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Title: Your very first real cluster headache Post by fubar on Mar 26th, 2004, 3:50pm I know it sounds stupid, how could you know it was a cluster headache if you only had one, right? One hardly consitutes a 'cluster'... But you know what I mean... Personally, I knew the moment I had the first one that something was very wrong, that this was pain unlike anything I had ever experienced, and I had been having migraines as long as I can remember (even in elementary school) My first CH was while I was water skiing. It was a beautiful sunny day in Spring, and I was having a wonderful day on the Delta with friends. We were bbq'ing and drinking and getting ski runs in all along. We had several boats tied up and anchored while people were taking my ski boat out. I went on a run, stayed dry the whole time even though I was pulling off some pretty sick moves complete with jumping the wake and 360s and such. As I was winding it up, just about to let go and gently come to a stop, the beast siezed control of my head and my body. I froze in terror that I had just busted a blood vessel, maybe an anyurism I don't know. All I knew was I could not even twitch. I went face down in the water and was unable to move. I was somehow holding my breath, gritting my teeth, wondering how I was going to get air. Next thing I knew I was being grabbed from my backside and hauled into the boat. I spent the next couple hours in the cabin of the big boat wishing I would justy die. I had no idea how many times I would be thinking those thoughts again. It was about 10 years before I had a real diagnosis of CH. 10 years of not knowing why my life sucked. 10 years of being treated for god-knows-what-they'll-call-it today. Sinus. Migraine. CPH. whatever. So, tell us what your first encounter was like. -Fu |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Superpain on Mar 26th, 2004, 4:36pm [smiley=huh.gif] Very painful? Too long ago to remember... |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Jayne on Mar 26th, 2004, 4:46pm I was living in Miami. I was in the shower washing my hair getting ready to go out with my friend. I bent down in the shower to pick up the shampoo bottle the BAM it didn't creep up it just hit me full force like ssomeone had hit me across the left side of my head with a baseball bat. I literaly fell out of the shower suds all over my hair and ran to my room and writhed around in pain thinking to myself.."ah an ambulism I'm about to pop off" Then I wondered if this was a meegraine, as I had never had one before. I ASSUMED that was what was going on and felt so sorry for everyone I knew that had migraines. It took several more months before I went to the doc (My pupil stopped working that's why I went) and got a corrrect diagnosis. That was my first and I will NEVER forget it. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by stuey on Mar 26th, 2004, 4:51pm My first time was in the village in NYC seven years ago. I went to a bar and had two drinks. Things were not good on the homefront so sometimes I would stop and drown those problems away. Well I decided to leave and wasn't anywhere near drunk. I walk about 5 blocks when this fucking thing hits me. I didn't know what it was but that I had never felt that kind of stabbing icepick pain. I was cursing, cursing people, cursing God and I must have eaten 14 advil. Of course that does nothing for the pain. I had no idea what happened to me. I don't recall exactly how long it lasted, but far too long. Afterwards, I thought it was somehow an isolated instance until the next night I was wakened from sleep by this thing and started getting 2 to 3 a day and always waking up about the same time each night with this son of a bitch. They were still going after two months when I was finally diagnosed. I did consider dying would be better than what was happening to me. That triptans were there for me I was thankful. That others had endured these things for years without triptan drugs is beyond my comprehension. Then I happened upon this site and knew I wasn't the only one with these things. I get emotional as I'm sure everyone does when you think how they just came outta no place. I had always had bad headaches and assumed it was because of high blood pressure. Never would I have thought that this kind of pain existed or that somehow you get through them and survive them and you're not stroking out. Well this was way too long. Stuey |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by stuey on Mar 26th, 2004, 4:53pm Unfortunately, the first CH experience was more memorable than my first sexual one. That was just plain funny. