The m/f ratio has been becoming smaller over the years. I can't recall the present level.

Never seen any distinction in treatment for m/w in the medical literature. There are differences between migraine and cluster re. treatment.

You will find this site a good source of medical information re. treatment: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or . Site of one of the leading headache docs in the country. You can find individual articles, by topic, and a e-book ($10) which is loaded with medical stuff, if a bit of a slog to mine.

It seems to be something that quite a few doctors seem to be stuck on the idea that women don't get CHs, only migraines. Even though it seems to be less common for females, it doesn't mean that a female cannot get CHs, so using sex as a diagnostic criteria is not very effective.

If your doctor is still stuck on this it might be time to try another one.

The first neuro I saw (after 27 years of no diagnosis, and finally getting a diagnosis from an Urgent Care doc) actually looked me right in the eye and said "Well, you've described textbook clusters, but we know since you're a woman, it isn't THAT". I found a new neuro.

I really wish docs would get past "You can't have that because you're a woman/man" thing. Every now and then a man can get breast cancer. Jeeze! (My rant for the day. lol)

How long have you been dealing with these headaches and how long have you been taking the medications you're on? Verapamil can take weeks to start working and it usually takes a higher dose than normal to curb cluster headaches. I'm glad you found us. there's a lot of very good information available here and there's almost always a sympathetic keyboard waiting to let you know you're not all alone in the world. You're among friends now.

Wow! I am so glad I found this site! I have been dealing with these headaches for about eight years (since I was 17ish) and they have been getting worse with age.  I have not tried Imigran (I am going to look it up) and she actually just took me off the Verapamil and put me on Lexapro because I told her I have really bad anxiety and she thinks it will help calm me down and the stress will cease.  She said once this happens the "migraines" will go away.  I have yet to have this happen because I've tried so many medications to help with stress BUT the "headaches" still comes bAck!  I always described them as seasonal headaches or stress headaches before I started doing my research.  I wasn't always stressed when I got the headaches coming back. 
To describe my cycle, I get them around bedtime (9 or 10 pm), SOMETIMES wake up when a killer one, but not ALWAYS the case, only happens about a week in the period, I ALWAYS wake up with one around 7 am, and a lurking headache all day... My cycle is about 2 months and I can't even tell you how long my remission is bc I don't keep track.  I do know when I was pregnant... I did not have a SINGLE one the whole 9 months until my delivery day when I went into the hospital bc of these cluster headaches, not even in labor!!!
Anyone out there think being treated for migraines is the same as cluster head aches because this is the first doctor I have seen that has introduced medications that have actually worked to get rid of the headache- such as maxalt and sumatriptan injection, but the gender bias and not listening to my word on that I feel they are clusters really bothers me....
Thanks!

I go back to my previous comment!  Go to a provider who will listen to determine what your headache is and then treat accordingly.  So many of us have to advocate for our care, especially for these rare conditions.  Guessing, gender bias, and not acting on what you report is unacceptable practice. You deserve answers and relief.

CH is a rare condition, so being female with it is even more rare. I self-diagnosed when after 15 years living with these things I found this website (thanks DJ). Later, two different neurologists made it official, and fortunately didn't dismiss me because of my gender. Like you, I also experienced a remission during pregnancy. Try to be diligent about keeping a headache diary. It will help you to find patterns that are unique to your experience of CH, and this can help you manage things in the future of it turns out you are correct about your diagnosis.