Hello all,

I was diagnosed just the other day and about to start Topamax. In the past I've had nortryptaline and imitrex tabs, neither seemed to help much, however, in addition to CH I have migraines as well related to poor eyesight I believe.

Unfortunately, my CH went undiagnosed for a long time because we couldn't untangle one issue from the other. I'm a chronic sufferer, and have been for over a year now, and have tried nearly everything. I'm wondering though, does anyone else have strong myopia, and does it seem to be related to CH? My headaches are generally centered around my worse eye, and cause extreme light sensitivity, which is a bit of a problem as that eye is bad as it is and is already light sensitive due to eye disease.

In addition to CH I have a relatively rare eye disorder called Keratoconus, which causes increasing astigmatism and myopia. In my worse eye its gotten so bad that I require a corneal transplant. My parents hope that this will fix my headaches, but from the reading I've done, I doubt that it will. Can anyone else weigh in on this?

Hoping I can either see/have less pain inside of a month, I've been struggling to get contacts fit as well as dealing with CH for over a year now. Needless to say, they both sort of aggravate each other, and generally aggravate me.  :(

Thanks for reading my novel,

Mike

I also have extreme progressive myopia (it stopped progressing when I was about 40 years old) and astigmatism, but my cluster attacks always occur on the left side. My right eye is worse than my left (20/525 and 20/400, respectively).

I haven't seen anyone posting about a cause and effect with the bad eyesight, although many have been mis-diagnosed, myself included, as having a vision issue that when corrected would "cure" the headaches. It didn't! ;)

Are you working with a headache specialist neurologist yet? Headaches are one of those conditions that most GP's, and even many neurologists, know just enough about to really hurt you. Someone like yourself, with overlapping conditions and headache types, could really benefit from the knowledge of a neuro who works exclusively with the hundreds of headache types out there, and the most current treatments for easing the hurt.

Have you tried oxygen yet for aborting your CH attacks? I'm a 34 year episodic sufferer, and oxygen has all but eliminated my use of other abortives. I feel that familiar tension in the neck and 'fullness" in the ear drum, I fire off the oxygen, 6-8 minutes later I'm pain free. Check out this link as it must be used correctly or it's worthless. The keys are a high flow, MINIMUM of 15 LPM, a Non Re Breather Mask, (critical, nasal canulas and re breather masks all but guarantee failure), and get on it as fast as you can:

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

Glad you found us, hope we can help you.

Joe

There is strikingly little medical literature on your question, surely no suggestion that Cluster is in a causal relationship with the eye.

That Cluster pain so regularly presents as affecting the eye is associated with the complex of nerves which link the hypothalamus and the head, hence Cluster pain expeienced in the eyes, teeth, temple. But the hypothalamus is now accepted as the causal center of Cluster.

This is the only article I have on file. Note the date.

Med Clin North Am. 1991 May;75(3):693-706.   


Ophthalmologic aspects of headache.

Tomsak RL.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio.

Pain around the eye can be caused by local ophthalmic disorders or by disease of other structures sharing trigeminal nerve sensory innervation. In general, most ocular causes for pain also cause the eye to be red, thus alerting the examiner to the focality of the problem. However, conditions like eyestrain, intermittent angleclosure glaucoma or neovascular glaucoma, and low-grade intraocular inflammation can be painful and not be associated with obvious redness. Ocular signs and symptoms also occur with numerous other causes of headache. Double vision in association with periocular pain can result from orbital lesions, isolated cranial neuropathies, and cavernous sinus lesions. Pupillary abnormalities like Horner's syndrome may result from a variety of painful conditions, including cluster headache, parasellar neoplasms or aneurysms, internal carotid dissection or occlusion, and Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. Pain with a dilated and unreactive pupil may reflect a benign condition like Adie's syndrome or ophthalmoplegic migraine, or it may herald the presence of a life-threatening posterior communicating artery aneurysm. Headache and transient visual loss can be manifestations of classic migraine, or be symptoms of ocular hypoperfusion from ipsilateral internal carotid occlusion or increased intracranial pressure from pseudotumor cerebri. In a young patient, head pain with a fixed visual deficit may result from optic neuritis, in an older adult, temporal arteritis may be the culprit.

OPHTHALMOLOGIC ASPECTS OF HEADACHE THUS ENCOMPASS PROBLEMS THAT RANGE FROM SIMPLE AND BENIGN TO COMPLEX AND FORMIDABLE.

Publication Types:
Review

PMID: 2020223 [PubMed]