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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006-2007 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> hello
        
(Message started by: FGBD on Oct 9^th, 2006, 10:58pm)

Title: hello
Post by FGBD on Oct 9^th, 2006, 10:58pm

I am so thankful for this site!

It started 3 summers ago. I would be sitting watching TV in the mid afternoon, and BAM! i would start to get this intense headache on the right side of my face. first my right temple would start to get really thick, then my neck would start to stiffen up on the right side, then my right eye would droop, then it would almost slam shut and i would not be able to open it at all. then tears would start running down the right side of my face and i would run out of the room mumbling and go to my bedroom, where i would try to sleep it off. when i was younger, like 10-13 i used to get migraines, but migraines feel wonderful compared to these. i got these headaches about 3 or so times a week for about 6 weeks, then they just went away and i never thought much about them at all. in the last 3 years, i have had only 5-6 of them.

but recently they have come back. on thursday spet 21 i got a bad one. it (like they seemed to always do with me) lasted about 2 hours. then i got another one on friday, then saturday, and every day since then except for 2. for most of this cycle, they would hit between 1-130am and last for 1.5-2 hours and sometimes a little more. after about a week of this, i went to see the doctor who immediately recognized them as cluster headaches. at this point, i had had a shadow headache for 2 days that was there all of the time except when a CH would come on. she gave me a shot of immitrex, and 6 doses of the immitrex nasal spray (which only worked for sure one time, took about 45 minutes another time, and completely failed the other 4 times).

that night i did not get a CH and i was excited, so on saturday i went out with some friends to watch the University of Georgia football game at a restaurant. i had a few beers and after the game, went to the bar next door. within 20 minutes after arriving at the bar, i had an intense CH. i practically ran out of the bar and jumped into the backseat of my car and started rocking and thrashing around to try to ease the pain in anyway possible. a little more than an hour later, my friend came out to try to find me and she saw me rolling back and forth in the backseat of my car. she sat with me for about a half an hour, during which time she said i was talking but not making any sense. i somehow managed to blackout from the pain (it was not the alcohol, i had only had a few beers). since then i have blacked out from pain (but still been awake) one other time, and on three different occassions, i have actually PASSED OUT from the pain!

they started off coming between 1-130 am nightly, but in the last week they have become "alarm clock" headaches that have been waking me up pretty much exactly one hour after i fall asleep. it is getting increasingly hard to deal with knowing that as soon as i go to sleep, i will almost certainly wake up in an hour with the worst pain i have ever felt and be kept awake from it for at least 2 hours. i have had a shadow headache for over a week straight now, and to make matters wrose i am seriously becoming afraid to go to sleep.

i am so glad that i found this site!!! it is good to know that there are other people who are going throught the same thing, and many of you have it WAY WORSE than i do. i have spent a good deal of time on this site reading people's posts and suggestions on how to deal with the pain. i have a neurologist appointment tomorrow, and thanks to the recommendations i have seen on this site, i will be asking her for oxygen, and hopefully i will be able to report good news on the message board soon!!!

Title: Re: hello
Post by Charlotte on Oct 9^th, 2006, 11:16pm

welcome. sorry you had to find us, but glad we are here.

check out the O2 info on the left, and someone here wil proably send you a link for clustermask which helps in the O2 use for getting the most benefit.

Sorry you're here. Sorry about the blacking out pain. Did you speak of that to your Dr? Please don't drive during that stage.

nice to meet you, even under these circumstances.

Charlotte

Title: Re: hello
Post by georgej on Oct 10^th, 2006, 2:00am

Welcome.

Sorry to hear about your headaches.

Clearly, you're showing signs of being episodic. It's not unusual for episodic CH to start up the way yours did--with a few isolated hits, showing no pattern. Gradually, they often settle into well-defined cycles in which you get hit multiple times. The symptoms you're showing, right down to the nighttime hits, are very common.

I'll second what Charlotte said about investigating oxygen, especially if Imitrex is not working for you. The nasal spray is not as effective for CH as the injections. I'll defer to others to explain, since I do not use it.

If your doctor has not yet told you, please consider not drinking any alcohol at all while you're in cycle. It's a inevitable trigger for many episodics, including me. You're just asking for trouble that you don't want. The amount doesn't matter. Any at all is too much, and will trigger a hit. When your cycle has ended, it most likely will not bother you.

Again, welcome--you've found the best place on the internet for cluster headache support. The accumulated knowledge here is second to none.

Best wishes,

George