Hi!  I am new to this website but not new to headaches.  I just got my official diagnosis yesterday of a cluster headache and I immediately went home and read about it.  It was like reading my life.  Let me start by saying that I am a registered nurse.  I have heard of cluster headaches but I knew nothing about them. I take Excedrin  around the clock.  Caffeine seems to be the only thing that has made any difference.  I do not keep track of cycles because didn't know about them.  All I know is that I wake up almost every morning with what feels like a knife behind my left eye.  I get a blasting headache halfway through a glass of wine.  I have missed work from these headaches.  My eyes swell and tear.  Until now I have called them migraines, although as a nurse I know that I don't have them. 
I have a couple questions...  The pain I have varies.  It isn't always unbearable.  Sometimes it lasts for hours and it is just a constant pain and I can go on with my day.  Is this normal?  Other times it is terrible and I make my husband hold my head like a vice and squeeze it for me.  I have never screamed and punched myself in the head or thought about ending my life.  I also don't think I've ever had one as short as 15 mins, and many times they seem to last longer than 3 hours and the pain varies in severity at times too.  I guess what I want to know is do you think I have cluster headaches if I've never had Kip 10?  Do you think the worst is yet to come?  After reading the entries on this website I feel very afraid.  Part of me is thrilled that I finally have a diagnosis, but the other part of me is really scared.  I need a little feedback. 
Some history...I started having headaches when I was 15 and I am now 28.  The first time when I was 15 I had a headache everyday for a week and I missed school.  I actually went to the ER and then for an MRI.  Since they didn't see anything on the MRI they told me that I had allergies.  I took sudafed and tylenol.  I did this all through high school and it seemed to help some.  I noticed that it was the worst in the fall and spring time, so I thought it really was the changing of season and allergies.  When I went to college I started drinking and that's when it started getting really bad.  My head would feel like it was going to explode and I didn't know how drinking a couple drinks could make me so sick.  No one that I hung around with got nearly as sick as I did.  Then after college when I started working I started on the night shift.  This for me was the worst ever.  I thought it was stress that was making them so bad.  At the time I worked in an ER and it was very stressful work.  I moved to the day shift and they were still very bad. Then I changed to a less stressful job and they got worse still.  Yesterday my left eye was swollen shut and I actually called out of work because I thought I had pink eye.  I had my usual 430am blasting headache that woke me up out of a dead sleep and went to the bathroom and my eye was swollen shut and tearing.  Since I always get these headaches I thought it didn't have anything to do with my eye and that I actually had pink eye.  My eyes do get swollen when I have a headache but never this bad.  It was ridiculous!  I went to a new Dr that could see me ASAP because I wanted to get started on antibiotic eye drops so I could return to work.  He diagnosed my headaches on the spot!!  It was such a relief!!  I made a follow up apointment with him and then he is going to refer me to a neurologist.   

Dear MBHenry,

I'm new to this site too.  My husband suffers from Clusters.  His pain sounds similar to yours, and yes, in between the big CH's he has a really bad headache all  the time.  He gets a burning either in his eye or his eyelid and then he describes it like a white hot poker being shoved into his sinus cavity and eye.  He tears up like you do, and one eye droops.  He seems to get his episodes in the spring.  I have regular migraines, and have had them for 30 years.  They are different from CH's but share some of the same features.  We just tried oxygen therapy yesterday, and are finding it not a cure, but very helpful.  Best of luck to you.

Drea + Tim

Thank you all so much for your input.  I can't tell you how nice it is to have people to talk to about this.  I have known for a long time that I need to get off the Excedrin because I get terrible rebound headaches from it.  The problem is that I need to have some time off that I can devote to getting it out of my system because I know it's going to be bad.  I am a little concerned about all the caffeine that everyone is using.  Isn't this a little bad for your heart?  I know that it can trigger arrhythmias in some people.  What do doctors say about it?  I know that there is a lot of caffeine in excedrin too.  I thought the caffeine withdrawl was what caused the rebound headaches.  At this point I am willing to try anything that helps.  Are there any vitamins that help?  I drink 5 Hour energy shots sometimes.  I noticed that there is taurine in that as well as large amounts of Vit B.  Does anyone know if Vit Bs help?