Hello guys n' gals. I am a thirty 32 year old male who's married (no children yet) and currently living in Chicago. I'm sure you all can understand how glad I am to have found this site. This a relatively longish post, so be forewarned.

When I started college, I was diagnosed with classic migraines by a neuro to whom I was referred by an ophthalmologist to whom I was referred by a GP. I went in because I had "the worst headache of my life" one day while at school, and it scared the heck out of me. At that time, the pain started behind my left eye, and I had nausea, sensitivity to light, etc, but it basically stayed behind the eye and didn't radiate to any other locations. The neuro prescribed acetaminophen. This script didn't seem to help much, but since I wasn't getting the pain frequently and I hated pills, I just dealt with the headaches as best I could throughout the years.

At some point, the headaches switched from being behind the left eye over to the right, and then the pain started radiating down my scalp to the base of my neck. It felt like a burning line of pain that followed the contour of my head.  I still had the same symptoms as before: nausea, sensitivity to light, etc. I basically lived with these for the past 7-8 years thinking they were migraines. I should have went back to the doc when they switched sides, but I just assumed that the change to the other side was no big deal.

Now, keep in mind many of the headaches I have had through the years have put me out of commission for their duration, but I'm thinking it's migraines. There would be periods of months where I wouldn't get them at all, and I thought that it had something to do with me sleeping better, eating better, or being less stressed. In short, I didn't recognize it as a cycle. I was grateful for those periods, but could never seem to figure out exactly what gave me those periods of remission.

Fast forward to this year. I went PF for most of the spring and all of the summer. However, I started getting "my old friend again" about two weeks ago. Things were going as they usually went with the nausea, mild sweating, occasional runny  nose, tearing, etc, and then, about a week ago,  I had a whopper so bad that I couldn't do anything but rock back and forth and pace the floor in agony. I couldn't sit still even though I was exhausted. I could barely keep my balance as I wobbled down the stairs from the second to the first floor, trying to get a ziploc bag and some ice. I was alone at the time, and with that pain...it was one of the worst moments of my life.

With this recent cycle, I was getting headaches every day, but most of them were mild enough where I could still get some work done. When I had the whopper, I was completely brought down by the pain. It started off with  what I would call a moderate headache, and when I went to lay down to try and "sleep it off," within five minutes of putting my head to the pillow, the pain intensified exponentially. As many of you have mentioned in your posts, I thought I might be having a stroke or aneurysm...I was terrified because the pain had never been so bad. The pain had me in its grips so tightly, I didn't even rationalize that I might want to go to the ER. I was just trying to deal with the pain.

I made an appointment with my doc for this coming Tuesday, but this past week I have been having 3-5 attacks each day, most were mild, but some were bordering on epic. Yesterday, I had 5 of them with roughly only 2 hours between each. They were waking me out of my sleep over the past few days, so on top of all this pain, I am becoming sleep deprived.

My wife felt so bad for me, and she has been so supportive these past few days, even though she has been ill herself. She happens to be an internist, so she did some research and decided to prescribe 5mg Imitrex inhalers for me to use until I can get to the doc on Tuesday. I was supposed to get the inhaler this morning, but I got an attack and could not drive myself the 5-6 blocks to the local Walgreen's. My wife drove me, and it seemed like an eternity before I actually got the inhalers in my hands. When we pulled up to the window, they said it would be another 15 minutes. At that point, the pain was so bad, I felting like screaming at the poor pharm tech.

Finally, I got the inhaler and gave it a shot. It seemed to help take the edge off the headache in about 5-10 mins. The headache faded, and now I am enjoying the longest PF period in the past 48-72 hours.  Tonight will be a test: I have been waking up twice at night in the middle of an attack. If that happens, I will try the inhaler and see what happens.  At least I have something to hold me off until I get to the doc and get on the road to a new diagnosis and treatment.

The thing is I haven't yet been diagnosed with CH, but I am just about certain I will be. It is a wonderful feeling to finally know that I might be able to effectively manage the pain, now that I think I know what I have dealing with all these years.   

I have been reading this site extensively the past few days, and I am so glad to have found a place where others who have to deal with this thing can support one another.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. For now, it's three cheers for CH.com and Imitrex. We'll see what the upcoming days bring.

Mike

  Okay . . . start a journal now.  Starting with the next one, note the time, duration of attack, pain level (usually we use "the kip scale" for this . . . link on left).  This will come in handy when you see your doc Tuesday.

