Hello, my name is Courtney and I'm a 28. I have a great husband and 2 awesome girls.
    About 8 years ago during a stay in the hospital for kidney issues a Dr also diagnosed me with migraines. He gave me some imitrex (pill form) which I hated. So flash forward to today. My headaches have been insane and frequent the past 4 years but I never took upon myself to go to the Dr. Finally I caved and saw a Dr. After questions about symptoms and frequency the Dr said its not migraines its cluster headaches. Of course I really knew nothing of these, I always assumed Migraines was the worst. He gave me a script for verapamil and samples of Sumavel Doespro. Plus a diagnosis of a minor heart condition (lovely)
I went home and of course with the internet at my fingertips I read everything and anything I could find. Which gave me relief and fear. What I read fit my symptoms so I was glad I was able to get a diagnosis but fear well because it is scary!

Thanks for reading! I hope to read some good advice and different things to try through out these threads!  :)

Welcome to the family, but sorry you had to find us. Read everything on this site. You will find many tips and remedies, advice on how to cope and advice for your supporters too. The people here are the nicest people in the world, and we all share what you go through.
maz

Congrats on having cluster headaches one of the most fun conditions on earth.  No I'm just kidding I'm sorry you got them. I'm 27 got diagnosed at 18 its been a brutal ride every summer for the last 7 years.  This board though has helped me out so many times.  Whether your episodic or chronic this board will help you figure it out.  Good luck

Hi and welcome, sorry you had to find us.A good start for
you would be to take the cluster quiz the link is to the left
of this page on the main board.You can then see where
you sit, and then check in with a headache specialist
found in the yellow pages.Also to the left of this page
check out the link on oxygen, members here swear by it,
and just one for luck check out the vitamin D3 Regime
again on this sight it has a 80% success rate for becoming
pain free myself included.

Good Luck, Hoppy.

Read Read Read....when I first learned of my condition I was here daily - now that I've got some tools and weapons to fight beasty, im not so worried about it.  Have your imitrix nearby at all times, stay in touch with a good DR, keep an energy drink near by and ready at all times.  Wear sunglasses when out in bright light, get plenty of sleep (melatonin for the win! Natural sleep aid to reduce night time hits), and start the vit d3 regiment!  Be prepared and never under estimate where and when beasty will choose his next battle..

Hello and welcome. Here's a quick list of things you should consider:

1. Find a good headache specialist-this is imperative. You don't say if you are seeing your GP, a general neuro, or a specialist. In the long run, you want the specialist.

2. Start a prednisone taper (starting around 80mg/day) You don't say you tried this but a bunch of us found good relief this way while waiting for a longer term preventative to kick in.

3. Start a preventative working up to a high enough dose to be effective in treating CHs, like 240mg/day verapamil increasing as directed up to 960mg/day. Other preventatives include Topamax, carbomazapine, oxycarbomazapine, and more. Pay attention to the doses-often we hear I tried that but the dose was too low to be effective.

4. Get an effective oxygen setup: a nonrebreather mask and a regulator that will go up to 25lpm along with a 3 liter bag. See optimask.

5. Get effective abortives, like imitrex injectables-pills are too slow-or Migranal nasal spray, it's an alternative to triptans. I use both. Consider using energy drinks along with your abortives. They can help a lot. I use double Monsters, others like Red Bull or Rock Star.

6. Keep a log or journal of your attacks, and learn to use the KIP scale at left. This may help to identify some triggers for you. Some are fairly common to all of us, like alcohol, but even that isn't universal.

It's a long list, but it returns to you the power needed to manage the beast. Good luck and God bless. lance

Thank you everyone for the advice and the great welcome. I really appreciate it. :)

Welcome Court! If you haven't read about the Vit D3 regime yet, that would be my first recommendation if you're getting attacks! I get attacks multiple times during the day and night during my cycle but having started the D3 regime I've been pain free and feel really optimistic about it. :)