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by pubgirl on Mar 26th, 2004, 5:21pm Woke up in agony, terrified, terrified, terrified. Thought I was dying. Will never forget it as long as I live. Will always have sympathy for new sufferers until they get the right treatment and until the fear abates. Wendy |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Lissa on Mar 26th, 2004, 5:26pm My first one was when I was 15 or 16. I woke up one morning before school and there it was. I don't even like to remember that day. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by echo on Mar 26th, 2004, 5:29pm Thought I'd blown an "O"ring in my head. Only took a dozen or so years to find out what the hell it was. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Karla on Mar 26th, 2004, 6:19pm I had awoke with vertigo that day and it lasted off and on throughout the day. I remember laying on the floor to start my brand new exercise program. I did one situp and bam I got floored with a cluster headache. I literally thought I was going to die. I thought if this is what exercise does to me forget it I will remain exercise free the rest of my life. lol I litterly thought it was related to the vertigo and thought i had an anurism or brain tumor. I wasted no time in getting to the dr and gettign all the serious things ruled out. But I saw my reg dr who wasn't to knowlegeable and he thought it was migraines. At that time I was just so relieved that I wasn't going to die. I hadn't quite figured out yet that I was going to be chronic and get hit 8x every day and that I would have been better off with the brain tumor. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by jonny on Mar 26th, 2004, 6:26pm I had just come back to the base camp after a week long trek to the summit of Mt Everest, I was only in the hot tub maybe 30 minutes with the Swedish bikini team when it hit. The pressure in my head was equal to that when I was scuba diving the wreck of the Titanic. All I could think of was maybe it would be as bad as when we hit re-entry coming back from the moon. My life is hell on earth ;;D .................................jonny |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by pubgirl on Mar 26th, 2004, 6:29pm on 03/26/04 at 18:19:33, Karla wrote:
Not this again. I hope you're joking Karla :'( Wendy |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Kevin_M on Mar 26th, 2004, 9:17pm I just started having them after I stopped 27 years of creative "self medication". I had heard that a gas leak can give you bad headaches so I had a friend come over with a meter. No gas leak, besides they put a smell in the gas for that purpose. Had no idea. Finally saw a doc, he mentioned migraines. I just looked and said, "NOT LIKE THIS." I described my long scientic orbit around Saturn to him and he said it was snot likely anyone would be interested in my brain out there. Then he asked me if I had ever fallen from the peak of Mt Everest. I said, "yeah, someone pushed me. I think he was planting a black flag with a scull on it." He prescribed not flicking but rather eating... Kevin M Stuck on buggars tonight. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by kim on Mar 26th, 2004, 9:22pm How the Hell would I know. I was only 12. First cluster memories are being hit while hangin at middle school - up at the tennis courst - i had to go away and let it rip....i did not tell folks about it. Could not remember FIRST cluster headache. Looking back, i can't seem to recall how it was at the very START. I was a kid. I dealt with it kinda like when you get kicked in the stomach. It takes everything away, but then life goes on. I think kids deal better with chronic pain than adults. Kids hurt 100% honest and then they just wanna play.... |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Charlie on Mar 26th, 2004, 9:50pm 1969. I think it was early August just before my 23rd birthday. A Johnny Carson rerun was on and I was sitting in my chair drinking coffee. Wham. There was no buildup. I got up and began to wear out the carpet pacing while thinking that it was over...stroke, tumor, or some other godawful thing. It was short, probably 10 minutes and didn't return for at least a week. I can't remember exactly. In 1962, I had a terrible pressure “headache” when a Allegheny Airlines pilot dropped us very fast over Newark, New Jersey. It lasted about a minute or so. Until my cluster attack 7 years later, it was unique. It was just as bad but not at all scary or debilitating like this effen thing. They lasted another 22 years until 1991 when I was 45...and no: I don't know why. Your turn folks. Jonny, so that was you then going through the first