Your not alone anymore, Molly!

Welcome to the family, sorry you had to find us!

Tell your Doc that you need 02, with a non-re-breather mask at the rate of 15 LPM.

Dont settle for less!!!!!

Hi Molly and welcome to your new home. No more battling the beast on your own. There is a wealth of knowledge here and many, many people willing to help.

As Jonny and about 70% of us here will tell you:

100% oxygen with at least a 15 LPM regulator and a non-rebreather mask, no outside air whatsoever. Get on the oxygen at the very first sign of an on-coming hit, and remember you need to hyperventilate the oxygen as you are using it. If you let your hit start to ramp up before getting on the o2 it is much less effective. This is my main abortive.

For a prevent, I take Verapamil at 480mg daily, and this works well for me, but talk to your doc about this. A lot of different prevents are available, so it will take trial and error to find one that works for you.

Read all you can to your left and I hope you find your "magic cocktail"

Again welcome.  Barry

It'll sound like an echo........you're not alone, and get oxygen! I can stop an attack, and be completely pain free, in 6-8 minutes, by huffing pure oxygen. To work, your lungs must get ONLY oxygen, no exhaled air, no outside air, this is best accomplished by using a Non Re Breathing Mask, with a high flow regulator, at least 15 LPM, (Litres per minute). Nasal Canulas..(those stupid tubes up the nose) and re breather masks do not work.

You have much reading to do. You will get the best results by educating yourself...we'll help.......and then forming a partnership with your doctor. We'll be with you every step of the way.

Welcome home.

Joe

This is the current practice on medical treatments for CH. Print and give to your doc.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor.  It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. Written by one of the better headache docs in the U.S.  (2002)
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Michigan Headache & Neurological Institute for another list of treatments and other articles:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or
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For your learning:

 
Cluster headache.
From: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]