Hi guys,

I've been suffering from CH for 10 years now and they always came around the same time every year(June/July and always lasting around 2 months) 2 years ago in 2009 they instead decided to hit me 3 days before Christmas while I was overseas visiting family... This was a little strange for me but I had read about cycle shifts before. Then 2010 I had no cycles whatsoever which was amazing, which brings me to this week... This past week I've been experiencing the typical shadow headaches which usually come before the big hit, but they never seem to turn into the full blown cluster... Just sort of linger for an hour then go away, then come back for a while(sometimes doing this for a full day) So just wanted to know if anyone else has had similar experiences with these ominous Shadows.

Kinda driving me nuts thinking, uh oh here comes a headache... A whole day of worrying is not fun.

Being chronic I don't have the same experience as you describe but others have said similar things. You may be going into a new cycle. The question is: are you prepared? Better always to be safe than to be hit with your guard down. Blessings. lance

Personally, the sensation that you are describing often occur to me the week preceding the onset of a full blown episode. 

This round of CH has been different but then, I'm under a lot of stress right now and I'm thinking that has changed my usual pattern.

Be prepared for an increase in the intensity and duration of the HA.  Then, even if this is just a one off thing, you'll be ready.

Ok, thanks. Good to know. Just never had episodes outside of the normal yearly cycle so this whole time change/year off thing has left me feeling a bit like "What's coming next?". The shadows always led to a full blown attack before so you guys can imagine a whole day of them being a little scary. Will just have to wait and see what happens.

When I started having Clusters at the age of 17 I would get them every May-Aug every day once a day.  This went on for many years then about 14 yrs ago.  I think thats around the time. They began to skip cycles come different months lasting different lengths and instead of one per day I would get 2-3 a day and the intensity of the hit were worse.  The last two cycles I have skipped at least 4 yrs in between cycles.  So I would say that there are no clear cut rules.  I get the hits like your describing just prior to a full blown hit and cycle start.  I'm 48 now and my last cycle started the day after Christmas and was done in about 4 weeks.  This once again changed since my cycles always would last 6-8 weeks of everyday hits 2-3 hits a day.  This was my norm for the last 20 yrs.  My hits lessen when I found a neuro that new how to treat them.  I still got hits but instead of 3-4 months it dropped to 6-8 weeks. 

If I can help you in any way please email me.
Sami

I've had these shadows on and off all day for the last year and a half (since my last cycle ended ) but no full on hits or new cycle .

I've now given up looking over my back wondering if I'm going to get hit again , I just grab a can of red bull if they get too annoying and try not to think about it . 

All that said I'm never more than an arms length away from a pack of imitrex cos I know the minute I let my guard down I'm going to get hammered.

God Bless

Nigel