class wardrobes on deck. You probably got more stuff than I. Charlie |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Lizzie2 on Mar 26th, 2004, 10:02pm My first real cluster attack, while very memorable and eventful to ME, did not happen while doing anything interesting or exciting! It was just me, myself, and I sitting on my bed in my apartment watching some tv. A couple hours later, my friend was hauling my butt to the ER. That was last November. The attacks leading up to the first full blown cluster definately took place during some interesting things! Got a few while driving to and from campus. Never fun. And the most special ones, I'd get while figure skating. Try landing a toe loop when all the sudden you've got something stabbing you straight through the eye and into the brain. Aieee!! Those were some interesting times. One day I was practicing back crossovers, and I had to get off the ice the stabbing pain was so bad. My teacher thought I'd fallen and hit my head. Well I had done that once before, so she had reason to be concerned. And I guess i WAS acting pretty darn weird! Those initial stabbing headaches before I got full blown clusters lasted 10-20 minutes about. It's funny cuz I've been thinking a lot about my upcoming graduation and how my life has changed since coming t o college. I can remember what I was doing 5 minutes before I got my NDPH. I can remember what it was like getting through school with that, and then dealing with the clusters when they came along (although that is a more recent development!). Wow...I think I grew up a whole heck of a lot since coming to Penn State with all these experiences!! A lot more than the people who have just partied, gotten drunk, and gone to football games!! Lizzie :) |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by MarkV2 on Mar 26th, 2004, 10:29pm Quote:
Wow Charlie - I had my 2nd CH in a prop plane that depressiorized (sp?) too fast. I was asleep and woke up with a pain that felt like my brain was going to crack thru my skull. I was tearing out of my right eye uncontrollably. 1st one was on a work trip to Cinci in a suburban. Again, thought my skull was going to crack. Both were unique, and were the only ones I had each year in the early 90's. They were completely different from when I went chronic over 10 years later. Mark PS never had a normal headache (except for a hangover) in my life. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by JDH on Mar 26th, 2004, 11:32pm Not real sure about THE first but they started happening in the fall of 1985 and I was at a Motley Crue concert on Thanksgiving night...was having a good old time but then it started ramping up but I kept trying to ignore it thinking it was the volume of the music, lol. Then it quickly get's to the point of not being able to ignore it anymore so it's time for a walk and I'm thinking "WTF! this is it, I'm dying RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!!!" A night I can't forget...and I didn't even get to see the encores that night :( Jim |
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Title: unreal cluster headaches Post by Mr.Happy on Mar 27th, 2004, 12:07am It was a cold and stormy night in early November of `96. There were 7 of us, seated around the table..........out back....in the "shed." The table was covered with change and bills, the air thick and reeking of `rets, cheap pot and beer. C'mon. Your deal, Jones. I'm tryin, man, but something......my head.......right side..... Yeah. Your eye is really bloodshot, man......you OK? How the hell should I know. Gimme the bottle of Jack Daniels.......(chug chug chug chased with another beer).......phew......this ain't right, guys......... A couple of minutes later, I dropped my hand of 4 Aces (which wasn't squat......3's, 9's, dueces and one eyed jacks were wild) and navigated towards the door. You OK, Jones? HELL NO I ain't OK. Check you guys later........ and _staggered_ all 50 feet to the porch door, falling twice. Made it to the sofa. The future ex said "Wow......YOU'RE loaded", and went to bed. I rolled on the floor for however long, and woke up the next day wondering WTF. Started again the next night at about the same time......grabbed a bottle of Jack and hammered down a tall glass.......cuz that's what you DO to ease pain and all, right? (Ah, youth.......) Saw my doc the next day. "You have Cluster Headaches. Try and avoid alcohol." Got 2 Zomig tabs from him, and was told not to take more than 2 in one week. Sharp on the uptake, but a nitwit when it came to treatment. The rest is part of our shared heritage, RJ |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Tiannia on Mar 27th, 2004, 12:30am