Suggest you contact your excellent support group:
Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

You are fortunately to have access excellent speciality hospitals re. headache. (Following are bits and pieces of messages but convey names of import.)

Message: "Dyno", Tenby, Wales, UK, Aug 9, '09:
[Bob-excludes Wales per Dyno]
looking at their website it looks like a better alternative  Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Why not ask to see the top man in the country - Dr. Manjit Matharu at UCL. Under Patient Choice - look at the link below - you have the right to choose who you see.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or .

and this - copied from the OUCH(UK) website

Quote:

You can ask your GP to refer you to one of our hospitals for treatment
Central to the government’s healthcare policy is that patients should be given the opportunity to be more involved in making decisions about their healthcare. If you and your GP agree that you need to be referred to see a specialist, then you have a choice of at least four local hospitals or clinics. Since May 2006, that choice has been extended. You can now also choose to go to any Foundation Trust in the country, including UCLH. Whether you’re from Cornwall or Camden, as a patient you now have the right to choose UCLH. You can ask your GP to refer you to one of our hospitals for treatment.

[Source: UCL website]
===============================

City of London Migraine Clinic [and other types]  Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or
====
====

We have too many complaints from the UK about poor quality of care for headache. I'd work hard to get with a specialist  vs. a general neurologist/family doctor.

See the PDF file, below, for an overview of treatments. This information will give you some tools with which to talk to any doc you see.

By way of learning basics about Cluster:




Cluster headache.
From: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article--link, line above--if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]
====
Also, explore:

A new (for me) site which is worth your attention: medical literature, films, plus the expected information
about CH.

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or
======

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or Search under "cluster headache"

Hi Angela!

So glad Bob hooked you up with the London migraine clinic. With any luck they oughta be able to give you a definitive diagnosis alright.

I'm afraid your symptoms sure do sound like they could be CH to me    (I'm not a medical professional though). Meantime I figure no use getting all worked up about aneurysms, lumps behind the ear etc.

There are a variety of very effective treatments for CH now, several of which are outside the incredibly slow moving medical mainstream. And they are mainly found through info and advice here, so you must stick around if you get that CH diagnosis!

Meantime, a high dose vitamin D3 regimen is a very recent hot topic here since many CH'ers are reporting it prevents their attacks. Here's that thread: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

I'm afraid the sumatriptan pill prescription you may get is too slow acting for most CH'ers, as we tend to benefit from use of injectible or nasal spray form of sumatriptan for aborting attacks, but some CH'ers report the pill can prevent attacks that would've otherwise occurred 1/2 to 1 hour or so after taking the pill.

[Edit:] In honor of Giusseppi, an energy drink enthusiast and a regular around here who is away right now, I'll go ahead and mention that some find an energy drink with lots of caffeine and taurine (like Red Bull) guzzled right at onset of attack can abort it or lessen the severity