  Take the "cluster quiz" on the left, and see how you do .  .  let us know.  Also review the "cluster traits" link and see how much of it sounds like you.

  I'm suggesting the above because your description of your attacks doesn't sound like "classic" CH . . . and we hope it's not.  . . . except for the eye part.  Our pain usually starts behind the eye, then into upper/lower sinuses . . . the really bad ones (for me) teeth . . . like the whole side of your face is having an "ice-cream headache" . . . and many/most (?) will have a ganglion (that right guys?) knot at the base of the neck on the affected side.

  On the OUCH website there is a schematic of the head and it's blood vessels . . . there's another somewhere that I've lost the link to (anyone have it . . . please post and I'll bookmark it again).  Note the path of the trigeminal nerve.  Beside the nerve run blood vessels . . . our attacks are caused by the dilation of those blood vessels which put pressure on the tri-nerve and cause our pain.  Therefore, our abortives are vaso-constrictors.

  We aren't doctors, though there is a great deal of recognized (by the medical community) material here for aid in helping you and your doc get you sorted out.  A correct diagnosis is a must . . . there are several headache types which can mimic some symptoms of CH which could be something more serious . . . I'd say most of us have had CTs & MRIs to rule out other causes . . .If it's CH, those tests will come back "normal".

   Start that journal.

    Be Safe,

      PFDANs


        Richard

Thanks for the thoughtful responses all. I have started the journal. My appointment with my GP is tomorrow, so we'll get the ball rolling.

In a strange way, part of me is hoping that it is CH, because anything else that is causing such pain is likely to be life threatening; though the pain of CH is surreal, at least there's no serious damage to the body.

God, what does that say about where I am right now that I am hoping for CH? I guess the recent bouts have me worried that something very wrong could be going on "up there." At any rate, I am going to try and get some rest and see what tomorrow brings.

I'll update after the visit.

Cheers until then.

Mike

Hi all. Went to the doc, and everything looks okay so far (i.e. no tumor or problems with the eyes). I have to admit, though, the doc seemed a bit detached. I gave him all the info about the frequency and intensity of the headaches (most are moderate). He basically said that it's "possible" that my headaches are CHs, but I don't think I got a firm diagnosis. He said he lean more towards CH than migraine given my description of the problem. He suggested keeping a constant level ibuprofen in my system for several weeks and using imitrex pills for bad hits.

So, I still feel like I'm unsure whether or not I have CH. I seem to have the traits, though the severity of  most of my headaches is only what I would call moderately high.

Sigh...we'll see what the next few weeks bring. So far, I have only had two attacks per day, and they have been manageable.

Thanks again all.

Mike

Hi mcallon

  Glad you at least have a doc and he did give you an abortive (though not 02 . . . yet). When is your followup appt.?  If you indeed have CH, then a preventative might be in order . . . especially if you continue to have multiple daily/nightly attacks.

  I may have been confused by the description of your attack, "radiating down my scalp to the base of my neck" . . . I think I mistook that for going over the head and down . . . . any (rare) headache I get on top or back of head I know is not the beast.  Apology for my mis-interpretation . . . mainly, we want you to get a definitive diagnosis and help you with providing you and your doc with the info to get you more PF days as soon as possible.

  Have you identified any of your triggers?  For most of us, alcohol in any form is a trigger (major one for me . . quit 2/02) in cycle.
I'm chronic so had to give it (beer,wine,brandy)up.  Exhaust fumes, certain chemicals (like carb cleaner) some perfumes . . . try and identify as many as possible . . . gives you a chance of avoiding a few attacks.

  If you're episodic, hope this is going to be a short ride with the beast.

  One thing you can try right now is water therapy (see "water X 3" .. . . link on left).  It has been my preventative for 5 years . . . it's NOT easy to do . . . to consume that much everyday . . . nor does it mean you won't have attacks (starting one now . . . brb . . .DEAD in 6 min on 02 at Kip 4 !) . . . but you need an effective abortive for the attacks you do get.  The preventatives don't necessarily keep you from having attack, but (in my case with Verapamil), the reduced the frequency/intensity of the attacks . . .AND I had the 02 to deal with the beast when he shows up. 

  Keep reading . . . keep asking.

    Be Safe,

      PFDANs


        Richard