My girlfriend gets headaches a lot. She's advised to wear glasses to help with bad migraines. She says they help. But, from time to time she will get these nasty headaches.

She hasn't been told she has cluster headaches. But she has been told she has migraines (from research, migraines are a walk in the park compared to a cluster attack). I want to know if anything below sounds familiar in relation to a cluster headache.

They scare the s**t out of me. Last time, around 6 months ago, she experienced something so intense she was vomiting, sweating, crying in agony. I called an ambulance, but they didn't seem concerned, and told her to rest up as it's a strong migraine.

Today, it happened again, but she said it was much worse than the last time. Here's how it went down ...

All day she's said she's had this headache. We're going through a lot of stress at the moment and she put it down to that. But around 8pm they were getting worse, and she was getting restless.

10pm hits, and shes in the toilet being sick with intense head pains. She's running around squeezing her head, like she's insane. Pacing, looking for things to help the pain. Nothing works.

The she lies down on the bathroom floor clutching her head. She hardly speaks, she just tells me to "ssssh". At this point I am worried sick, to the point where it's actually frustrating me because I feel so "helpless". I end up saying and doing all the wrong things. But to watch the person you love go through this is absolutely heart breaking.

It's now 2.30am. She's curled up lying on the washing pile covered in a dressing gown with a fan blowing in her face. I'm not even sure if she's awake or asleep. If I try and talk she tells me to "sssh".

I called 111 here in the UK, who didn't seem at all concerned, even though my girlfriend is finding it too painful to even speak.

She vomited 5 times. Anything she's eaten today went in the toilet bowl. She must be drained, and tiered. I really feel for her.

The experience from my standpoint was similar to the one 6 months ago, but more intense.

I'm a bit shocked if I'm honest. I keep checking on her to make sure she's ok, and I'm too worried to sleep.

We can't diagnose and, even if we did give you a label to put on he attacks, that would not give her the treatment she needs.

You are blessed to be in the UK for you have he right to be directed to a headache clinic, by-passing you local physicians.

You have an excellent headache support group. Contact them for advice on how to get to a headache clinic.

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:-*You've come to the right place to start... Whether it is actually CH or not,,,, there is a wealth of information on this site.
You might want to start by having her take the 'Cluster Quiz' at the right of this page... Also follow Bob's advice above about getting her into a headache clinic and see the other site.
Read and research as much as you can on this site and try some of the abort / preventative methods described in some of these threads... I know it can be overwhelming but read, read, read and you will find some help. I know this may seem kinda vague but the more you read and learn here the better you'll be able to find what MAY work for her... We're all different and this beast affects us all in different ways and we all need to figure out what works best for us individually. I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound crass or anything, it's just that there's a lot of different things that work (or not) for a lot of different people(sufferers). I hate to see or hear of anyone having to suffer through this and I know there are a things you can do help alleviate the pain until you can get in to see a specialist.

There's lots of help and support here and we do all care... She's not alone.

Read and research, you will get through it. Wish I could be more helpful by providing links, etc. to specific threads but I'm just not that 'puter savvy so all I can suggest is to do what I had to do and stay up all night reading and researching everything I could on here.

Hi Jamesandsean,
   Firstly welcome,
You've also been given some good advice to help your girlfriend get a proper diagnosis and eliminate anything more serious.  But I'd just like to say, Well done for coming on here and asking the questions !
Your called a supporter and we value them here like gold.
once you get her diagnosed, there is an absolute wealth of knowledge from members here that can assist with all sorts of things to help your girlfriend on her journey.
Good luck with everything
And thankyou for supporting your girlfriend...

regards
colin

Hi and welcome,
For now, if your girlfriend has not already tried. Pop off to your local Pharmacy, and pick up some Imigran 50mg tablets, take one and wash it down with a hot strong cup of coffee.

Cheers, Hoppy.

Hi and welcome to a place where we really do understand the impact of severe headaches as all of us are either supporters or we have CH.

As a supporter you are doing a great job. You are doing all you can for your girlfriend. Keep doing this and chat to her when she isn't in the middle of one about what she would like you to do when she has one. People on the forums seem to have different things that they'd like their supporter to do, which can vary from letting them get through it alone, to just being there, to actively doing things. Find out what she wants to happen.

The first thing you need to do before starting to take any medication is to get an accurate diagnosis from a headache specialist. A general practitioner or even most neurologists simply do not have the skills or experience to do this. It's a complex area of medicine with multiple headache types plus non-headache causes that  result in the same symptoms. It is also possible that she has multiple headache types which can really make things harder to diagnose.

Also follow up with Ouch UK (START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE). They have a phone helpline that will be able to give you guidance on how to navigate the NHS to get to see the right person.

In the mean time, read up all you can about headaches so you can ask all the right questions, either to us or to the headache specialist.

HI hoppy, those imigran tabs are not available over the counter here. I get them on prescription but when the computer thinks I've had my quota for the month the prescription gets refused.Some times I have a hell of a job getting them, and the only way is to kick up a real stink in the doctors reception area - the don't like a fuss so will soon find a doctor to see to it.  Some times when I put in my prescription a doctor will phone me before he accepts the prescription, and I have to go through my life history every time. There is no way you could ever just buy them. :(

Hi Maz,
When did they stop selling them over the counter at the Chemist? They were always ready available a couple of years ago, $13.00 oz for four 50mg tablets :o

Hoppy

Imitrex is OTC in Mexico...

Hoppy wrote on Sep 9^th, 2015 at 7:09pm:

Hi Maz, When did they stop selling them over the counter at the Chemist? They were always ready available a couple of years ago, $13.00 oz for four 50mg tablets :o Hoppy

Oh, Well I'll go and ask. I've never actually been told they are not available OTC, but as I have them on prescription and the doctors are soooooo reluctant to sign it off, phoning me to tell me how dangerous they are etc, I just assumed they were prescription only. You wouldn't believe the hoops I have to jump through to get that prescription filled, so it seemed obvious you couldn't just buy them. Even small packs of ordinary headache pills - asprin or paracetamol, are restricted here, and you can only buy two packs at a time.
If I find you can get imigran that easily then I shall ask my doctor what his problem is.
Thanks for letting me know. Now, I'm on a mission !!!!
Maz.

HaHaHa Maz,  your on a mission !
down under its always been on prescription for me. With the chemist being really  cautious on filling my neurologists prescription until they made a phone call to her, That was at the beginning where I was taking the maximum daily of the pill version. I get 4 boxes of 4 tablets at a time, the chemist requires a sign off by the doctor or they will only give me 2 boxes, 8 tablets a time.
Haven't needed to get the injectable one yet, have heard how expensive they can be and the allocation, so glad, touch wood I've not needed it.
good luck with your mission Maz,  go get em !

regards
colin