Dereksgirl,
Yes, I too get very stiff neck and upper shoulder muscles on the same side during my cycle.
For the longest time I thought if only I could loosen them (I'm a massage therapist) I'd break the cycle, but no.  Massage doesn't help with the CH, but it does give me temporary relief from the stiff muscles.
-Gary

my neck and upper shoulders were sooooo sore constantly when my CH began.... believe it or not (and you can find this in my story so far post) the occipital nerve block only gave me 2 pain free days but relieved almost 885-90% of my neck pain which then was completely alleviated (for now)  by an acupuncturist/body work person/energy healer

My neck would be sore constantly and not just fduring the headaches..... One would think that its just from getting tense from the headaches but then why would the nerve block help?  Methinks it is more than just tension ffrom the hits themselves

Have any of you that have the neck pain at the start of your ch session into or used to be into workingout? I know this is a lot like my post i just put up im just new here and glad to not feel like some weirdo anymore.And have any of you had an mri or x-ray or what not. I finally got a doc to get me an mri and i'm going to a head and neck pain clinic in ann arbor next week to see what they thank. There is definitely issues on the report but i cant make sence of it. Its just that ive had chiropractors and a guy i used to work out with tell me its my neck.  Ahh maybe its just all in my head hee hee hee

Yes.... I work out alot. but it didnt seem to make neck pain worse... actually kinda loosend me up... OTHER than benching BUT not becuase of benching but because I have a bad habit of craning my neck oddly when benching that I have to NOT do.....

Chiropractors are very hit or miss like anything else. some are good, some are bad.... I found when it comes to that type of thing, make sure they have been practicing for awhile and while you wont like the following: I have found when it comes to chiros and acupuncturists.... the really expensive ones are really expensive for a reason, they actually do something

Why dont you look into ROLFing.... maybe just a get 3 sessions, one on your neck, one on your chest and one on upper back.  if you dont know anything about rolfing PM me

rolfing is a little different and to say its a deep tissue massga is like saying a CH is just a headache......

the nerve block helped my neck and shoulders so much I swear..... it was worth it for that, granted it was only 2 pain free days in the head but no jinx... my neck was never that sore again

I don't believe the 'ganglion' is the cause of the h/a, but there have been several times when I have triggered a h/a by laying down in a certain position or having my head in a certain position... or is this just coincidental?

I too get a sore neck and should.My signal a headache is coming is the stiffness in my neck.It starts at my lower neck/upper shoulder area and quickly works it way up the side of my head.I feel that twitch and my neck and shoulder start to tighten up.I know in 10 minutes Ill be engulfed in pain.
      Ice pack and wife rubbing shoulder helps a little.Think its more of a distraction for the nerves rather than an actual easing of the pain..if that makes any sense.

Had major head and neck trauma due to a bad car accident when I was 3 years old. Therefore, have had all the tests CT, MRI and Nerve work, etc. All have come up clean and produced nothing except the pain I experience during my cycles, which lead me to believe it does not have much to do with the accident.

Pfunk

I too get a stiff neck on the same side as the cluster headache. I find  rubbing it makes the pain worse after a brief reprisal.

Always stiff/sore neck-unilateral w/ limited mobility in cycle.