Posted by pinksharkmark (64.32.122.120) on June 26, 2001 at 12:43:18:
In Reply to: I think I might be joining the club.... posted by Mike Rebeiro on June 25, 2001 at 23:09:06:
Get a doctor (any doctor, even an emergency room doctor) to administer a shot of Imitrex while you are experiencing a headache.
Imitrex will abort a cluster headache in the majority of clusterheads, usually within ten minutes. If it works for you, too, it is not proof positive that you have clusters -- you may have some migraine variant instead -- but at least you will have found something that will let you lead a more or less normal existence until you can get a confirmed diagnosis and a suggested course of longterm treatment from a neurologist.
An awful lot of your symptoms sound like typical cluster headache symptoms to me, and there are many clusterheads who have reported here that smells will trigger an attack for them.
As for clusterheads not being able to lie down while experiencing a headache... that is certainly not a universal trait. I (and others who post here) am capable of lying relatively still during an attack, though I admit I can't lie on my back. Mostly I curl up on my side in the fetal position, jam a pillow into my closed eye, and rock back and forth waiting for the Imitrex to kick in.
I sure hope you can see a neurologist soon.
pinky