hello everyone!

i'm kitay, 24 years old and i'm from the philippines.

the first time i've experienced these strange headaches was when i was 12 but it only lasted a week. i was free from it for years, that is until i reached my junior year in college. i was 19 when i started having these headaches that no one seems to understand. that was back in 2003. i've been having these headaches for five years now and i kind of lost faith in doctors.
to describe my headaches, it feels like someone forcefully trying to gouge my right eye. the impact of which radiates through the surrounding areas, my scalp, right temple, right cheek, neck, jaw, teeth hurt. my right eye would tear up while my left eye remains dry. i imagined i must have freaked out my classmates back in college. i look like i came out of the horror movie the ring. i'd get the sniffles on my right nostril but it would be gone by the time an attack stops. an average attack would last about 30 minutes, sometimes more. i have two attacks per day, one in the morning, at around 9 am, and one in the evening at around 12 or 1 am. in between attacks, i feel this heaviness on my head. it's hard to describe, like it's a headache but not quite. relatively mild but annoying because it's hard to tell whether it'll turn into a full blow headache or not. and the worst part is, these headaches happen for an average of one month, everyday. i call these times my migraine month. it usually occurs in the rainy season, around july. i went to the doctor back in 2005 and he diagnosed me as a migraine sufferer. he said that getting migraines everyday, twice a day, for a whole month isn't normal and urges me to seek psychiatric help. i didn't but i did try out the anti-depressants that he prescribed. i mean, he is a doctor, i though he must be on to something.
i read up about migraine and tried to follow some of the tips i've seen. i tried lying down during an attack but i feel as if the pain is worst in that position. i'm used to walking around when i have my headaches. i also stopped drinking coffee during attacks, again, the effects were not desirable. from my usual 30 minute attacks, the pain would stretch on to an hour or sometimes 2 hours. the worst was the anti-depressant. it made me sleepy all the time and i feel that sleep and my headaches are somewhat related. my attacks became more frequent. i started having attacks at midday. and also, my so called migraine month stretched on for another 2 weeks. my doctor said it was rebound headaches and accused me of being a junkie so i cut down on my ergot and tried to just bear the pain. no effect. what's worst is my remission period was cut down from a year to a couple of months. after just 2 or 3 months, i had another "migraine month". i got an MRI and it came out normal. my doctor came to the conclusion that we should up the dosage of the anti-depressant. at this point, i was very mad. i told him that the anti-depressants made me sleepy and i think it aggravated my attacks more than anything else...he didn't even bother to listen or look into that. i was so mad and in excruciating pain that i did something that i would normally not do, shout at the doctor, told him he doesn't know what he's doing, and walked out. i haven't visited a doctor since.
after reading stuff about cluster headaches, i feel that i can relate to this condition more than i do with migraines. hits the spot...but i always tell myself, i'm not a doctor and i can never know for sure. cluster headaches is something very obscure in my country...from what i heard, it is more common in men (i'm female), and in people who live in colder countries or closer to the poles. (i'm from the philippines).
i've lost hope of ever being diagnosed properly. the MRI came out normal so i figured, at least i don't have a tumor. i have a prescription for ergot, which helps in its own little way. sorry for the long post. i know that no one here can say if i'm a cluster head or not. i just want to know if the things that i've felt, if they somehow feel familiar to you cluster headache sufferers.

and

are cluster headaches not detectable by MRI?

i don't know what to think anymore...but as long as there's ergot and coffee, i suppose i'll manage somehow.

-kitay

thanks for the advice maalstroom!  i'll definitely try out red bull. it's that time of the year for me.
my doctor...well, my ex-doctor, is a neurologist. i'm considering getting a second opinion if time permits. lately, i've always been late for work due to the attacks so it's a little hard for me to find time for it. i have to make up for my tardiness at work...

thanks again! and pain-free days to you as well 

Kitay,
The pain you describe sounds a lot like Ch to me. The fact that it happens at the same time each day, lasts for a period of time and then goes away and the areas where you feel pain all sound like CH.

I'm hoping you can find a good neurologist in your area or maybe someone here can help you with that.

Hang in there - you're not alone
~Kris

You are very correct about how open your doc may be to learning from you--but we have found that really good docs will receive!

Please print out the Rozen list. Just giving the doc the links makes it too easy for him to do nothing. If you print it out, it may become a way of prompting a discussion of your options. Rozen is one of the better headache docs in the U.S. and it will be hard for you doc to disregard his expertise.

hello there, im not a doctor!! but im a EXPERT in cluster headaches. I can say this because i have had them for 20 years. I have went thourgh hundreds of headaches and have found out what works for ME and what doesnt work for ME so that makes me a EXPERT. It sounds like a classic case of clusters for you. You need oxygen now, print out everything here on this site about it and give it to your dcotor. Also if you go in to his office prepared he will not think about the "junkie" thing because what tends to work for us are not " junkie " kinds of drugs. Doctors are a bit funny sometimes about self diganosis, after all they are the ones who are smart! went to school for so long and get to wear that white coat and little degree to hang on the wall. The doctor i seen had no clue what clusters were, but he had no chioce but to learn and now on his card it say's CLUSTER HEADACHE CONSULTANT, at my last vist when i seen it i laughed and got a little angry as well and told him i would be send him my bill!! Take this matter into your own hands and do it now. Read, there are so many good things that are here that you can use to help you ease some of the pain. Good luck.. Coach bill