I have all the symptoms for cluster headaches except one thing. My attacks occur every OTHER day and last at the minimum - 4-6 hours. After that 4-6 hours, the pain does not completely go away, but instead goes from 10/10 pain to about 6/10 pain and becomes dull until i either go to sleep or drink coffee.

The pain is consistently severe throughout the duration and is slightly helped by applying ice packs to the side of my head and over my eye.

This is the only thing that worries me (I don't have the money to get a scan of my head to get the correct diagnosis) since every site about CH says they should occur in small attacks throughout the day every day.

I've been prescribed sumatriptan and prednisone but I really don't want to take either one of them. I hate taking those types of drugs you never know what effect it'll have on your body...

maz wrote on Jun 26^th, 2014 at 4:01pm:


I see, thank you. I took the quiz and according to it, it's very likely that it's CH. considering the only difference i have is the duration, there is not much else it could be (i've been researching the ones that are very similar to CH in the meantime after posting this).

And yes I'm very lucky. I've only had to deal with this for about 2-3 years before realizing it was CH. I know others have gone decades before diagnosing it. However, I did still have to deal with the social aspect where no one understands why you're being such a wimp about a headache... even my parents have abandoned me .. they think it's just eye strain...

Hi Shimura and welcome,
Maybe show your parents this article for them to get a
better idea what us clusterheads have to go through.

Professor Peter Goadsby; director of the UCSF Headache Center and one of the world's leading headache experts and researchers has commented:

"Cluster headache is probably the worst pain that humans experience. I know that’s quite a strong remark to make, but if you ask a cluster headache patient if they’ve had a worse experience, they’ll universally say they haven't. Women with cluster headache will tell you that an attack is worse than giving birth. So you can imagine that these people give birth without anesthetic once or twice a day, for six, eight, or ten weeks at a time, and then have a break. It's just awful."

The condition was originally named Horton's Cephalalgia after Dr. B.T Horton. His original paper describes the severity of the headaches as being able to take normal men and force them to attempt or complete suicide. From Horton's 1939 paper on cluster headache:

"Our patients were disabled by the disorder and suffered from bouts of pain from two to twenty times a week. They had found no relief from the usual methods of treatment. Their pain was so severe that several of them had to be constantly watched for fear of suicide. Most of them were willing to submit to any operation which might bring relief."

Best, Hoppy.

Dear Shimura,

It might be CH - the symptoms do vary. I think you should try using O2, which will also help with the diagnosis. And it's far more healthy than any medication.

Don't rule out Imitrex. It's not that terrible medicine.

And you  should consider doing the D3 Anti Inflammatory regimen, which is safer than most treatments.

Good luck!

Bob Johnson wrote on Jun 27^th, 2014 at 9:12am:


     Best reply ever.

             Potter

Shimura wrote on Jun 27^th, 2014 at 2:17pm:


     You're self diagnosed and that's foolish.  Your head could explode and leave you a drooler in a wheelchair.  Get a real diagnosis.

             Potter

If you are going to self-diagnose, at least know the risks;

Look under: Medications,  Treatments,  Therapies › Important Topics >Cluster-LIKE headache

Bob Johnson wrote on Jun 27^th, 2014 at 4:20pm:


Ok, thank you. I'll take all that into consideration. I just started the d3 regimen and so far I'm pain free on a day where I'm scheduled for pain. Wish me luck haha.

Quote:


Are you sure I am the one with the attitude? Allow me to post what you said once more to me once more:

Quote:


I'm not here to argue with anyone, but if you're going to call someone foolish and belittle their intelligence, you better be prepared when someone says "that type of talk isn't needed".

The fact that you even highlighted that as proof of "attitude" shows that you are childish and can't take responsibility for your actions. You lost any respect you had from me.

Thank you to everyone else; this has been resolved.

dear shimura please seek the help of a professional. your defensive attitude could be the result of not receiving the validation you so desperately need. you could possibly be a cyberchondriac with migraines. your parents know you best , they did raise you didnt they? best of luck to you .

hi sumura,
o.k,  so you've been subscribed medication, a doctor would be required to write a script for that,  so a doctor agrees with you and has diagnosed you as having cluster headaches ?
im sorry to say this, but your totally all over the place, going from lectures on ethics of doctors dispensing drugs, to calling people pathetic, for correctly advising you that only a proper medical diagnosis is the only way to 100% confirm that it isn't one of the many mimicking conditions, some far more serious than clusters !
  sumura,  there's lots of people here that can help in so many ways if it turns out you do indeed have clusters, I do hope you stick around and join in and listen and learn.
after all, you did join up here to learn,
keep that in mind.....
best wishes
colin

Then I guess we're done here.

           Potter

Hi shimura,
I'll tell you where every one is coming from. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink, right?  You went to a doctor for help, he gave you the help you asked for and you refuse to take it. There is nothing more anyone can do, except advise you to go ahead and take the drugs.

We understand that you can't afford a scan.We're not all millionaires here, and if it had not been covered by our NHS I would have had to save up for it. But even if you HAD had a scan which confirmed CH the drugs you've been given would be the same. Even after my scan, it was another 2 years before I was prescribed the correct meds, and that was only after I found out everything for myself from this site, and asked for it. So you are lucky to have a doctor who is switched on enough to know what you need.

No one likes to take drugs, but there are trillions of people around the world who's lives would be intollerable without them. Including CH sufferers. The effects on your body cannot be any worse than the stress caused by CH. I'm a 63 year old woman and there have been many times during a full blown attack that I've wondered how much more stress my heart and blood pressure can take. And that brings more stress.

When I was in the middle of a 10/10 with my future stretched before me with no help, I was in a very dark place and believed I could not face my life any more. I think most of us here have probably felt the same at some point. Then I got the sumatriptan injections, and although I was scared to death of taking them I honestly didn't think there was anything I could do to my self that was worse than CH.

So one night, after 30 minutes resisting the meds,hoping in vain that it would stop bt itself, thrashing and praying to die I took my first injection. Ten minutes later I was totally pain free, drinking tea, eating cake and wondering why I hadn't taken them before. You may find they don't suit you or you have side effects - not everything works for every one, but at least give it a try. Personally I don't have any bad effects at all. Just blessed relief. Sumatriptan (when I'm out) and oxygen (when I'm at home) have transformed my life. NO - they probably saved my life because I was at the end of my rope.

Your doctor has helped you all he can. So unless you actually prefer the pain for Gods sake help yourself and take the drugs. It's up to you now.
Best wishes
Maz.

Shi, you seem like a kid who needs professional help. Best of luck. Do some more reading so you know of what you speak.