All the data compiled on CH says that there are cases of the Beast switching sides.

Has anyone here experienced that first hand? If so, is the intesity on the opposite the same as your usually affected side? Or is it different?

Also, is it more of physiological reaction to the stress of a cluster cycle as opposed to a cluster on the other side? In other words, did you develop a bad "tension" headache on your "normal" side?

I'm curious because I feel like I'm going through some cycle/pattern changes. For 7 years I've been a spring/fall episodic, with an occasional mid-summer hit, always affecting my right side. This time around, it's March 8th and fall cycle has yet to subside and spring is around the corner.

In the last week, I've noticed a decent amount of pain over my left eye, as well as my left eye watering. I'm thinking/hoping that I'm just stressing out from fighting this cycle but I can't help but wonder if something's going on.

I know that it's out of my hands but I'm curious if anyone else has had a similar experience. Thanks....Jamie

When I first started getting CHs I did have a small number where they were on my left side only which were mixed in with my usual side which is on my right. At the time I was also getting a lot of other headaches from a concussion, so it was far from just being a simple CH.

At the time, the intensity of the wrong side ones matched that of the normal right sided ones at the time. Although at the time these seemed to be pretty bad, having now explored the full Kip scale I know that they were still relatively mild at that point.

Since my CHs have settled down to a much more predictable pattern I've only had right sided ones.

Hi Jamie,
I have always had them on the left side....
However,11 yrs ago when they started, I had the classic 'ice pick in the eye' pain (I wanted to take it out!).
Over the years the beast has migrated to my left temple, just below the skin..But I am going to get myself kitted with O2 in case he ever goes sightseeing in the future!
At least now I am seeing a Doc who is aware of CH and, what she doesn't know, she can find out from a colleague who is 'up to speed' with CH.....
The pain now,is less and the duration is also shorter..
(I believe in not tempting Fate, so I will shut my gob at this point!)

Mike, as you are an Antipodean....Have you ever thought your 'Pet' might go to your left side, if you ever came up to the UK to visit? (you know, the water and plug hole thing?)

Respect

Gary

Everything I have on file leaves the question unanswered:

J Headache Pain. 2009 Aug;10(4):259-63. Epub 2009 Jun 3.
Lateralization in cluster headache: a Nordic multicenter study.

Meyer EL, Laurell K, Artto V, Bendtsen L, Linde M, Kallela M, Tronvik E, Zwart JA, Jensen RM, Hagen K.

Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Neurology at Karolinska Insitutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

A slight predominance of cluster pain on the right side has been reported in several studies. The aim of this large retrospective Nordic multicenter study was to estimate the prevalence of right- and left-sided pain in cluster headache (CH) patients with side-locked pain, the prevalence of side shifts in episodic and chronic CH patients, and the occurrence of cranial autonomic symptoms related to pain side.

AMONG 383 CLUSTER PATIENTS, 55 (14%) HAD EXPERIENCED PAIN SIDE SHIFT. OF THE REMAINING 328 INDIVIDUALS WITHOUT SIDE SHIFT, THERE WAS NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OCCURRENCE OF RIGHT-SIDED AND LEFT-SIDED PAIN (54 VS. 46%). THE PREVALENCE OF SIDE SHIFT WAS SIMILAR FOR EPISODIC AND CHRONIC CH AND THE OCCURRENCE OF CRANIAL AUTONOMIC SYMPTOMS WAS NOT INFLUENCED BY THE PAIN SIDE. In conclusion, previous reports of a side difference in location of cluster pain could not be confirmed in this large Nordic sample.

Publication Types:
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

PMID: 19495933 [PubMed]
======
Cephalalgia. 2008 Jul;28 Suppl 1:8-11.
Epidemiology of fixed unilateral headaches.

Leone M, Cecchini AP, Mea E, Tullo V, Bussone G.

Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milano, Italy. leone@istituto-besta.it

A fixed location unilateral headache suggests involvement of a precise nervous structure, and neuroimaging investigations are essential to seek to identify it. Nevertheless, SIDE-LOCKED PRIMARY HEADACHES ALSO OCCUR, ALTHOUGH THEY ARE RARE. SIDE-LOCKED PRIMARY HEADACHES ARE MORE FREQUENTLY FOUND IN THE GROUP OF THE SHORT-LASTING (</= 4 HOURS) HEADACHES but long-lasting headache forms may also present with the pain always on the same side, including migraine, tension-type headache, new daily persistent headache and cervicogenic headache. Future studies should address the issue whether patients with side-locked headache form differ from those with non-side-locked form both in terms of natural history and biological markers. Among 63 consecutive CHRONIC CLUSTER headache patients seen by us from 1999 to 2007, 32 (51%) had side shift. We ALSO FOUND THAT THE DURATION OF THE CHRONIC CONDITION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER IN THOSE WITH SIDE SHIFT THAN THOSE WITHOUT. The high frequency of side shift in chronic cluster headache should be considered when proposing surgical treatment for severe intractable forms of the disease.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 18494985

Hi Bob,

What are your views on my original pain site (behind left eye) migrating to left temple,
it feels subcutaneous?

I'm not complaining as it is now far more manageable now than 11yrs ago....

I still get the normal sensations of discomfort going into my teeth and jaw, and down my neck and up onto my head, it feels something like neuralgia...As I mentioned a few weeks ago to someone, its the sleep disruption that is my major beef now....

Respect

Gary

Batty wrote on Mar 10^th, 2011 at 4:21pm:

Mike, as you are an Antipodean....Have you ever thought your 'Pet' might go to your left side, if you ever came up to the UK to visit? (you know, the water and plug hole thing?)

I'd never thought of it, but there is only one way to find out!

Gary, sorry for the delay.

No expert on neurology but my read is: there is a complex set of shared nerves/nerve pathways in our head which become involved in CH. That's why (my assumption) that we have eye pain, when the eye is not the problem, and some feel as jaw pain, and others in the temple. And this would explain how pain sites can shift (even if there is no explanation as to why the change occurs).

Over the years, we have regularly had threads on the subject of shifting pain sites. Clearly, a not uncommon experience but seems to have no clear clinical implications.

My pain is based on my right side, but while I do have a lot of eye, sinus and temple involvement, the majority of the pain that I get is actually at the back of my head. And that part of my pain tends to be bilateral much of the time. I don’t EVER get eye or temple pain on my left side, and I never get sinus pain JUST on the left side, and I rarely get pain at the back of my head on the left side only.

I think I am in a category all on my own there!