Author |
Topic: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headaches (Read 491 times) |
|
Dereks_little1
New Board Newbie
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Posts: 2
|
 |
My husband was diagnosed with cluster headaches
« on: Jan 26th, 2004, 5:39pm » |
 Quote  Modify
|
My husband Derek was diagnosed with cluster headaches in August of 2001 by his internist. He had been living with these awful headaches since high school and they would come every February and last about 10 weeks. Some years they would also show up in August.
By 2003 (when he was 34) they were happening every day and not going away after 8-10 weeks like they usually did. They were always on his right side and they were unbearable. Nothing was working at this point.
On December 3, 2003 my husband died of hypertensive heart disease. He had high blood pressure and the wonderful doctor who diagnosed cluster headaches never revealed to him that his blood pressure was high over the last 2 years. The stress of dealing with the headaches didn't help his blood pressure, as I am sure anyone suffering from those headaches know.
My husbands heart was twice it's normal size because of the untreated high blood pressure. And the headaches not going away at the end was due to the high blood pressure also. Did the cluster headaches and the stress that went with living with that beast cause his early demise? I am sure it had a lot to do with his blood pressure being high, and if the headaches could have been controlled perhaps he wouldn't have had so much stress.
I just wanted to relay this because I would hate for anyone else to go through what I have losing my soul mate at such a young age. At least now he isn't suffering any more. I never felt one of his headaches, but it killed me to watch when he was in a cycle. Now he is at rest. I just wanted to let all of you out there who suffer from these headaches to please please keep an eye on your blood pressure.
When Derek went to the doctor during a particularly bad headache day I found on his medical records that his blood pressure was 140/102 on that day. I wish I would have known that before now, maybe he could have been saved.
Thank you for listening. I just wanted to let you all know that living with these headaches can actually kill you if you arent careful. Christin
|
|
 IP Logged |
|
|
|
echo
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
Chronic and still alive --- I Win!
Gender: 
Posts: 4214
|
 |
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #1 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 5:41pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Sorry to read of your recent loss.
Clusters can do so much to distroy life and those who share it with the sufferer.
Me -- yes, high blood pressure. Presently being treated to get it under control.
Thanks for sharing.
|
|
IP Logged |
"If you love something, let it go. If it doesn't come back, hunt it down and kill it".
Proud Dad of a US Marine, and a former Marine turned Police Officer.
|
|
|
thomas
Guest
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #2 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 5:43pm » |
Quote Modify
 Remove
|
I'm sooooooooo sorry to hear about your loss...... It is the most horrible pain to loose someone that you love. Thank you for being there and supporting him through his pain. If you ever need to talk to someone there are plenty of ears to listen here.
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Tiannia
New Board Hall of Famer
Life does not apologies......
 
Gender: 
Posts: 3241
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #3 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 6:03pm » |
Quote Modify
|
I am so very sorry to hear about your loss. These headaches take so much away from our lives and from those who watch us suffer. Please stay with us and know that if you ever want to talk that we are here and we always will be. 
Tiannia
|
|
IP Logged |
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. - Carl Rogers
|
|
|
Sean_C
Guest
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #4 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 8:26pm » |
Quote Modify
Remove
|
How do I respond to a thread like this......my heart goes out to you and your family. My blood pressure during my cycles can go that high also, usually from the pred, and trex. With out question high blood pressure can be dangerous.
If you need us, where here 24/7.....the lights always on.
We wish you and your family all the love needed to carry through this..
Sean and family
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Cerberus
New Board Hall of Famer
Whomever said that two heads are better than one?
Gender:
Posts: 2117
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #5 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:03pm » |
Quote Modify
|
My Condolances Christin, The loss of a spouse is a great tradgedy, And to learn after the fact that both may have been treatable is, well..........wrong.
I have to ask though, If your late husband was diagnosed by the Internal specialist, and that same specialist knew his BP was too high, then why did he/she not prescribe a medication to lower his BP.
Fact is, most of us landed here as the result of a search for information on CH and a great deal of the same, find relief from their cycles with Verapamil a medication clearly ordained for its blood pressure lowering quality.
