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Topic: Few and far between? (Read 265 times) |
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blue43
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Few and far between?
« on: Apr 22nd, 2006, 12:41am » |
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Hi all,
I'm new here, and I'd like to hear what you have to say about my story.
The first cluster I remember getting was so bad that I thought I might be having a stroke. I was pacing all over, unable to sit still, pressing my head into things, etc. I wrote my dad about it asking what migraines feel like, and he said my symptoms sounded exactly like a cluster headache, which he suffers from too.
However, I didn't get another bad headache the next night. I got a shadow that threatened to build but didn't. The next bad headache hit about a month later, same time of day, again virtually alone. Then I had another maybe a month later, and then they were gone.
It was hard to believe I actually had clusters, knowing what people's patterns usually are. But this January, just as last, I got smacked with a hugely painful headache behind my right eye. And again, it was virtually unaccompanied. Then a month later, and a month after that, and just this past Wednesday.
Looking back, I can see that I've had patterns of headaches before last year and always wrote them off as sinus headaches induced by temperature or moisture change at night. They would be dull, no more than kip 4, and would come nightly. I never considered they could be clusters as I didn't even know what clusters were!
Anyway, does this sound just too strange? I've read through the site & board and haven't seen other accounts like this. I feel very lucky not to get them more frequently, for right now anyway. I have no idea how you who get them every day handle it. My sympathies.
Thanks for your feedback.
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Bob_Johnson
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Re: Few and far between?
« Reply #1 on: Apr 22nd, 2006, 8:42am » |
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Not unusual: There is much more variation in cluster than is realized. This is especially true when they first show themselves--variation in timing, location, quality of pain, etc. It's this changing character which makes the initial diagnosis difficult.
My initial clusters had almost none of the "usual" qualities to the attacks and it took about 3-4 years before I had a very consistent pattern become established.
The purpose of Cluster is to prevent us from becoming TOO comfortable and confident!
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Bob Johnson
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pattik
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Re: Few and far between?
« Reply #2 on: Apr 22nd, 2006, 9:10am » |
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I didn't keep track of mine when they first started out either. Having had migraines, I probably just wrote them off as really bad and unusual migraines, but in all probability, they probably started off a lot like yours. Twenty some years later, I have had very predictable patterns, but even those patterns have changed, so if and when you see a more frequent pattern starting, get a diagnosis from a neurologist who specialized in headaches. Bookmark this site, because it can be a wonderful resource for you in the future.
Pat
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The voyage of discovery is not about seeking new landscapes, it's about having new eyes--Marcel Proust
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blue43
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Re: Few and far between?
« Reply #3 on: Apr 22nd, 2006, 2:09pm » |
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Bob and Pat --
Thank you both for your reassurance. "Reassurance," of course, because I absolutely do not look forward to eventually developing a more common pattern of these things. It's just good to have some corroboration.
It's also helpful because I know I wouldn't get much of an answer if I took my questions to a doctor unless s/he was a specialist. Even then, who knows! Pat, I will heed your advice.
>> The purpose of Cluster is to prevent us from becoming TOO comfortable and confident!<<
Thanks for the laugh!
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Bob_Johnson
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Re: Few and far between?
« Reply #4 on: Apr 22nd, 2006, 2:15pm » |
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Some helps to develop your new life with CH!
Here is a link to read and print and take to your doctor. It describes preventive, transitional, abortive and surgical treatments for CH. (2002)
http://www.brightok.net/~mnjday/chtherapy.pdf
MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D. Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $59 at Amazon.Com. It covers all types of headache and is primarily focused on medications. While the two chapters on CH total 42-pages, the actual relevant material is longer because of multiple references to material in chapters on migraine, reflecting the overlap in drugs used to treat. I'd suggest reading the chapters on migraine for three reasons: he makes references to CH & medications which are not in the index; there are "clinical pearls" about how to approach the treatment of headache; and, you gain better perspective on the nature of headache, in general, and the complexities of treatment (which need to be considered when we create expectations about what is possible). Finally, women will appreciate & benefit from his running information on hormones/menstrual cycles as they affect headache. Chapter on headache following head trauma, also. Obviously, I'm impressed with Robbins' work (even if the book needs the touch of a good editor!) (Somewhat longer review/content statement at 3/22/00, "Good book...."
HEADACHE HELP, Revised edition, 2000; Lawrence Robbins, M.D., Houghton Mifflin, $15. Written for a nonprofessional audience, it contains almost all the material in the preceding volume but it's much easier reading. Highly recommended.
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Bob Johnson
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blue43
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Re: Few and far between?
« Reply #5 on: Apr 23rd, 2006, 2:33am » |
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WOW, thank you! All of this is very helpful. I appreciate you passing on your knowledge to a newbie like me! 
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