Hello all and bless this site.  Last week my almost 19 year old son told me a few days after it happened about this headache that woke him from sleep. He described what you all know as classic CH symptoms.  woke him from his sleep, pain behind right eye, laying down hurt worse, runny nose, wattery eye. I was somewhat concerned and was mad he didnt wake me when it happened. It being only one occurance I wasnt ready to panic yet, but told him in no uncertain terms if it happened again he was to wake me. Well ,, exactly 1 week later on the exact same day at the exact same time he woke me up with the same symptoms. this time I observed the drippy nose, he told me he had beey rubbing his eye as it felt strange or wattery,, he said he did not want to lay down and went to take a hot shower, which helped somewhat .. he said going down stairs and walking around felt better. We have an appointment with a neurologist tomorrow morning. Im wondering,  Can people only have a few of these a year ?? if his were a week apart is there a chance they wont become chronic ? In retrospect now I see his father gets the little mini kind that lasts only seconds but I never paid any attention to his much because he seemed to be used to them. I just put it all together now .. Please help watching your child in pain is the very worst !!!

Hello, sorry you are here.   But you have come to the right place for support.  I am fairly new also, but I think I can share with you a few helpful tips.  Begin a dairy/log of the headaches.  Dates and times of hits, length, what he did for them, what helps, what doesn't.  Check out the "Kip" scale of pain on this site, and write down his pain level. (Or have him do all this, as he is an adult) After reading what you wrote, I can tell you, that everyone has symptoms that are the same, and different. No one person is exactly like another. So, what works for one, doesn't always work for another.  Keep reading and learning. I understand it is hard not to get discouraged, but if he is willing to help himself, it will be easier on you also.  Try to get him on this site to talk with other people.  Again, I definitely don't have all the answers, I am still looking myself. But you are not alone and niether is he.  We will be checking in.  The people here are great! Please come back, keep sharing, asking questions, or just plain vent.  At least you know that we truly understand!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Beth

Not to burst your bubble, just more of a warning of sorts. GP's get about 4 hours total education on headaches in "doctor school" covering hundreds of headache types. Garden variety neuros don't get much more then that. If this neuro appears to not know headaches that well, don't be suprised. Headaches are a specialty unto themselves, and we've seen consistently better results from those fortunate enough to work with a headache specialist neurologist.

In my late teens, my CH followed no set patterns, in fact if I felt one starting, and could get to sleep, I could dodge the attack completely. I didn't even start getting the wake up attacks until my late30's early 40's. So yes, it's possible your son is suffering from CH. If that turns out to be his final diagnosis, don't lose this website. You won't find a more comprehensive database on CH anywhere. Good luck on the diagnostic journey. As a parent my heart aches for you.

Joe

We moved from Michigan to South Texas.  Phil seemed to be doing better at first, but that only lasted around a month or two.  We didn't move to be closer to the equator or because of the seasonal thing (well maybe not dealing with winter so I guess it was kind of seasonal).

I would never laugh at a menopause support group.  I was a total psycho for the first two years...still am just not a totally    After my hysterectomy I joined a group called HysterSisters.  I was only 28 and freaking out.  It was very helpful 

Saw Neurologist this AM ABSOLUTELY LOVE HIM,, he listened and asked all the right questions. He said yes ,, sounds like CH to him but ordered MRI to be on safe side. He offered several different prescriptions, 2 injectibles and 1 imitrex nasal.  I asked about the oxygen ,, he said not just yet as its cumbersom and not something my son can carry with him.  I am going for the least first wich is the imitrex nasal spray,, anyone have any luck with that ?  ALso so far he has only had 2 episodes. dont know what the rest of the week will bring though .. thanks all

didgens wrote on Oct 11^th, 2011 at 3:15pm:


Even if it's hard for someone to carry around (I carry a small cylinder around in a small backpack when I need it), I expect that a lot of the time your son will either be at home or near a car, etc, making it easy to have oxygen accessible.

I don't think many neurologists realise just how effective oxygen is.

Yep....just learned that! So now the hubby really thinks I'm crazy.. ....or you all are!   

Thanks all .. well the MRI was clean except a for a large Cyst in his left maxillary sinus ? I dont think this has anything to do with the other its on the opposite side below his left eye. Anyway there is some relief knowing the brain scan was clean.  He had another headache last night around 11:30 (not sure why it keeps being a wednesday night ?? wth?) ,,we instantly tried the red bull and some advil. He said he didnt think it did much help, perhaps minor pain relief. it was gone in under an hour and he went back to sleep.  Ok so now we got see an ENT, Im sure from my reading she will prescribe a steriodal nasal spray to shrink the cyst (polyp). I have read here that steroidal nasal spray can help with the CH's as well .. I know its a short term solution .. any suggestions ?  Oh BTW .. the doc wanted to know if the imitrex worked or not ,, he wasnt closed to the idea of oxygen ,, just wanted to try the imitrex first and see if it helps.  So far my son has had 3 of these headaches within a month span. not sure what to expect now