It was this summer guys. Remember I'm a noob here. lol My mother-in-law drove down and picked up my daughter to go to Oregon for 3 weeks vacation. I was stressing because Krishara had never been away from home more then one night and that was just at my friends house because hubby and I went to the company Christmas party. They left about 9am and I was just the normal paniced mother all day. Around 5 pm I got slammed. Hit me so hard I ended up in my knees. Got to the bathroom as got sick. Shaun came in and thought my blood sugar botomed out, because I was sweating and just pale as hell. Ended up just staying there sitting on the bathroom floor banging my head against the wall. A little over and hour after it started it stopped. I was exhausted and very confused. Shaun made me eat some soup and I crashed. Figured it had to be a migraine, never had them hit that hard before. Figured to big deal, sleep it off and feel better in the morning. No such luch 3am and I was right back where I started. After 2 weeks of hoping it would stop finally had my husband threaten to take me to the doctor over his shoulder, so I made an appointment. She said, "well it sure sounds like you have cluster hadaches, ut that is just not possible since you are a women." Did not realize just how ofter I would hear that phrase. >:( -Tia |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Drk^Angel on Mar 27th, 2004, 1:03am It was a dark, and stormy mid-summer's night when the gates of Hell opened up, and spit me out... Oh... Wait... Too far back... The earliest one I can remember was when I was 11. I was sitting in the school's library, lookin' at some book, when I was suddenly floored by mind numbing, teeth shattering, body trembling pain right behind my eyes. Of course... Being the innocent age of 11, without the enlightenment of experience to give me the obvious thought of "WTF?!?", the only thought immediately in my mind was "OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!". One of my friends saw me freakin' out, and helped me walk to the principal's office. Two hours of trying to push my eyes out through the back of my head with my bare hands, the principal looked at my eyes... Told me I was okay... And sent me out to catch my bus home. And they lived painfully ever after. The End. PFDAN.................................... Drk^Angel |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Root on Mar 27th, 2004, 7:40am Lets see my first real cluster headache, as opposed to my first imaginary cluster headache. Occured sometime before my second real cluster headache. If memory serves, which it usually doesn't was approximately 3:15 PM May 26, 1969 134' 27"W 44'47"N Or there abouts. Maybe, sorta, well it was somewhere in that niehborhood anyway. I think. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Elaine on Mar 27th, 2004, 8:40am I will never forget my first Cluster. I was married to my first husband a real fucking jerk. I woke up screaming. My ex got mad and slaped me. He thought I had gone nuts. I drove about three blocks to my mothers house. I don't even know how I did that without killing myself. My dad took me to the ER. By the time they saw me the cluster was gone. My nights were like that just about every night. Till I divorced the B astard. For years I blamed him I thought the abuse he put me through caused it. Hell I think I will still blame him for it :-)! |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Reese on Mar 27th, 2004, 9:12am My first cluster headache came about 8 years ago at a waterpark in Orlando,FL. I remember feeling brave and figured I would try the kamikazee? a 100ft vertical drop that rockets your body probably 40mph. As soon as I arrived at the bottom,about 5.5 seconds, I had the worst head pain I ever felt, never bumped or jarred my head just a smooth ride gone bad,I thought. It took a year or two before this type of pain came back but when it came it turned into cluster headaches. I think you know what my life has been like since. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by fubar on Mar 27th, 2004, 10:05am thanks for your stories (even you Reese :P) kinf of hard to forget for some of us |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by john123 on Mar 27th, 2004, 10:38am I don't remember particulars, something about being on the golfcourse (trespassing as a 16 yo), but I sure as hell remember the pain. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by vig on Mar 28th, 2004, 8:06am I went to my car to take a nap at lunch one day. just tilted the seat back and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I woke up as if I had been smacked on the left side of the head. I just said to myself.... What the HELL was THAT? from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds flat. no gradual start. