Hello!
Watched a youtube clip of a cluster attack and saw an add for this site, so i thought i'll join and share my story to you since i feel so many of us have things in common.

Im typing this in a "break" from the attacks since im in the middle of a period as we speak.

Im 30 years old, had my first cluster attack when i was 25. This was in october 2004. I was playing videogames with some friends and suddenly i felt like the whole world was put inside my left eye. My first thought was "what the hell is this???". I fell on the floor moaning and pressing my hands against my face and eye with full power. After 30 minutes it passed and it was like nothing had ever happened. At first i thought I had spend too many hours in front of my computer, so i didn't play any games the next month or so and i had no more than 1 attack that first period.
But then march 2005 came. I was at work driving a trailer when suddenly this pain came back. I barely managed to drive the car to the side of the road. After bashing my head to the steering wheel for about an hour it all disappeared and i could drive on. I was yet again in shock wondering what the hell this could be.

These two attacks turned out to be the first of many...

Ive had 2 periods of attacks each year since. February/march and september/october.
I get 1-4 attacks a day (most times at night) that lasts 1-3 hours and the periods last 14-45 days

When i first went to the doctor he just gave me strong painkillers, but it didn't relief any of the insane pain i was suffering from. The only thing that kept me breathing through these periods was the thought that it will soon be over and i could go back to live a normal life.

Ive lived with the pain in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, until i got really fed up and seeked professional help.

Now, in 2009 ive been to the Center of National Headache Research here in Norway. After being diagnosed with CH i got Imigran in nose spray form. I feel that these only works like 40% of the times, but better than nothing... but not good enough.
Now i got Imigran in injection form. This works great! The attack fades away 10 minutes after i set the injection!
The 10 minutes is as normal beyond any possible pain exposed to mankind, but its better than having it for 3 hours.

This I can live with!

And i also have an oxygen flask by my bed, not sure if oxygen works but i like to think it does 

I forgot to mention that before i got the meds that works (for now at least...), i used to sit in the shower with hot water pouring over my head during the attacks.
That actually made the pain less intense for me. The backside is that u get really dry skin after taking a shower 4 times a day.

Angela, not sure what u mean by: "I use the tip on the side menu"?


Chris

Oh... now i see. I misunderstood you. I thought u meant the needle-tip on the actual needle. lol, this is what i get for having english as my second language   

Btw. This is no problem for me. My country have free med-care so i dont pay for treatment or medicine. And i get as many shots i like from my neurologist.

Hey Mothx,

Being in the US I have to use that imitrex tip religiously for $ reasons, but I can tell you that even if I was enjoying a good Norweigan health care system, I'd use half doses a la the imitrex tip, as this drug isn't necessarily entirely benign, and half doses work just as effectively as full doses!

Also, as fantastic as it is that the Imitrex is working so well for you,, I'd advise not becoming complacent. This beast can change tactics on you and you want to have a back up plan (such as a good preventative) thought out and ready to go just in case.

Imitrex works great for me too, but I can't rely on it exclusively (I also use O2 and a preventative), because for one thing I'd be injecting it 5+ times a day during peak episode, and I try not to get caught in that vicious rebound cycle.