Im Jacob, 19, in the US Army stationed in Alaska. fairly healthy, workout 6-7 days a week, drink lots of water. unfortunately my father has cluster headaches. I obviously knew about it growing up, kinda hard not to, but he always said it doesn't run genetically in families. Ive done a bit of research and read that it is possible though rare. Im posting here because of a little worry, for about a week now ive been getting headaches every night, just yesterday I started getting them mid-day as well. I got one earlier than normal over the weekend while I was drinking at a friends house. its not as severe as ive witnessed my father experience but it seems to be the same symptoms, sharp stabbing pain behind my right eye and temple, droopy eye, tearing up. they normally come around the same time, about 10 o clock at night, and just recently at around noon. Do these usually start off in a low less painful stage and get worse over the years? or do I have nothing to be worried about?

Could be any of a million things, Jacob, or nothing at all.

Even so, it's well worth discussing it with a doctor. Might even be worth keeping a diary to list when headaches start, how long they last, level of pain, the weather, what you've just eaten or drunk.

Finding a pattern can help lots.

Please let us know how you're getting on and how we can help.

When Cluster is starting to appear the signs and symptoms are often unstable, pain sites change, degree of pain vaiet, etc.

Given your location and being in service I doubt that your local docs will have the experience to diagnose and treat you.

When I was in the USAF Medical sevice this was not a great problem for we could load you on a plane and send to a medical center for a work-up. I hope that your local doc will not blow you off to quickly on the need for a skilled headache specialist.

Take the cluster quiz, left edge of this page, and give to any doc you see.

You may have to deal with a doc who both lacks knowledge of complex headache disorders and who doesn't recognize his limitations. Get back if you have this kind of reaction.

No two of us are the same, so the pain level will vary from person to person.  Even your own individual attacks can vary each time. That's one of the many difficulties with CH - it can change so often that you have no definate reference point.(Hope that makes sense).

In my own case my attacks have been far more frequent than they used to be, but also much milder, so I have that to be thankful for.

On the left of your screen is a blue tab entitled "cluster quiz". Give it a go as it may clarify things for you.

Let us know how you get along.
Maz.