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by t_h_b on Mar 28th, 2004, 8:41am My first attack was a few minutes before midnight. I was on a vacation that had lasted several weeks. Got up early that morning and went fishing all day and hadn't had a drop of coffee. At first I thought the headache was caused by caffeine withdrawal. As the pain got worse, I knew that something was seriously wrong inside my head and that it must be a hemorrhage because of the sudden onset. Figured I only had a few minutes left to live at the rate it was going but I was in too much pain to even try to call my family to say goodbye. I cried a lot. I was afraid because I didn't understand what was happening. But there were no apparent neurological symptoms other than the pain and it finally went away. Scared the sh*t out of me. Didn't have another attack until almost a year later and this time I didn't cry. I was with a physician during the attack and he diagnosed me with Cluster Headache because he remembered learning about "the headaches with the runny nose and watery eye" in school. The frequency of my attacks slowly escalated over a period of years until I was having two or three almost every day and decided I had to do something about it. Now I think of my life as having two phases: Pre-Cluster Headache and Post-ClusterHeadache. Before, I tried not to be too optimistic, and now, I try not to be too cynical. It took me a few days of seeing this thread before adding my story because I didn't want to think about it. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by jonny on Mar 28th, 2004, 9:37am on 03/26/04 at 21:17:55, Kevin_M wrote:
ROTFF....Kevin ;;D .......................jonny |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by catlind on Mar 28th, 2004, 10:55am Well that's a hard one to answer, since prior to the episode in 96, I had always thought it was sinuses and I was too busy partying to really pay attention. (note that during that time shrooms were my party favour of choice). In 96 I had a headache that kept on coming back and hurt like hell. After 2 weeks I went to the doc and he scolded me for waiting so long to see him. He sent me home with Tanecet (a Canadian version of feverfew) a migraine journal and fiorinol c 1/2's (c = codeine). After another 3-4 weeks they just stopped so I didn't go for the MRI or pay any attention to them again. In 97 my life turned extremely stressful, and I didn't get another episode of the headaches until early 98. Then they went away, again very very stressful time in my life. They reappeared as the migraines I was told they were, in 2000, 4 months after my 3rd child was born. I got a definitive diagnosis in 2002/2003. June of 2002 an ER doc told me what they were, I found ch.com and I went to Walter Reed Army Medical center where a neuro there gave official diagnisis in Jan. 2003. And here I am today, still searching for a way to control these damn things. Cat |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Superpain on Mar 28th, 2004, 1:26pm This morning... I just learned that all those other headaches were just a warmup for this mornings headache. I'm pretty sure it also made me develop Turrets syndrome, and my dogs won't come anywhere near me. Is this what it's supposed to be like? |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by krock23 on Mar 28th, 2004, 1:42pm My first one was in 1978. Just sitting in my bedroom watching TV. Thought sure I I had a brain tumor. Unfortunately for me I got 3 every day for the next 18 years. But I still remember the first one. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by fubar on Mar 28th, 2004, 4:06pm on 03/28/04 at 13:26:49, Superpain wrote:
Now ain't that the truth... I remember feeling like that almost every time. Groundhog Day effect. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by 5-string on Mar 28th, 2004, 4:25pm I was sitting down to eat dinner and bam. I got up and thought lying down would help. After pacing around my bedroom,pulling my hair out I went to the bathroom. I honestly thought I was dying. I remember thinking "My god,so this is what it's like to dye from a brain hemorage." About an hour and a half later it lifted and I took a shower and for the rest of the night I felt like someone had just kicked my ass. The next morning it happened again. I went to the doctor and he gave me Vicoprofen.(In case you're new here,Vicoprofen does'nt work.) It took 5 years to find out what I've got. Untreated, this condition really SUCKS! ....Mark.. