Am I getting cluster headaches? Will they get worse?
March 5, 2010 7:06 AM   Subscribe

Am I getting cluster headaches? Will they get worse?

I started getting headaches about a year ago. They start rapidly, with intense focused pain behind and on the left side of my right eye. The pain forces me to close my eyes, press my fingers or palm into the left side of my eyebrow or eye, and occasionally pace or rock, and I tend to tilt my head downward. Frequently the pain happens around 9:00 am, but I also tend to get them in the evening around 7:00 pm occasionally. When the cluster starts, I will get headaches once a day on average, sometimes twice, and they last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.

After some googling, the only thing I can come up with is cluster headaches. They fit most of the symptoms, including the cycles, except that I am a woman, I do not get the swelling/tearing/red eye, and the pain is not nearly as intense as what has been described. They are debilitating to be sure, but I am not ready to kill myself. Also, up to this point, ibuprofen usually works to shorten the duration of the headache as long as I can get to it fast enough.

So are these cluster headaches? Is it possible that these are just the beginning, and they will develop into the full-blown, much more difficult to treat version? (I am terrified of this.) Or could this be something else entirely?

I went to the doctor, and he told me to come back only if ibuprofen stops working as treatment.
posted by picapica to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)
 
My sister-in-law suffers from cluster headaches.

Are they only specific times of the year? Cluster headaches are linked to the amount of sunlight available during the day.. so she only gets cluster headaches in the beginning of spring and fall.

Usually cluster headache sufferers have at least one set time once a day where there is a guaranteed cluster headache.. but lack of sleep or stress or other health factors can make you have cluster headaches at random times as well.

I'm surprised to find that ibuprofen works, no pain killers work for my sister-in-law.

My suggestion is to get a second or third opinion.. especially if the doctor you went to is a general practitioner and not a neurologist or someone specializing in headaches/migraines.
posted by royalsong at 7:18 AM on March 5, 2010


IANAD, but I do occasionally get cluster headaches. Like many medical issues, there's a spectrum of severity. On one end, there are cluster headaches painful enough to make the sufferers consider suicide. On the other end... there are mine (and possibly yours!). They're occasional, they do not come with the full complement of symptoms, they are easily relieved... kinda like Cluster Headache, Jr.

The one thing which works for me is applying ice to the trigeminal nerve on the affected side. Consult Dr. Google to get the exact location. Wrap an ice pack in some cloth and rest in on that bastardly little nerve (moving it around occasionally, if that seems to help) until the pain (hopefully) abates. YMMV, but it's a pretty consistent fix for mine.
posted by julthumbscrew at 7:22 AM on March 5, 2010


I would doubt somewhat that they were cluster headaches if ibuprofen clears them up, but (a) julthumbscrew is probably correct that there's a range and (b) the whole getting-to-them-soon-enough aspect jives with my secondhand experience. If ibuprofen works, try Excedrin.

If they do start getting worse, let your doctor know -- there are a lot of medicines specifically for cluster headaches. However, you might find that each one loses its efficacy after a few bouts.

If they do get a lot worse (and I hope they don't!), ask your doctor for a prescription for an oxygen tank -- it's a life-saver, even if it's a small pain to get. Also available via emergency room, or even the fire station in a pinch. For real.
posted by theredpen at 7:29 AM on March 5, 2010


I am also a sufferer. I don't know about others but ibuprofen wouldn't cause a dent in mine and, at their worst when I had no medications near, I have been known to bang my head against the wall (which didn't help in the long run but I was not thinking logically).

It is possible that they are sinus headaches - which are excruciating, BTW, not minimizing at all. Keep on your doctor and advocate for yourself. If they are getting worse or more frequently, and you don't like what your current doctor is (or isn't) doing, see someone else more experienced in headaches.
posted by Sophie1 at 7:59 AM on March 5, 2010


My mother has them. It is a true misery. Google Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania, which is sort of the cluster headache for women. Theredpen is spot-on with the oxygen, which is now the front-line treatment for clusters and the only thing that helps my mother. :earn all you can and be prepared to advocate for yourself; doctors can be extremely dismissive of headache, especially in women. If you can find a doc that also has headaches, or a close family member with headaches, that's the doctor you want.
posted by thebrokedown at 9:38 AM on March 5, 2010


I'm not a doctor - see a real doctor. In fact, see a neurologist for a positive diagnosis of cluster headache. The doc may call for an MRI, just to rule out other, more life threatening possibilities.

Second the idea of oxygen to stop individual attacks, but it must be done right to work well - use a NON-rebreather mask (there are special models deigned for cluster headache) and a high flow regulator - 7 liters per minute is minimum - 15 liters per minute or higher works best.

For support and information, esp. a very active message board, visit www.clusterheadaches.com

For an interesting and very effective approach to long-term treatment, see http://clusterbusters.clusterheadaches.com/ and www.clusterbusters.com

By the way, Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania is not "cluster headaches for women." Though it is no picnic, CPH is a different disease. It is often said that only men, or mostly men, get cluster headaches, but that is outdated. At least one-third, or maybe more, of clusterheads are women.
posted by tommyD at 10:22 AM on March 5, 2010


I was having similar headaches. The only thing that helped was ice. I eventually found a doctor who thought it might be migraine, even though the symptoms didn't indicate migraine. I got a shot of Imatrex in the office, and the symptoms were gone in 20 minutes. I got the pill form for home, and I haven't had a full blown headache since (about 4 years). I hope this helps because I know it can be miserable. Good luck.
posted by samsaunt at 7:37 PM on March 5, 2010


« Older This one goes to 11   |   He left behind this document... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.