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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006-2007 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> how does a cycle end?
        
(Message started by: octobermay on Oct 6^th, 2007, 4:09pm)

Title: how does a cycle end?
Post by octobermay on Oct 6^th, 2007, 4:09pm

hi,

i finally got an appointment with a neurologist, but its 2 months away? i have had this headache for 8 weeks now and it pretty much seems like CH. if i have CH, then this is my first cycle and i was wondering how the cycle ends. does the headache(shadows?) go away suddenly or slowly fade away? this headache is taking everything out of me and the never ending always there feeling is starting to depress me especially since NOTHING helps and i feel trapped in pain, so thinking of the end will be something positive for me to look forward to. thank you.

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by DennisM1045 on Oct 6^th, 2007, 4:40pm

Hi,

I've never heard of a shadow that lasted 8 weeks. I've had them persist at differing levels for as much as two weeks but that is rare. What you describe sounds like constant pain. Cluster headaches come and go in no more than a few hours at the most.

Have you taken the cluster quiz in the panel on the left? Treating another condition like a cluster headache can be dangerous. I just want to make sure you are barking up the right tree.

-Dennis-

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by DennisM1045 on Oct 6^th, 2007, 4:45pm

I just went back and re-read your first post. Assuming you have CH the cycle ends when the pain stops for two weeks.

Could you be having rebound headaches from other meds you are taking? That is not uncommon with OTC meds.

I hope you get a break soon.

-Dennis-

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by Sometimes on Oct 7^th, 2007, 9:08am

For me, my hits get down to 1 a night and then all of a sudden they'll stop. I don't count it being over though until I've had at least a week with no attacks. But that's just me. :-/

Good luck!

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by MR_FLOOR on Oct 7^th, 2007, 9:43am

on 10/06/07 at 16:40:45, DennisM1045 wrote:

I agree with Dennis make sure you are treating the rite condition first and formost.

Dave

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by CostaRicaKris on Oct 7^th, 2007, 12:19pm

I recommend starting a headache diary. Is it really the same headache lasting 8 weeks, or is it coming and going at different levels of intensity and different types of pain? The diary will help you answer that question and also will help the doctor to properly diagnose you.

Good luck to you. Nuts that they can’t see you any sooner.

~Kris

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by MvT on Oct 7^th, 2007, 2:15pm

http://symptoms.webmd.com/symptomchecker

might be worth a try as well....

or google ch wiki

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by Lotus on Oct 7^th, 2007, 9:27pm

My husband had his first cycle last year and it just didnt seem to want to stop. In fact it went on for 8 months. Since it was his first cycle we had no idea how or when it would stop.

I came to the Board asking your same exact question and I was told that it is different for different people. The common thing though is that either it would go out with a "bang" ie a really really bad hit like a kip 10 following by nothing, or it would slowly dwindle down in both the number of attacks and the intensity of each attack. Most people wouldnt consider the cycle completely gone before 2 whole weeks of no symptom though.

For a while we were hanging out desperately for any sign that the cycle was ending. We had our hope up each and everytime there were some changes to the pattern. However there was much disappointment to have too with such expectation. Every time he had a kip 9 or 10 we would pray that it was the last, only to be crushed by the next one !

In the end, we just got sick of trying to figure it out. The people of the Board has taught us that the only common denominator for CH is its ability to morph on you! So we stopped guessing and waiting and just carried on with our lives, it would stop when it wanted to. Heck ! It did stop soon after that ! Murphys laws I guess ::)

Take care and painfree wishes to you. I hope you get your headaches diagnosed properly soon and that if you indeed have CH, I pray that the cycle will end itself pronto.

Annette

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by seasonalboomer on Oct 7^th, 2007, 10:42pm

it just does... for me it almost becomes like a "watched pot never boils". Spending too much time obsessing about it makes the time seem longer. Focusing on how to get most out of the time you don't have CH when in cycle is more productive, and then suddenly you realize you've gone a couple or few days without a hit...and it's just gone...till next time.

Scott

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by George_J on Oct 8^th, 2007, 10:13am

As Annette pointed out, we're all different.

Mine go with a whimper, not a bang.

I'm a very consistent, clockwork episodic, with cycles that last 6-8 weeks. Past the midpoint, the attacks begin to diminish in frequency and intensity, until I'm only shadowing. When I've gone 7 days without a hit or a shadow, I do the beer test.

If I pass, it's over.

I agree with the others--there are things you are describing that sound inconsistent with CH, but I am not a doctor. Whatever it turns out to be, I hope that you receive appropriate treatment that helps--head pain is no picnic, no matter what's causing it.

Best wishes,

George

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by octobermay on Oct 8^th, 2007, 3:57pm

HI everyone,
thank you so much for responding. 1st, I do understand that i might not have CH, and i wont be positive until i am diagnosed by a doctor. I have tried a lot of things to get rid of it, but nothing specific to CH - ive tried ibuprofen, tylenol, benadryl sinus, magnesium, excedrin migraine, and my dr precribed prednisone to see if that would help, but it didnt. i am not going to treat it like CH until i am positive thats what i have. it just takes forever to get an appontment and drs dont have an answer yet, and i seem to be getting somewhere doing the research myself.

This headache has been going on for 8 1/2 weeks now, but not constant, it comes and goes at different intensities, the same times every day. i dont really have to look at the clock, because i can usually tell what time it is by how i feel. if i dont have it before i fall asleep, i am guaranteed to wake with a headache. headaches do wake me up feeling like my head is going to explode. inbetween headaches, there is just a feeling there that something is still there. (i think thats why is seems like its all the time even though its not). i did the cluster quiz and for the first Qs 1-8 were 7 nos and 1 yes, the second half were 7 yes and 1 no. at times it feels like a sinus infection, but i have already been told 3 times by different drs that it definately isnt. but it also feels like its not because it is more around my left eye and temple and my head above it. during a headache it feels like a chunk of my head is on fire, as a horn is trying to grow out, as piece of my head is sliding off the rest of my head (thats the best way i can describe it.)
for the last couple of days, i havent really had a headache. i get them but they dont last too long anymore and the intensity is less than the begining of the whole thing, then i am pain free. they are still at the same times. if i have CH maybe this is the end of the cycle. i will try starting a headache diary, so have something to bring with me to the neurologist in 2 months. Thank you so much.

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by TomM on Oct 8^th, 2007, 4:45pm

Key point, IMHO, is do you have pain in and around the eye socket and the bone? If not, you most likely are dealing with another ailment. IMHO. I, like others on this board, am not a doctor but have dealt with CH for many, many years.
Keep your appointment with the neurologist. You need to have a prefessional give you a thorough exam.
Lastly, for me my cycle fades away [ I am eposodic] much like it began with fewer and fewer CH's and Shadows.
TomM

Title: Re: how does a cycle end?
Post by octobermay on Oct 8^th, 2007, 6:22pm

hi, yeah, my pain is definately around my eye socket. and i think probably in my bone because my jaw hurts like i was grinding my teeth or something, but i know i wasnt.