cluster headaches?

Has anyone been diagnosed with cluster headaches?

I have been reading about them and wondering if that is what I have been suffering from the past 6 weeks or so. My headaches are one sided and I've noticed that my left eye is often swolen and droopy during these episodes.

I haven't been diagnosed with cluster headaches as such, but my migraines tend to build up to clusters that the docs have to break with different medication than what I normally take. It's like my body gets too used to my preventatives and explodes.

Are you taking any meds?

I stopped taking all my migraine meds b/c they didn't seem to be helping. Like you said, it is like my body built up a tolerance for some of the medications and they weren't effective anymore.

I starting taking a bunch of supplements. Iodine, progestrone, magnesium, vitamin D, Omega (fish oil).

So far I have been able to get away with just taking ibuprofen for the occasional headaches, but that is after a 6 week migraine that put me in the ER twice. During this headache is when I was having the droopy/swollen eye lid and also numbness and tingling in my face. It was the worst headache I have ever experienced... I think it was even harder to go through than child birth!

That sounds terrible! Surely after 6 weeks the docs can do something to help you, that's madness!

my doctor would just prescribe more pain meds that I would try and the headache would come right back.

I am doing acupuncture sessions weekly and I have an appointment at Johns Hopkins Headache center to see what they can find out. I am just glad that I got through the worst of it and I am able to function like a normal person for now.

I hope you get some answers. Keep us posted

with cluster headaches the eye waters continually and the pt finds comfort by rocking back and forth. the pain comes in clusters and you can get a few a day and it can keep ging like that for weeks then you may not get any for months. you dont go thru the same programme with clusters as you do with migraines. occipital nerve blocks have been shown to be a good treatment for them its a small inj given at the back of the head. the migraine action site give details about them and you can download info sheets from them. good luck with getting a diagnosis.

There's such a huge difference between cluster headaches and Migraines that I think you can probably tell the difference. Certainly, your doctor should be able to. If not, you really need a new doctor.

One of the primary differences is the length. Migraines usually last between two and 72 hours. Cluster headaches are much shorter, 15 to 180 minutes.

This article might help you figure it out, Cluster Headaches - What Are They?

Teri

dncr4180 wrote:Has anyone been diagnosed with cluster headaches?

I have been reading about them and wondering if that is what I have been suffering from the past 6 weeks or so. My headaches are one sided and I've noticed that my left eye is often swolen and droopy during these episodes.

It's a shame people like you try to take advantage of people with a disease and spam. You're pathetic and boring.

superman123 wrote:yeah,don't go.
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I have to disagree with migraines usually can last up to 2- 72 hrs. I wish that was the case. So many people have chronic m that this is not the average anymore. Mine go on forever.

Kate - the only question is are you sure it's the same one?

I'm another chronic but recently have had breaks. When I was monitoring severity, I would often have 2-3 days of nasty followed by days of more mild. I didn't know where one ended and one began. Daily - I think it's impossible to know how long they truly last, is it one or is it a new attack every day? I don't have an answer to this. All I know is that now that I get breaks in between they last 3 days.

Heeler, what you are describing happens to me too but I also have it when it is the constant same one everyday. Especially in the back of my eyesballs. Those are pretty consitant.

Kate,

I hear you! Note that I said usually. That's from the International Headache Society's diagnostic and classification criteria. Most of us aren't "usual." Also, if a Migraine goes longer than 72 hours without at least a four-hour pain-free break, while awake, you need to see your doctor about getting it broken. Also, once we go chronic, it can be hard to tell when one Migraine ends and the next one begins.

Teri

Kate wrote:I have to disagree with migraines usually can last up to 2- 72 hrs. I wish that was the case. So many people have chronic m that this is not the average anymore. Mine go on forever.

Teri, when Anna told a neurosurgery resident she had clear fluid dripping from her eyes for hours at a time, every night, for months at a time, he told her it was cluster HA's...all of it...

He needs to go back to med school, I think...

Cheryl

Oh, yeah!

Anna's Mom wrote:Teri, when Anna told a neurosurgery resident she had clear fluid dripping from her eyes for hours at a time, every night, for months at a time, he told her it was cluster HA's...all of it...

He needs to go back to med school, I think...

Cheryl

OK... what I have is truly a migraine then.... I am still going to go get a second opinion at JH to see if that can figure out what is causing my pain so I can help prevent it.