Posted by John White (64.231.101.121) on November 30, 2001 at 20:14:00:
Hello...I am new to the board and have suffered clusters for about 25 years. I have never been able to relate their onset to any particular food during those times when they occur, as I would never avoid those so called trigger foods. I do know that any amount of alcohol in any form would trigger almost instant attacks. Mine were very typical, i.e. cat napping would trigger an attack, I would be wakened in the middle of the night and on occasion, physical exercise would bring one on. I guess mine were episodic in nature because there were always periods of remission where I would be headache free. I could never relate their onset to seasonal or barometric change either. Sometimes during those remission times. I would experience the jagged light thing where the light migrates across the eye and partial vision is lost, always the same side as were the headaches. I would never experience the light/vision thing and a headache at the same time, it was one or the other. The most common medication taken was cafergot which of course didn't stop the headache but certainly lessened the length and severity. I also used sumatriptin succanate tablets which were also effective but as you know are very very expensive. I tried a nasal spray once, the name of which I don't remember. I only used it once and was violently ill for about 6 hours so I disposed of it. The last prescription I filled for cafergot was February 2000 and did not use all of them. I have not had a headache since then, but a couple of times a month have experienced the light/vision thing. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I know the "devil' can return without warning. I am a 60 yr old male and just thought I would share some of my experiences with you.