how painful is it to hear the words 'its get stress or its just a common chronic headache,you'l get over it' i'm a new sufferer and my folks are soo unsupportive it makes me cry been suffering for 3months and since i'm a student(and i experienced my 1st attack while i was preparing for exams) my family automatically assume its just a stress headache.i just wish ppl could know how severe these headaches are.i wake up crying in the middle of the night cause its so unbearable the dr has diagnosed me with 'chronic cluster headaches' and since its a fairly rare condition, not alot of ppl understand what exactly we going through.
i'd like to here any similar takes from student,teen, or any other sufferers who dont have much support from their family..

If you are stuck with this doctor then you will have to do what many of us have done: educate the doc so that he can treat us appropriately.

Print out the PDF file, below, and give to him.

If you have the option, finding a headache specialist would be the best route to take.

Im not a student..(but Im a new Mom) I do understand your frustrations with people not understanding what your going through. "are you stressed?" "what are you stressed about?" I have heard it all too. There is nothing more frustrating.
My parents did alot of research about this condition and have become so supportive. Maybe you could send them a link to this website? It might be helpful to them...sometimes it is really hard to explain the pain you are going through. I have had people tell me..take an advil/tylenol...I wish it was that easy. The people that are the closest to you should want to help you...There are so many people here that are going through this. Look around. Lots of good support. Good luck..its not easy!

I'm a student and sympathise with you.    Disability services were *really* good at my place for helping with what I should do during exams/essay periods etc.  I'd recommend you go see them asap if you haven't already.  You don't say what year you're in but the downside is, if you're a third year, and have to actually miss an exam (particaully in summer) you won't be able to graduate until the following year so I'm crossing my fingers so hard I remain free until I get my degree!

Helen (Lelimey) described it as 'veins dilating and crushing the nerves in the affected side of the face causing excutiating pain' (paraphased and much less awesome than how she put it (look for the thread 'how do you cope?')) - I find when I describe it as such, people tend to not compare so much to migranes.  But other than the people that have to know, I had the benifit of knowing when I usually got hit, so I could avoid people. I don't tell people unless I have to.

Episodic is the opposite of chronic which, to my understanding, means they come in cycles rather than just lasting for...ever?  Episodic headaches, I was told my neurologist last anywhere between 3 weeks to 15 weeks or so.  Cross fingers your headaches will die away soon.

You could ask your doc to try prednisone, maybe in your actual exams for relief?  For me, that ended my cycle but I believe thats quite rare.

Anyway, feel free to PM me, if you want to chat at all.