How often do you get the attacks and how long do they last?

Being a 39 year clusterhead, I'd diagnose cluters but I'm not a Dr.   The 10 minute build up and almost instant "draining away" of the pain is pretty typical.

Without insurance you're going to have to make some decisions on treatment vs cost.

Oxygen is the cheapest abort.  Be sure to follow the directions posted around here somewhere.  The triptans work very well but are very expensive.

Preventatives are also cheap, verapamil, lithium.

You could also take a look at clusterbusters.com  It could save you the cost of a doctor visit.

If you do go to see a Dr., call his/her office and make sure they are well versed in clusters before making an appointment.  No sense wasting the $ on a Dr. who's never heard of clusters.

Good luck.

BTW - I also became nauseated during attacks but it was usually toward the end of the attack.  I also didn't like "bright" lights or loud sounds but did want some light on and usually fought my attacks with the TV on (except for those 1 1/2 hour after going to sleep attacks).

It's a mistake to take meds which mask the symptoms until you have some reasonable idea of what the condition is.

Couple of options:
1. Call the social work folks in your larger area hospitals and see if they have suggestions re. low cost/free clinics; call your local United Way agency also.

2. Buy the $15 version and see if the descriptions of various headache types fit your pattern. May not be M.D. quality but it's better than flying blind.
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MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D. Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $50 at Amazon.Com.  It covers all types of headache and is primarily focused on medications. While the two chapters on CH total 42-pages, the actual relevant material is longer because of multiple references to material in chapters on migraine, reflecting the overlap in drugs used to treat. I'd suggest reading the chapters on migraine for three reasons: he makes references to CH & medications which are not in the index; there are "clinical pearls" about how to approach the treatment of headache; and, you gain better perspective on the nature of headache, in general, and the complexities of treatment (which need to be considered when we create expectations about what is possible). Finally, women will appreciate & benefit from his running information on hormones/menstrual cycles as they affect headache. Chapter on headache following head trauma, also. Obviously, I'm impressed with Robbins' work (even if the book needs the touch of a good editor!) (Somewhat longer review/content statement at 3/22/00, "Good book....")

HEADACHE HELP, Revised edition, 2000; Lawrence Robbins, M.D., Houghton Mifflin, $15. Written for a nonprofessional audience, it contains almost all the material in the preceding volume but it's much easier reading. Highly recommended.
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3. Explore the headache type descriptions at:
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or . And you will find good treatment information.