i was mentioning some of my husband's symptoms to his doctor, and he mentioned they could be related to a thyroid problem.

has anyone else had their doctor look into a thyroid issue at the same time as cluster headaches/other headaches? we were waiting in the ER and i was googling things and found the following: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE;  It doesn't say thyroid issues are comorbid to cluster headaches themselves, but other types of headaches, and often the headaches are refractory and don't respond to any of the medicines traditionally used to treat them.

just wanted to pass this along on the chance that it could help someone. i know there have been other posts about testosterone levels being related to cluster headaches too, but i hadn't heard of thyroid issues before. my husband's cluster headaches haven't responded too well to a few different treatments, and he has had a constant headache for 2 months now, on top of the cluster attacks..and it has recently gotten worse. now we are (well i am really) wondering if thyroid issues could be playing a part in this.

I had clusters way before my thyroid went nuts......still have them after we got teh levels back to normal. It may have something to do with it, but it changed nothing for me.

(I tried the link twice and it didn't work.)

If the doc's focus is on other than Cluster, print out this file and give to him.


Link to: cluster-LIKE headache.

Section, "Medications, Treatments, Therapies --> "Important Topics" --> "Cluster-LIKE headache"

I believe (but there is no medical proof) that my thyroid problems triggered my clusters.  Way back when I was visiting every Dr I could think of to figure out what was going on with my head, I made an appt with an ENT.  He took one look at me, noticed my swollen neck, ordered biopsies and scared the hell out of me.  Ended up with 1/2 of a thyroid, and still did not know what was going on with my head.  The ENT (the best Dr I have ever been to) said something about migraines, so even though I knew it was not a migraine, I went to google and after much clicking, found this wonderful site.  I still get ch even though I convince myself I no longer have this condition after a few pf weeks.  My thyroid levels are normal without meds.

Hey Krys,

BINGO!  Your husband's doctor may be on to something...

Over the last 5 years we've discovered there are several comorbid disorders that when present, tend to adversely affect cluster headache preventatives and abortives including oxygen therapy making them less effective.

As these disorders all have the capacity to lower arterial/systemic pH making it more acidic, it appears that this lower pH may be a common thread and factor responsible for the more frequent and severe CH.

Comorbid disorders that may affect CH include:
   •      Cardiac insufficiency
   •      Renal insufficiency
   •      Thyroid conditions
   •      Diabetes (ketoacidosis)
   •      COPD

What we found in talking with CH'ers who also suffer from one or more these disorders is they all tend to have greater difficulty in finding the right combination of treatments to manage their CH than others.   They also tend to experience CH cycles (both ECH'ers and CCH'ers) marked with a higher frequency of more sever CH.  Many also complained their CH appeared to last much longer than normal and that oxygen therapy took a long time to abort their attacks if it worked at all.

The calcium citrate and lemonade buffering regimen can help combat a low arterial pH caused by diet.  However if the low pH condition is caused by one of the comorbid disorders, the pH may be so low, that simple changes in diet will be ineffective in elevating the pH back up into the higher part of the normal range.

Talk to your husband's doctor about the relationship between his thyroid condition and a low arterial/systemic pH or any other blood chemistry that could affect vasoactivity.  You might also want to ask for a Chemistry Panel, Complete Blood Count (CBC), and 25(OH)D lab tests.

Take care,

V/R, Batch