I have not needed a re-fill for Imitrex, (Sumatriptan), for over two years... last Thursday, (June 23), my clusters returned at about 3:20 A.M... Man, I thought I was DONE with this stuff this time!! I've had one at almost the exact same time every night since. By the Grace of GOD and the genuine love from my beautiful wife Pamela of 18 years, I'll get through this.

For the first time in over two years I've also conducted a Google search for 'Cluster Headaches' and located this site... what a blessing!

I was first "diagnosed" as a cluster sufferer in 1993 by a female M.D. working at one of those "Doc-in-a-Box" places in Duluth, GA. She was previously an M.D./Captain in the Air Force. After I explained what I had been experiencing for several years, (since 1986), she pulled a dusty medical book off of her bookshelf, opened it to a "bookmarked" page and asked me to read it.

It was AMAZING! For the first time I read a detailed description of everything that I was experiencing after a cluster started kickin' my a** with a generous 30-60 second notice... my left eye swelling shut and constantly tearing-up, the molars on the left side of my mouth, top and bottom, feeling as if someone was attempting to extract them with "heated pliers"... etc.. Prior to meeting her, I had been through multiple CT scans, MRI's and had visited at least 8-9 doctors with NO results... and DIFFERENT recommendations from each. (By 1993, I had been shot once and stabbed two times. At that time I was a police officer in metro-Atlanta and had recently returned from a combat tour with the US Army during Desert Shield/Storm.)

The pain I experience during a cluster makes getting wounded seem almost like a welcomed alternative.

I can actually pace from room-to-room in my house in the early A.M. with no lights on, (The Dance), while chanting various "PLEASE, Dear Lord" phrases that I never seem to remember the next day... and never stub my toe or bump into anything... that's AMAZING.

I want to sincerely thank the creator of this site... you obviously 'get it'. ANYTHING offering support for people and their family members suffering from clusters is truly a blessing! THANK YOU!         

I would love to find that doctor who diagnosed you and had that page book-marked for you to read and give her a huge hug.  If you knew how many here went for years/decades of being mis-diagnosed, called a drug seeker, treated for other things, wouldn't listen and were generally clueless when it comes to treating this condition of ours, well then you'd know why I like to give her a hug.

One thing about being an episodic sufferer is that you KNOW they will come back at some point.  We've learned around here to always stock up on any meds we take for when they do,  so we're not caught without them.  Many of us use oxygen and one time I ran out on a Fridayevening and had to suffer all week-end.  I always made a point of checking my tanks on Thursday night after that.

Linda

Thank you all for the EXCELLENT responses and support information... I have some reading to do!

If there's anything I can do to help your efforts, please let me know!

JC