Let me tell you a little about myself! My name is Nancy and I first starting getting Cluster headaches when I was just 17 years old. I went to the hospital and I was told I had Migraines. At first my clusters would last for about 3 months at a time and I would have anywhere for 3 to 6 clusters a day, lasting 30 minutes to 5 hours each time.  I am not able to take any pills once the cluster has hit me…I get so sick to my stomach and can’t hold anything down. I turn white as a ghost start sweating, my nose starts running and I get a very sharp burning stabbing pain behind my left eye and my heart races as if I were running a marathon. For some reason the clusters love to hit me when I am sleeping when they first come out of remission, and then after a week or so after being out of remission I get them all day every day.
The headaches would go in remission for about 2 months and then start their pattern again. I never realized there was a pattern to them; I would just try to survive the pain.
I lived like this for the next 20 years, although my remissions started lasting a little longer as I got older.  It wasn’t until I was 38 that I finally got diagnosed with clusters!! I had come out of remission and called the doctors to get more Imitrex injections, the nurse told me she could get me in next week!!! I told her I needed the meds today, but I had not see the doctor for over a year and I needed to see the doctor first!! I told her I could not wait until next week; the nurse would not give me an earlier appointment. So I told her never mind….I said that the headaches would either kill me or I would kill myself and I hung up. It was about 30 minutes later the phone rang and it was my doctor who told me to come in right away. The doctor sat down with me and asks me to describe the headaches again; it had been over 20 years since she really asked me to describe them. She said OMG, I am so so sorry…you don’t have migraines you have cluster headaches.
I went home and started looking up clusters on the Internet and found this support group!! I cried like a baby when I first started reading my stories that someone else wrote. I was happy to read I was not crazy and what I did during a headache was common for us cluster people.
I have not been active on this site because I am a Episodic sufferer not a
Chronic sufferer. Its just nice being able to read stories like mine and to know I am not alone. I am going to try to go to bed now; I had less then 3 hours of sleep last night because I was hit with two clusters. I pray everyone has a pf night. Peace out. 
:-*

Hi Jerry!

So much for a pf night!! I got hit 3 times since I went to be at 9:30 last night, its not only 3:30. I have not given up on trying to sleep anymore for tonight.
I didn't have the strength to write a whole book last night, but yes I have tried Oxygen before and I found it really not to help that much for all the trouble and money I had to go through to get it. Maybe it was because I couldn't get the regulator as high as you talked about. But having to lug that tank around is a pain.
I am one of the lucky one's as far as these clusters go...if there is such thing as a lucky cluster sufferer. I go in remission with the help of the 15 day Prednisone treatment. As I get older my remissions are getting longer; I can be in remission anywhere from 18 months to 3 years is my new average, but this last remission was 5 years 9 months.  I think through the years I have tried just about every preventative but can't say any of them really helped! So unfortunately the only thing I can do is treat these monsters    once they show their ugly face. The Prednisone treatment and Imitrex injections works well for me. I just know to avoid the 100% triggers once I am out of remissions..three big triggers are alcohol and what I call "Church perfume" and stress. Stress is the hardest to avoid...these so called headaches cause so much stress in themselves.
Its nice to hear from someone local being how rare these headaches are, but I feel they are just rarely diagnosed properly and that is why they just seem rare.
Well.....time to get ready for another long 10 hour work day with little to no sleep. I work from 5:30 am to 4 pm 5 to 6 days a week , its so much fun with no sleep!! Thanks for replying to me...hope you have a better day then I am going to have. 

Wow, BarbaraD!! Another woman!! I thought I was the only female on this site! lol
Sorry I just read your post...its been a crazy/bad 3 weeks for me. I can't hold anything down during a ch...so I don't think a redbull would help!! I do give myself shots!! And yes.....both stress and being relaxed is a trigger!! I get most of my ch at night as I try to sleep, but I also get them if I feel stressed. I can feel my temple tense up on the left side of my forhead and then the next thing I know.....here comes the beast!!
Sorry again for the delay in my reply!! If you read my other posts, you will see why!! 

Nancy, you might try melatonin before you go to bed at night. I do this and it stopped the night hits (most of the time) for me. Don't quit it if it doesn't work the FIRST time you try it. Took me a while to figure that one out.

But the melatonin gets you thru the REM sleep where the CH hits. Try it.. I take about 20mg a few mintues before I hit the sack. 

You can get the melatonin at the drug store OTC or at the grocery store (usually) in the vitamin isle. Walmart is usually the cheapest place.

But give it a try. It really works good for me. Like I said, I very seldom get a night hit since I've been on it and that's been several years now. BUT the THIRD time I tried it - it took about a week or more for it to start working good, so don't be like me and give up if it doesn't work the first time you take it. Wish someone had told me that... saved a lot of painful nights.. 

Here's hoping that your remission will come soon and you'll stick around and help someone else .. our support is what keeps us going.. 

Hang in there Nancy, your cycle WILL end!

-Gregg in Las Vegas