Pardon my inquisitiveness, on this, but I fail to understand how a Doctor could be aware of CH as a problem without having ANY knowledge of how to treat it, especially if one or more of the medications used to treat CH are actually beneficial to one who also suffers from high BP? Namely Oxygen and Verapamil? How in the world did the high BP escape treatment? I'm not accusing just curious.
Again, My condolances...
Ramon
|
|
IP Logged |
I would rather face the end with terror than terror without end. - (Deitrich Sawatsky 194?)
|
|
|
Little Deb
New Board Hall of Famer
Please SPAY and NEUTER all dogs, cats and idiots!
Gender:
Posts: 1346
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #6 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:22pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Thanks for sharing your story. Please stay with us as a supporter. And we are here to support you also. So sorry for the loss of Derek. Prayers to you and your famiy.
Little Deb
25 years of CH
Raleigh, NC
|
|
IP Logged |
Adopt a shelter pet!
|
|
|
Renee
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
May we all find some pf time! Is it summer yet?
Gender:
Posts: 1060
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #7 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:34pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Christin,
There are NO words I can say to change your pain nor mend your heart. I am truly so sorry for your loss and hope you find peace that he is no longer suffering.
My bp is normally low, like 90/55 to 90/60 but when in the throws of a CH my bp rises substantially to around 140/95. I think the pain and stress from the pain raises my bp at these times.
I can't take verapamil because it knocks my bp down too low, even at low dosage.
I truly wish that you and Derek had found us here at ch.com sooner.
Stay with us! There is quite a support group here!
My prayers for you and your family,
Renee
|
|
IP Logged |
23 years of battling the beast, 9 years chronic......uneducated docs/nurses make me irate.
The fungus among us is for real!
|
|
|
brad267
New Board Veteran
Gender:
Posts: 161
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #8 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:39pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Christin,
I have nothing witty to say. I am very sorry for your loss, and I WILL have my BP doublechecked next visit.
Thank You,
Brad
|
|
IP Logged |
-- He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.
Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001), "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
|
|
|
t_h_b
New Board Hall of Famer
primary chronic since 1999
Gender:
Posts: 527
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #9 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:50pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Christin, I am very sorry that you lost your husband, especially at age 34 with your life together ahead of you. It is good that Derek is no longer suffering but I know that you must miss him with more pain than you have ever felt in your life. We all appreciate you warning us about the dangers of hypertension, especially now, and our thoughts are with you in your grief.
There is usually someone here if you ever want to communicate about the headaches that caused him so much trouble.
Sincerely,
Thomas
|
|
IP Logged |
No, it's not a headache--it's a Stage Ten Primary Chronic Periodic Idiopathic Trigeminovascular Cephalalgic Crisis.
|
|
|
TxBasslady
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
Bass fishin' is a h00t It's the catchin' that sux
Gender:
Posts: 3201
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #10 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 9:54pm » |
Quote Modify
|
................so very sad
I hope you know that you are very welcome to stay here with us.
Jean CH Sufferer/Supporter
|
|
IP Logged |
How lucky I am... to have known someone who was so hard to say goodbye too.
Take a kid fishin
www.takemefishin.org
I adopted a Vietnam POW/MIA from El Paso, Texas! 
|
|
|
ClusterChuck
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
The BEAST rises again, and again, and again, and .
Gender:
Posts: 3181
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #11 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 10:07pm » |
Quote Modify
|
So sorry! I am at a loss as to what else to say! Such a tragedy!
You, my dear lady, are a wonderful person, to come here with your very important warning! Bless you! What a giving, caring, and supportive person you are.
Thank you.
Chuck
|
|
IP Logged |
"No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure of his friend till he is unhappy."
Thomas Fuller
|
|
|
Patrick_A
New Board Hall of Famer
If i could get my hands on that wascally Wabbit
Gender:
Posts: 843
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #12 on: Jan 26th, 2004, 11:17pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Hello Christin, I offer you my deepest sympathies. Losing a loved one is a hard thing to deal with.
I have to agree with Ramon though, Why didnt the Doctor recognize that your husband had high blood pressure? Easily treatable and in fact would have possibly knocked out 2 birds with 1 stone. I am not being critical of you or your husband. Its just that Doctors have a tendency to drop the ball and i was just wondering how!
