------

LOCATING HEADACHE SPECIALIST

1. Search the OUCH site (button on left) for a list of recommended M.D.s.

2. Yellow Pages phone book: look for "Headache Clinics" in the M.D. section and look under "neurologist" where some docs will list speciality areas of practice.

3.  Call your hospital/medical center. They often have an office to assist in finding a physician. You may have to ask for the social worker/patient advocate.

4. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE; On-line screen to find a physician.

5. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE Look for "Physician Finder" search box.  Call 1-800-643-5552; they will send a list of M.D.s for your state.I suggest using this source for several reasons: first, we have read several messages from people who, even seeing neurologists, are unhappy with the quality of care and ATTITUDES they have encountered; second, the clinical director of the Jefferson (Philadelphia) Headache Clinic said, in late 1999, that upwards of 40%+ of U.S. doctors have poor training in treating headache and/or hold attitudes about headache ("hysterical female disorder") which block them from sympathetic and effective work with the patient; third, it's necessary to find a doctor who has experience, skill, and a set of attitudes which give hope of success. This is the best method I know of to find such a physician.

6. START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE NEW certification program for "Headache Medicine" by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties, an independent, non-profit, professional medical organization.
        Since this is a new program, the initial listing is limited and so it should be checked each time you have an interest in locating a headache doctor.

Welcome, it sure sounds like CH's your suffering from. Your first port of call is to get a proper diagnosis and confirm that it is CH's that you are experiencing. Gather as much information as you can from this site and take it to your Doc.

Good luck..!


Lefty...!

This sucks, sorry you're here too. Cried all morning when I found this site. Helps just to know you're not alone. Had my first O2 treatment this morning after having a kip10 for about 3 hours- took that sucker out in about 10 minutes. Good luck!