I am definitely no doctor but I will say this. I had migraines for years. As soon as clusters became a part of my life, I haven't had a migraine since so I often say that my migraines "upgraded" to clusters. I have also seen this mentioned by others here to the effect of having started with migraines and now clusters, never both in their life at the same time it seems. One turns into the other. Not trying to scare you I promise but had to mention it since you asked. Anyone agree or disagree with me?

Thanks for replying. I see that it's quite possible there's a relation between the two. It's a little scary, the thought of Emily possibly getting clusters in the future. She's a tough kid though, she never whines or complains. Last night, during the migraine, I did run out and get her an anti-nausea med. She stopped vomiting after about 11pm, which has never happened, so it must have worked. I do think the suppository would work better though. She's back to normal this morning, climbing the walls. 

Going to the doctor tomorrow to see what the next step will be. I only hope that this won't stay with her for life or turn into a more chronic cluster condition. I noticed the children/cluster sub-forum, I just can't imagine!! 

Unfortunately, it does sound like she's startd to "upgrade" or develope ch's And as we all know not much works to alleviate those. Say something to her dac and try pushing o2 just to see if it helps. It's natural, and a lot of people swear by it. Good luck to you and your poor, sweet little angel. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Interesting question.

They may indeed be related on some level, but I have no particular insight into what that relationship may be.  As Bob pointed out, the fact that both CH and migraine respond to some of the same medications may indicate underlying processes that the two conditions have in common.

That being said, in my own particular case, there is no history of migraine in my family at all.  I've never had a migraine myself--only episodic CH.

Best,

George

I have chronic CH and my son has suffered from migraines since before the age of 2 (when he was diagnosed).

His neurologist put him on the following medications after several other medications were tried and failed...

Inderal (Propranolol) and Amitriptyline these finally worked to help prevent the migraines and ease the nausea.  He had to take an imitrex shot when he got a migraine. 

I hope this will help when you take your little one to the Dr.

Hang in there I know how hard it can be!

{{{ Hugs }}}
Ging...

Med literature makes it clear that making a diagnosis is not easy and often requires multiple doc and years of evaluations.
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         Migrainous features in cluster headache
         Wäber C and Knopf A
         Department of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna,
         Vienna, Austria

         Objectives:    To assess in patients with cluster headache (CH) the
         prevalence of headache characteristics and associated symptoms usu-
         ally related to migraine.

         Background:    CH is a headache disorder clearly defined by ICHD-Il
         criteria. Nevertheless diagnosis is delayed in many patients. One rea-
         son for this delay might be the presence of migrainous features dur-
         ing CH attacks.

         Methods:  We are currently performing the first survey on CH in
         Austria including 76 patients (18% women, mean age 43 ± 10 years)
         with CH according to ICHD-Il up to now. All patients completed a
         structured questionnaire. In this presentation, we will focus on
         migrainous features comprising pulsating pain, aggravation by or
         avoidance of physical activity, nausea, vomiting, photophobia, pho-
         nophohia and aura symptoms in CH attacks.
         Results:  Seventy-eight percei1t of the patients had episodic CH and
         22% had chronic CH. Three percent gave a personal history and
         almost 38% a family history of migraine. During a cluster period
         the patients experienced 16 ± 10 attacks per week with a mean dura-
         tion of 69 ± 60 minutes. Pulsating pain was experienced at least in
         some attacks by 47% of the patients. Headache was aggravated by
         physical activity in 26% and 43% experienced a need for rest. Con-
         sidering that 88% of the patients reported restlessness suggests that
         aggravation by physical activity and/or the wish to rest was present
         together with restlessness in at least some of the attacks. Nausea,
         vomiting, photophobia and phonophohia were reported by 41%,
         24%, 49% and 46%, of the patients. Unilateral photo- or phonopho-
         hia was experienced by 37%. Aura occurred in 28% of the patients
         and visual symptoms were reported most frequently namely by 20%.
         The prevalence of migrainous symptoms was not related to a per-
         sonal or family history of migraine.

         Conclusions:   Migrainous symptoms are common in CH and not
         related to a personal or family history of migraine. Even though ftc-
         quency and duration of attacks clearly differentiate CH from
         migraine, the presence of migrainous symptoms in CH might cause
         misdiagnoses in patients with infrequent or long-lasting attacks.

(Cephalalgia, 29 (Suppl. 1, 2009)
============
The same neurovascular theory arising from Goadsby's work is now being applied to both migraine & CH.
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eMedicine Specialties > Neurology > Headache and Pain
Pathophysiology and Treatment of Migraine and Related Headache
Author: Soma Sahai-Srivastava, MD, Director of Neurology Ambulatory Care Services, LAC and USC Medical Center; Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Southern California
Coauthor(s): David Y Ko, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
Updated: Sep 4, 2008
Pathophysiology of Migraine
Two main schools of thought exist to explain the pathophysiology of migraine. The first is older and is based purely on a vascular theory; it has fallen out of favor and has been replaced by the neurovascular theory. What is now clear is that migraine is a chronic disorder of the CNS and the vascular changes that occur are more of an epiphenomenon.
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My point is simple: IF we knew more about the sources of these complex headache disorders and the processes by which they occur, it would be easier to find some effective, enduring treatments--perhaps, even, preventives.

Patience and peristence are truly survival skills for us!