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Jimmy_B on Mar 29th, 2004, 7:00am I wish I could remember what I was doing when I got hit the 1st. time...but I don't. I do remember I was about 15y/o & had just given up eyeglasses for contact lenses. I must have went to the optometrist 20 times. I thought it had something to do with the contact lenses. I do remember could handle the pain a lot better back then. The funny part is...I got my diagnosis from the National Enquirer [smiley=huh.gif]. I remember seeing an article that read something like..."Hot Peppers cure the agony of Cluster Headaches". It went on to say how if you stuff capsaicin up your nose it could help Clusters. So I finally realized what I had. PS...This was before triptans, so 1st I went to the chemist's & got some capsaicin & put a bunch up my nose (ARGHHHHHH). Then I went to the Doc & asked for ergotamine. He wouldn't let me take it due to my stomach...oh well. Jimmy |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Turts on Mar 29th, 2004, 7:34am Christmas eve 1993 I was sinking piss while cooking a bbq at our beachside holiday house. Within minutes of feeling the intense stab of the eye, I was inside locked away in my room rocking on the edge of the bed weeping. I mother came in to see what was happening and i couldnt answer, I couldnt say a word. An hr later I was fine and I was trying to eat the sausages I had let burn on the bbq. 6yrs later i got diagnosed correctly and anyone who knows me and when I am getting hit stays the hell away. Quote:
I been told that when in cycle I am a completely different person. Almost like I have Turret. I tell people in the most dirrect way possible to knidly leave me to me own devices. i.e. F@#$ off Turts |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Jeepgun on Apr 1st, 2004, 2:37pm My first one happened about four years ago, I think... I was awakened out of a sound sleep by a pain in my right eye like someone stabbing me with a screwdriver. I sat bolt-upright in bed and screamed, "GODDAMNEDm*th*rf**k**gSONOFABITCHIN sleeperFUCKINGBASTARD!!" (and a few words even worse than THAT!) My wife awoke and looked at me like I had lost my mind. She flipped on the light and saw my rocking back and forth, the heel of my hand grinding into my right eye, a stream of the vilest swearwords EVER pouring out of my mouth... She yelled, "What's wrong!?" I raised my head and she saw my right eyelid hanging at half-mast and it freaked her out. I told her that it must be sinuses, and I thought it was too. I spent the next few years buying GOBS of sinus medication. The headaches began getting closer and closer in frequency and longer in duration, hitting me every autumn and lasting until mid-winter. Finally, I went to see my doctor who sent me for an MRI and a CT scan. Nothing conclusive was found. I began having them again, just a few weeks ago, for the first time I've ever had them in spring, and this time, they are utterly excrutiating, and rather than lasting 15-20 minutes, they are now lasting 30-40 minutes. I made an appointment with a neurologist and he put me on Depakote. So far, it seems to be doing the trick. I've done everything from biting on stuff, banging my head, pressing on my eyeball so hard that it's amazing that it hasn't exploded, accupressure, herbal pillows that I would leave in the freezer, refrigerated saline nosedrops, Tylenol, Motrin Sinus Relief, Advil, Aspirin, and even Midol. Nothing helps at all... So far, the only thing that has helped has been the Depakote. *sigh* |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by john123 on Apr 1st, 2004, 5:02pm Quote:
been there man, i thought the same thing, sinus headache |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Roxy on Apr 1st, 2004, 6:04pm Woke up one morning around 5:30....sounds a little tame to say 'woke up'....more like I came up out of bed screaming pretty good and holding my head. Usually you don't get sympathy in our house unless there are mass quantities of blood or a bone showing, but my husband actually took me serious. He said later, that anything that got me out of bed at that hour had to be taken seriously. That morning was my only trip to the ER for a ch. By the time we drove the half hour into town, it was winding down somewhat, and just raw feeling by the time the doctor saw me. The doctor asked me if it was throbbing, I said no, he said...."Well, it's not an aneurysm, so you're not going to die." Then he gave me a big shot of something, and sent me out the door. Been chronic since that first morning. |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by TxBasslady on Apr 2nd, 2004, 12:19am January 2002. I was alone at the lakehouse.....woke