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        New Message Board Archives >> 2003 Posts >> Don't know if it is a Cluster Headache?
        
(Message started by: Im_His_Wife on Feb 19^th, 2003, 11:12pm)

Title: Don't know if it is a Cluster Headache?
Post by Im_His_Wife on Feb 19^th, 2003, 11:12pm

Hello
This is my first time here and I am hoping for some information about my husbands headaches.
I have read alot of information regarding cluster headaches but they all say the headaches last from 15 minutes to 2 hours or longer several times a day.
My husband gets them several times a day but they only last anywhere from 2 to 4 seconds that's it.
When this happens he stops dead in his track and can't move, his eye will sometimes water as well.
Does this sound like a cluster headache even though the time they last is only seconds?

Any info would be appreciated
Thank you

Title: Re: Don't know if it is a Cluster Headache?
Post by Frank on Feb 19^th, 2003, 11:26pm

There is a condition called Chronic Paroxysmal Hemicrania (CPH) that is similar to clusters, but the pain only lasts second or minutes. Several attacks per day is common.

CPH is almost always relieved by indomethacin (Indocin). If indomethacin does not help, the diagnosis of CPH is in doubt (although it still could be CPH).... so ten it could still be clusters or something else.

Title: Re: Don't know if it is a Cluster Headache?
Post by Mark C on Feb 20^th, 2003, 12:44am

A little more info.....

"PAROXYSMAL HEMICRANIAS
The paroxysmal hemicranias are a group of rare, benign headache disorders that clinically resemble cluster headache, fail to remit with standard anticluster therapies, and respond spectacularly to indomethacin. Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania (CPH) first was described in 1974, was named in 1976, and appears in the IHS classification. The first cases of CPH were characterized by multiple, short-lived, unilateral attacks that occurred on a daily basis for years without remission. With time, it became clear that not all patients experienced this chronic unremitting course; some patients reported a remitting pattern with discrete headache phases separated by prolonged periods of pain-free remissions. Kudrow et al named this pattern episodic paroxysmal hemicrania (EPH). Other patients have experienced an initially episodic course that over time evolved into the chronic nonrelenting phase."

http://www.clusterheadaches.org/library/general/ch_general.htm

Oh Yeah....WELCOME!

Title: Re: Don't know if it is a Cluster Headache?
Post by thsa/simon on Feb 21^st, 2003, 6:12pm

Welcome wife,

Please keep in mind that I am no expert, but I do have a little extra knowledge where headaches are concerned. See if this sounds familiar....

Title SUNCT Syndrome

Source CNS Drugs. 16(6):373-83, 2002.

Abstract Short-lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform headache attacks with
Conjunctival injection and Tearing (SUNCT) is a syndrome predominant in
males, with a mean age of onset around 50 years. The attacks are strictly
unilateral, generally with the pain persistently confined to the
ocular/periocular area. Most attacks are moderate to severe in intensity
and
burning, stabbing or electrical in character. The mean duration of
paroxysms
is 1 minute, with a usual range of 10 to 120 seconds (total range 5 to 250
seconds). Prominent, ipsilateral conjunctival injection and lacrimation
regularly accompany the attacks. Nasal stuffiness/rhinorrhoea are
frequently
noted. In addition, there is subclinical forehead sweating. During
attacks,
there is increased intraocular pressure on the symptomatic side and
swelling
of the eyelids. No changes in pupil diameter have been observed. Attacks
can
be triggered mostly from trigeminally innervated areas, but also from the
extratrigeminal territory. There are also spontaneous attacks. An
irregular
temporal pattern is the rule, with symptomatic periods alternating with
remissions in an unpredictable fashion. During active periods, the
frequency
of attacks may vary from <1 attack/day to >30 attacks/hour. The attacks
predominate during the daytime, nocturnal attacks being seldom reported. A
SUNCT-like picture has been described in some patients with either
intra-axial or extra-axial posterior fossa lesions, mostly vascular
disturbances/ malformations. In the vast majority of patients, however,
aetiology and pathogenesis are unknown. In SUNCT syndrome, there is a lack
of persistent, convincingly beneficial effect of drugs or anaesthetic
blockades that are generally effective in cluster headache, chronic
paroxysmal hemicrania, trigeminal neuralgia, idiopathic stabbing headache
('jabs and jolts syndrome'), and other headaches more faintly resembling
SUNCT syndrome. Single reports have claimed that carbamazepine,
lamotrigine,
gabapentin, corticosteroids or surgical procedures may be of help.
However,
caution is recommended when assessing any therapy in a disorder such as
SUNCT syndrome, in which the rather chaotic and unpredictable temporal
pattern makes the assessment of any drug/therapeutic effect per se a
particularly difficult matter. [References: 56]

simon