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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004-2005 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> Hi! I just found this site
        
(Message started by: joyce_a on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:17pm)

Title: Hi! I just found this site
Post by joyce_a on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:17pm

I have been suffering from Cluster Headaches for many months. I finally went to the doctors and he told me that it normally happens in men.. I have had an MRI and other tests done over the past month.. Right now my only relief from these horrible headaches is wearing a neck brace to bed at night..

I read the first couple of letters when I opened this site up and could not believe that I was experiencing the same pain as others. I thought that I was alone and that NO ONE understood what kind of HORRBLE pain I was having...

I will continue to monitor this site now that I know that it is here!

Thanks

Title: Re: Hi! I just found this site
Post by Bob_Johnson on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:26pm

Glad you found us. Explore the buttons on the left, including the OUCH site, for information.

Suggest you get either the second or third book. You will get a coherent understanding of treating cluster from either one of them.

HANDBOOK OF HEADACHE MANAGEMENT, 2nd ed., Au. Joel Saper, MD, 1999, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. A highly condensed volume for doctors but good for "advanced" clusterheads who have a grasp of medical terminology and medications. Covers all types of headache with the section on cluster being brief. Sections on general considerations in treatment and on medications are important.

MANAGEMENT OF HEADACHE AND HEADACHE MEDICATIONS, 2nd ed. Lawrence D. Robbins, M.D.; pub. by Springer. $49 at Amazon.Com. This volume is better organized and easier to read for nonprofessionals compared to Saper's book. 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.

Title: Re: Hi! I just found this site
Post by BobG on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:28pm

Hi joyce, welcom to the board.
When your doctor said these normally happen to men I hope he didn't mean you don't or can't have clusters. If that is what he meant then he doesn't know much about clusters. Yes, more men seem to have clusters but if you stay at this site very long you'll see that women do indeed get clusters.
Did your doc prescribe any meds? Abortives like imitrex or preventative such as verapamil?
The neck brace for relief is a new one to me. It sounds harmless and if it works go for it.

Title: Re: Hi! I just found this site
Post by joyce_a on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:50pm

Hi BobG!

I have only been to the doctors twice since this has happened.. He thought that it was strange that I was having them cuz they normally happen in men.. I don't think that he meant that I wasn't having cluster headaches. He hasn't prescribed anything for me yet. The reason that I am wearing the neck brace is that he also thinks that I have a pinched nerve in my neck.. I had no idea that there was so much to learn regarding these headaches and after reading some of the posts to find out that I will have to live with them the rest of my life bothers me.. I guess that I have a LOT to learn..

Thanks for the response and I will be sure to come to this site on a regular basis.....

Title: Re: Hi! I just found this site
Post by thomas on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 12:52pm

on 02/23/04 at 12:50:34, joyce_a wrote:

He thought that it was strange that I was having them cuz they normally happen in men..

I'm so sick of hearing that.......... Women DO get ch, a lot more that your doctor thinks, tell him to get his head out of his ass, and wake up.

Title: Re: Hi! I just found this site
Post by Charlie on Feb 23^rd, 2004, 1:25pm

Welcome aboard but sorry you had reason to find this place. If you stick around you'll find good ideas and ways to deal with this horror. Lots of support and craziness too.

You might look into these...The first being a technique that worked for me:

http://www.netsync.net/~charlies/[url]

This next one is to a letter written by a fellow cluster headache sufferer that is the best of its kind to help explain these attacks to families, friends and employers. Its author encourages copying. It’s well worth it.

[url]This next one is to a letter written by a fellow cluster headache sufferer that is the best of its kind to help explain these attacks to families, friends and employers. Its author encourages copying. It’s well worth it.

"http://www.ouch-uk.org/ch/note_colleagues.cfm"

Good luck and let us know how things are going.

Charlie