up at 2:30 a.m with the worst pain I had ever had. I honestly thought I was gonna die. I attempted to write a note to my husband explaining the pain I had and also noted the time. Next morning, I shit canned the note thinking I must have had a bad dream. Spent the day on the lake fishing, a bit tired, but not in any pain. Went to bed that night.......2:30 a.m., I got hit again. Dug the note from the trash, took some ibuprofen and attempted to sleep. After a short time, the pain was gone. Went a long time before I had another. Then it was sporadic hits. 1 a week, then maybe 2. Always 2:30 or so in the a.m. Got on the net and found CH.com. I read on the board for a year and 1/2. Last year, the hits came closer together.....and the pain level was unbearable. Went into a full blown cycle last summer......signed up on the board, and joined OUCH. Jean |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by brain_cramps on Apr 2nd, 2004, 6:20am Jan 83 I was sitting in class at college when it felt like I caught a steel-toed boot in the side of the head. I picked up my coat and immediately headed for the door. I didn't stop to pick up my books, knocked over 2 desks on the way to the door, and had 2 very choice words for the prof when he asked me where I thought I was going. I tried to walk home in sub-zero temperatures but ended up sitting at a bus-stop screaminig inside and wondering "WTF can hurt THIS bad?!!!" Within about an hour, the pain had subsided and I headed for home. Later on, after having supper, I fell asleep on the couch while watching a hockey game and guess who came for an encore performance... I got my ass into the ER and had them fill me full of demerol and I was able to sleep for a few hours. After a couple of sporadic hits, I was pain-free for about a year. When they started again, I saw my doc, was referred to a neuro, and diagnosed first try. seems like a million years ago but I remember it like yesterday, grant |
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Title: Re: Your very first real cluster headache Post by Gator on Apr 2nd, 2004, 2:24pm My first hit me (late November 2003) while watching CSI with the better half. We always watched the CSI and Law & Order shows together and commented on the plot and correlations to real life happenings and such. Anyways, all of a sudden I got hit with a pain, felt like someone snuck up behind me and drove a butcher knife through my skull just behind my right eye and above my right temple. I went stiff, grabbed the arms of my chair and screamed out in agony. The wife screamed (she spooks easily) and asked what was wrong. I couldn't answer her, just sat there banging my head on the back of my chair, deep breathing and trying to not to use every profane word I had ever learned. For the next 6 or so weeks I got hit every night at about the same time. I went to my doc who immediately diagnosed "Cluster Headaches" and started experimenting with different drugs. Tried different combinations of Relpax, Fioricet, Naproxen, Ibuprofen and Aspirin. The cycle ended before he found anything that actually worked. I went the next 2 weeks thinking, "Whew, that sucked. Glad it's over!" On a Saturday morning about two weeks later I was sitting on the living room floor playing with my grand daughter. My oldest son was away on training with the Army and my wife and daught-in-law were out "Garage Saling" My 2 younger sons were out in the yard and the barn doing chores so it was just me and the grand daughter. I had just changed her diaper and was fixing to pick her up when nothing like I had ever felt in my life hit me upside the right side of my head. The pain I felt was more intense than any of the headaches I had during the six weeks cycle before. While they hurt like hell and made me bang my head and curse, they never made me cry. This new pain had me sitting on the floor screaming and crying, pushing in on my right eye. No doubt all this scared the baby, so she started crying. I must have picked her up and just rocked her along with my self. When the boys came back in the house, they were freaked. They had never really seen me cry, at least not like this. I had them take the baby and I retreated to my bedroom where I finished out the attack. I've had a constant background headache with 3 - 5 x per day major attacks ever since. MRI showed nothing. Doc sent me to neuro. Neuro has been trying since Feb, has tried a few things, but instead of experimenting with my head and a bunch of drugs that might or might not work, he is sending me to a "Headache Specialist." Ever feel like the buck that didn't stop anywhere? |
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