Ok first off I apologise if this has come up many many times before but I don't have the energy (or head capacity at the moment) to go through all the back boards...

I've been a bit MIA after joining the forums, due to various things including my brother's wedding, and my own engagement (that was totally enough to distract me from the crappiness of pain for a while...he's accepting me AND my silly head! ...) but I've been off work for the last 3 days and have been trying to make sense of this stupid pain...

I was wondering if anyone here has been diagnosed with CH only to find it is actually Hemicrania Continua? I stumbled across this information and despite my diagnosis of CH, I actually feel that HC description sounds more fitting. While my "big" attacks certainly fit the CH descriptions, they are few and far between for me, and I tend to suffer more from daily (pretty much all day!) aches and stabs in one side of my head and eye, which vary in levels of pain but I don't have daily "big attacks" like most CH suffers. It appears to be quite common that HC seems like CH...I've noted that HC are supposed to be responsive to the indomethacin tablets, which I actually have been given, and this is pretty much the only way to distinguish between the two. I had written them off because my neuro said to take one when the pain is extra bad and to me that seemed stupid - my big attacks are quite short and it's a slow release tablet...made no sense to me. But now (into day 3 of extra crappiness) I'm considering taking one a day for a couple of days and seeing if this does anything. I took one yesterday and it seemed to help a little, but made me rather dizzy and "slow" feeling but if after a couple of days it helps the overall pain I suppose it would be more indicative of HC then CH.

I'm going back to my neuro on the 8th of April and am going to discuss this with her, but wanted to see if there were any other clusterheads who had a similar experience like this? And also what your response was to common CH medication - I'm on verapamil for a preventative, which we have been slowly increasing, but I've noticed that after every little increase, I feel better for a few weeks, then it's like my head gets "used to it" and starts acting up again with the daily aches and little stabs...

Hmm see mine have always been like that, the constant ache with the stabs on top. And really big attacks happened, but they certainly weren't constant. Since being on the meds I haven't had one to that level, but I still get smaller-big ones...if that makes sense. And my big ones are scary and extremely painful but still don't see like they get to quite the level everyone's on here has...

I'm up to over 6 months of this constant stuff now, and its beginning to take it's toll...and horrible as the big ones are, I know they are over in a few mins (mine are only approx. 4 mins or so long!) whereas this constant every day stuff really brings you down - particularly in the place where I work since since being distracted can make you miss some pretty important stuff!

Definitely going to chat with my neuro, but I've been looking online and one thing that a HC sufferer said that stuck with me, which I don't think I've heard discussed on here as a symptom, is that when they bend over it is much worse. On bad days for the constant headache, I find that when I bend forward or any motion similar, the pain gets worse. That isn't a common CH thing is it? Does anyone else experience that?

To the extent that bending over, or any body motion, increases both BP and the buildup of CO2, sure it could increase the pain of the hit. I would think. I know when I get to the point in my O2 therapy where the hit is under control and I can start deep breathing, if I do that too soon the extra pressure of a filled lung capacity is felt in my head and most especially around the affected eye. Blessings. lance