Hey everyone! My name is Bryan. I'm 23 and from Palm Harbor, Florida. I have not yet been diagnosed with CH, but I have also not been to see a doctor about them yet (anxiety issues). I have an appointment scheduled with a neurologist later this week so hopefully that will shed some light and be my first step to finding some solace as the headaches have been getting increasingly worse and not even anxiety will keep me from finding help now. Lots and lots of research have led me to believe that what I'm experiencing are cluster headaches because I suffer from quite a lot of the same symptoms as most of you.

I began getting headaches in '07 during the end of my fourth semester at art school, it also happened to be the same week as finals. I was not able to attend any of them and even had to bail out on the rescheduled make-up exams. So that ended my first college stint. Just recently while attending community college I was put on academic probation and lost my grants due to poor attendance from the headaches. My headaches have been the cause of the end of two of my relationships, as well as a sharp decline in friendships.

As I enter a new cycle now I am beginning to fear losing my job because of attendance problems. It just sucks because the support I get from everyone around me right now is at absolute zero. I get friends calling me a girl thingy because I can't go out drinking with them. My family just doesn't understand at all. Mom likes to attribute anything and everything to the cause of the headaches, and is real accusatory in doing so. Life in the cycles is just really rough and I think it's awesome to have this community of people who understand you completely.

I'll report back after my doctors appointment and let you know what he has to say. Hopefully I can finally get some relief instead of forcing myself to ~just deal with it~.

Hi and welcome Brian,

I really feel for you, but if you have cluster headaches and can find a good knowledgable Dr. to treat you there won't be any more school days or job days lost.   Many,  MANY here have been where you are at right now and with good treatment you can and WILL be able to cope with school and a job.   We all do, and you will also.

Before your appt. look around this site so you can be educated about this condition.  Knowledge is power!!!!!!!!   You will find that you will need a preventative and an abortive.   Verapamil and Lithium are the drugs of choice around here.  They won't make the headaches magically disappear, but they will make them more managable.  Our number one abortive is pure oxygen which you will need a prescription for and for those times when you are out in public, in class or for some reason can't get to your tank....Imitrex. (Injections or nasel spray)

Check out the link to the left of here in yellow about 02 and do some reading elsewhere in the links too.

There are a lot here who don't have a good support system.  We'll be glad to be yours.   Hang in there and please feel free to ask us questions or to vent.  O.K.?

One thing we always say around here is this:  Live between the hits and screw all the people around you that say..."oh pulease...just take an aspirin and go lay down.  it's just a headache for cripes sake"  We've all heard this before and as frustrating as it is, you have to understand the CH is a rare condition.  Until 1987 I'd never heard of it either.  Most Dr.s hadn't either, so why should family members? 

Click on this link, print it out and give it to those who don't understand what you're going through.


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Linda

Hi Bryan,

What Linda said!

So many of us have been helped tremendously by the info and advice found here.

Linda and I are starting to have kind of a tag team thing here today where she informs 23 year olds about O2, the most effective prescriptions, etc., then I come along and talk about more various and sundry non prescription items.  :)

If you have night hits that wake you up, melatonin from 9 to 21 mg will prevent  those hits for some of us.

The cluserbusterbusters.com approach can be more effective than any med for prevention. it doesn't necessarily play well with anxiety though. In this category of prevention, Rivea Corymbosa seeds are quite mild acting though, not to mention legal to order and possess, and I don't believe anxiety is really an issue with them as typically you take 'em before bed, then proceed to have a better than usual night's sleep. Here's a Newsweek article about clusterbusters: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Also, check out the relatively new topic here where folks are reporting success with a high dose vitamin D3 regimen: START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

About your neurologist appointment - I don't want to cast a negative pall or anything, but it should be asked: is this neurologist a headache specialist? Asking because garden variety neuros commonly don't know jack squat about CH, but will pretend to, and prescribe wrong stuff. A headache specialist is absolutely your best bet for am accurate diagnosis.

Hang in there Bryan - things are going to get better now.  :)

Thank you guys so much for all the info and the kind words! I have been researching like crazy for my appointment tomorrow, so hopefully it will yield some results. As far as what the Dr. I'm going to specializes in all I can really find online is Hyberbaric and Underwater medicine (which I didn't even know was a thing, let alone a thing a neurologist would specialize in.) But if he ends up not being able to help me if found some doctors a little further away that are worth looking into. I'll let you guys know how it goes! Thanks again!

-Bryan