I am on the fourth day of a headache, the symptoms of which only happened to me once before, about a year and half ago. The pain is only on the right side of my head, it's off and on, the first two days my right eye teared and my right nostril dripped, some of the pains are short, very painful sharp stabs that make me gasp, some are duller. The first one woke me at 2am and I was in terrible pain for two hours. So far, sounds like a cluster. However, the first two days, I happened to be off from work, and I stayed at home, feeling sick enough to not want to do anything, but not banging my head against the wall (see migraines below  . I have been able to work for the last two days.

So - the pain is not as intense as has been described by everyone, and not as intense as in the migraines I've occasionally had over the years, which were around 9 on the Kip scale - total head banging misery, no possible way I could go to work or do anything besides writhe in my bed, which is the opposite of what people have reported here.

I did see my doctor after the first bout in 2007, and she did a cursory neurological exam and asked some questions, but she left it that, and to keep her informed if it happened again.

Has anyone experienced less intense cluster headaches?

Thanks,
Susan

Thanks, undertheradar - keeping a diary sounds like an excellent idea, because there is a lot to keep track of in terms of time, duration, intensity, triggers, etc.

Actually, I was using the term "hang banging" a little loosely - wasn't literally banging my head during migraines, but I did feel everything else in the "9" range of the Kip scale. My daughter, who is 18, has suffered from migraines chronically since she was a young child, and sees a neurologist, and her symptoms pretty much correlate with what I feel when I have had the occasional migraine. However - this headache that I have now is completely different.   

Susan

It seems that mine has gotten pretty mild since the late 30's.  20's and early 30's ones were the suicidal ones.

Also frequency and intensity increase in the mid-cycle then taper off.  I have a perfect "bell shape".

I don't mean to give you false hope, but some of us find CH to get milder with age.