Hello all,

I remember getting my first "stabbing headaches" in 5th grade and have been episodic cluster since then, clinically diagnosed for the first time around 1998.  I'm now 27, a non-smoker, vegetarian and I very rarely drink.  Typically, I have remission periods that last about 9 months on average and then 2-3 months of episodic clusters in the wintertime.  My worst ones have been Kip 7-8 (I empathize with those that get higher than that!).

Here is something strange that I experienced last cycle that I haven't seen talked about yet.  As I've said above, I've been 9 months off, 3 months on since I was in Elementary school.   I never missed a single cycle and I would write reminders on my calendar in early December each year to stock up on supplies before the insanity returned.  

This last remission period, however lasted from 3-2007 until 7-2009 - two full years+!  I can think of only one variable that explains the extended remission period - my brief foray into boxing.

I decided to take up amateur boxing as a sport in the summer of '07.  This was in the middle of my usual remission cycle and I wasn't thinking about any sort of relationship between getting hit in the head and my diagnosed headache disorder.  I'm not very bright.  

After being hit in the face a bunch of times, I started getting these deep, bi-lateral non-cluster headaches that would last for hours on end.  Doctor told me they were migraines and told me to stop boxing.  I stopped boxing in fall of '07, and my new headaches went away shortly thereafter.  Oddly, my clusters, which had been so regular in my life, stopped too.   When December rolled around in '07 - no clusters.  I kept expecting them to start at any moment, but they never did.

I had two winters completely free of clusters.  I got to the point where I thought they were gone for good, but last Wednesday I got frigging NAILED at 2AM with a Kip 7.  Since then, I've had another minor one and then a moderate one earlier today.  I may start boxing again and see if I can score another 30 months of remission.  

Anyone else ever had something weird like that disrupt the usual cycle?  

-Ken

Because the cause of CH is no known and so much of the process has yet to be uncovered, these sorts of variation are beyond explanation.

However, the head trauma really suggests the need to be working with a headache specialist re. the hidden trauma which can be associated with a variety of responses.