I'm Al, I didn't know what I had had a name. I kept calling it migraines, but I knew from others that had migraines it wasn't the same thing. I spent a lot of time trying to find out what it was...how I never came across the term cluster headache I don't know, but this year I did.

I'm 57 yo, male my CH started when I was around 38, so I am luckier than many of you, but those first 10 years or so were hell when it hit. Mine is periodic, every fall for the first 10 years, right around mid october (yea, now) through early mid january. Doctors couldnt figure it out, and most medicines didn't seem to work. I almost never got headaches prior to this, and don't once it is done. Sound familiar? I always loved fall, but I began to dread it. Then, around 7 years ago, I figured what, at least in part, triggered mine. I am always outside working/playing on the weekend, and tend to forget to eat and drink, and without fail that night or the next, it would start - it was my ex who made the time connection initially, took me a couple of years to make the water connection. so I've been pretty lucky, for the last 5 years. Once the weather starts to cool, I have water with me everywhere, and while I still got headaches, I avoided the debilitating ones you all know. Until last weekend! Was working outside, didn't keep up with the water, and well, you know the rest. I didn't like taking medicine but now at the first hint I jump out of bed and suck it down. Anyway, I am on imitrix type thing, but now that I have info, I can go back to doctor. as an FYI, I tried it as a preventative last night, and it actually sorta worked, so we'll see how it goes tonight.

Anyway, a long way of saying HI, and thanks for the site!

Hi and welcome

As Brian said, it's essential to get a diagnosis from someone with the right skills and experience, so normally this needs a headache specialist as it's a pretty complex area and most doctors, even most neurologists just don't have the skills in this area.

However once you've got the diagnosis then it opens up a whole load of things from preventives to cut down how many CHs you get to abortives to kill off a CH in a few minutes.

Keep reading and you'll learn so much.