Patrick
|
|
IP Logged |
Do you think that when they asked George Washington for his ID, that he just whipped out a One Dollar Bill?
|
|
|
Charlie
CH.com Alumnus
New Board Hall of Famer
Happy to be here
   
Gender:
Posts: 14968
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #13 on: Jan 27th, 2004, 12:12am » |
Quote Modify
|
I can't add much to this other than I think it's wonderful of you to come here with this sad story. I don't know how we can thank you.
There is something to blood pressure and CH but it's just as likely that high blood pressure wasn't the primary cause of these terrible headaches.
Feel free to post again as you'll find some good support here. Let us hear from you.
Charlie
|
| « Last Edit: Jan 27th, 2004, 12:21am by Charlie » |
IP Logged |
There is nothing more satisfying than being shot at without result---Winston Churchill
|
|
|
Turts
New Board Hall of Famer
Ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight
Gender:
Posts: 701
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #14 on: Jan 27th, 2004, 1:43am » |
Quote Modify
|
Sorry to hear of your loss.
And thank you for advising of these dangerous side effects.
Our thoughts are with you and as Sean C said, the lights here are always on.
Turts
|
|
IP Logged |
'I'm very brave generally,' he went on in a low voice: 'only today I happen to have a headache.' (Lewis Carroll)
|
|
|
Callico
New Board Hall of Famer
Proud Dad of a US Marine!
Gender:
Posts: 1395
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #15 on: Jan 27th, 2004, 1:59am » |
Quote Modify
|
I'm terribly sorry about the loss of your husband. Please believe that we feel the loss with you. To be sure it is not to the same degree, but we have become family here, and the loss of another clusterhead is felt by us all.
Thank you so much for coming on line with us and sharing your story with us. As others have said, please feel welcome to stay with us if you care to. Someone is almost always on line, or if not, give us an email or an instant message. We are here for you too.
Jerry
|
|
IP Logged |
"When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him; He turns on the right I cannot see Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold." Job23:9,10
|
|
|
Dereks_little1
New Board Newbie
I love YaBB 1G - SP1!
Posts: 2
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #16 on: Jan 27th, 2004, 12:15pm » |
Quote Modify
|
Thank you all so very much for your kindness and your support. It has been a very difficult time for me and our 8 year old daughter. We were both watched him die right in front of us. He was a truck driver and we were in a rest area when it happened.
We were together for the last 11 years, our 10 year wedding anniversary would have been in April. I always dreaded this this time of year (February) because that is always when the headaches would happen, now I dread it because he is not here. I always thought it was so hard seeing him suffer through a cycle of headaches, but it was worse seeing him die.
As for the doctor not diagnosing the high blood pressure, I don't know why he never said or did anything. There are a few lawyers asking that same question. When he was going in for the headaches he was givin Midrin at first, then Altenilol, amytriptiline, and Ultram. None of these things really helped. Nothing ever truely stopped the cycle in its tracks.
Most of the time he would just suffer through the cycle and hope that he didn't go crazy during it. I know the doctor was wrong in 2 aspects, actually 3, he never did really do a whole lot for the headaches, he never said or did anything about the high blood pressure (I never knew any of his blood pressures until I got his medical records after he died), and his final act of negligence was telling my husband the day before he died that the reason his chest hurt was because he had bronchitis and gave him antibiotics.
The reason my husbands chest hurt was because his lungs were filled with blood from congestive heart failure from the high blood pressure. I lost my husband because this doctor let him die.
I am sorry for venting this way, I am still very sad and it hurts a great deal. Thank you again for being so kind. Christin
|
|
IP Logged |
|
|
|
Patrick_A
New Board Hall of Famer
If i could get my hands on that wascally Wabbit
Gender:
Posts: 843
|
|
Re: My husband was diagnosed with cluster headache
« Reply #17 on: Jan 27th, 2004, 12:23pm » |
Quote Modify
|
And Doctors question why their malpractice insurance is so high. Geeeesh! I hope you sue the pants off of him.
Christin, I hope you find solace here at CH.com. We will always consider you as part of our family. I wish you the very best!
Patrick
|
|
IP Logged |
Do you think that when they asked George Washington for his ID, that he just whipped out a One Dollar Bill?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
Help
Search
Members
Member Map
Login
Register
Reply
Notify of replies
Send Topic
Print
test rss