I'm 17 years old and had my first cluster headache three days ago and about 4 more since then.  I'm worried if something must be extremely wrong to have clusters this early and this often.

My dad used to get clusters so he's been helping me out.  Putting my feet in freezing Ice, and other tricks to divert the flow of blood to the brain but still I'm worried about my general health, am I too young to have clusters?

No age too young unfortunately........good advice above though....I'm assuming you're not self diagnosing but going through the whole diagnostic process to make sure you're suffering from CH. There are a myriad of ailments similar to CH and a proper diagnosis is critical to establishing an effective treatment plan.

If it is CH, glad you found us and awesome you've got a father who is paving the road for you!

Guiseppi

I've also had them since I was 10 yrs old.  I handled it better then, than I do now though.

My second night (3rd attack) my parents took me to the ER.
I was prescribed Imitrex and given a shot of pain killer.
Unfortunately all of this happened once the headache passed...

The biggest bother of this to me is the fact that it is so unknown that most doctors didn't know what it was and compared it to migraines, one doctor in the whole hospital had "seen a patient with this before" so he was my savior.

My symptoms are different from my dad's but the headaches themselves are the same.
I experience pain on the left side of my head behind my eye feeling like... pressure building to the point I wanna be apart of the procedure used in Saw 3 to relieve his headache.
It's like it's on a schedule.  2 hours into sleep i have one, 2 hours after waking up one starts but takes a lil while to kick into gear, then theres the floater, it hits anywhere between the second one and 5 hours later, than the last one of my day happens about an hour before I normally goto sleep. 
This friday I goto one doctor to be referred to another one for god only know's what to happen. 

Thank you everyone for your understanding
I might have to quit my band because I can't take loud noises
My girlfriend is gonna leave me because she thinks I'm avoiding her because of "some stupid headaches."
I can't goto the upcoming Trivium concert.
I went to school one day out of this week (which is gonna make it hard to keep up straight A's)

thank you everyone here for some understanding.

Matt,

I agree with Guiseppi.  You CAN get a handle on the HAs.  Don't give in just yet.  When you see your Dr. tell him all the things that are being disrupted by your pain.  Make sure that he knows the impact that this is having on your life.   He should be able to help you manage your CH.

As for your girlfriend....  When you are not getting hit, sit down with her and talk to her about your HAs.  Explain to her why you are having a hard time spending time with her.  Tell her what you need from her during this time and that you don't want her to feel neglected.  Just talking to her about it may make a world of difference.

Hang in there...... It will get better!

Jeannie

Hi Matt

Mine started at 17 as well.

Most important thing is never let them get in the way of living. Its between the hits that we excell. Hits may come and as you now know they will go but life never stops.
Keep the music going.

Pretty hard to see that initially as these bastards hurt. Mortal men cannot survive but a clusterhead is near to immortal in the pain we can overcome.

You may need a few more breaks at times but thats just the way it bounces. Your exhaustion following a hit is the hardest to overcome but overcome it you must.

The school should be able to accomodate you as well with self study if needed.

We dont let just anybody into this club, Only the toughest can make it.

Thanks everyone
I keep the music going
I bought these Vic Firth Isolation headphones and they make it alot easier to keep going.
My girlfriend finally understands that I'm not exaggerating with these headaches, although the convincing thing was that I had one at her house during dinner... haha, her dad thought I was coming down off a crack binge.  I had no pills to suppress it so it hit a 9 on the kip scale.

Hi matt 

I don't think you are too young at all -- maybe some doctors might say you are, according to 'guidelines' and stuff, but it doesnt mean you are!

I am not sure when it asll kicked off for me, I had short, milder bursts or eye/face pain for as far back as I can remember, but I remember the first time I had a mega attack of pain, I was about 16. So I think its definitely worth getting your symptoms explored 

MattDaley wrote on Sep 3^rd, 2008 at 3:48am:

hey buddy. i've had ch since i was 11 y.o. the more you hang out here the more you'll find that you are perfectly healthy.

im 17 too. i started having headaches that are almost identical to the ones described. except that i rarely if ever hit lvl 8-10 on the kip scale thing. the only times i really explode is when i push people, usually my parents away and tell them to let me leave so i can relax and calm down for a bit and they dont do it. and i can flip pretty bad. idk if that means i have clusters or not. or if i do, is my head going to be even worse as i age. well any information you have would help. thanks