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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
        
(Message started by: kevinpix on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:19pm)
Title: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by kevinpix on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:19pm
I heard that most start in their thirties and grow out of it in their sixties.  The more I read, the more I begin to wonder.  Is there an age when this begins exactly??  Thanks for your input.  Kevin
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by frizzle on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:21pm
I started about 17.  

At least that's the first memory I have of what I now know is a CH- of sitting in spanish class feeling like I should be bashing my head into the desk but just crying because I thought I was going to die.  

I'm 36 now and get cycles every 3 years.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by georgej on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:27pm
Thirteen.  I'm 52 now.

They've always been seasonal--twice a year for twenty years, then once a year for ten years.  The last three cycles have been three years apart.

I don't believe for a minute that I'm done with them, though.  Not any more.

Best,

George
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Karla on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:29pm
I got my first hit at age 32.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by ShaneM on Aug 1st, 2006, 12:39pm
At 17 I started getting what I thought was just bad migraines.  They were always on the same side then.  But they were very infrequent.  At 24 they became steadly episodic.  Twice a year for 6 weeks at a time.  I am 37 now and they have changed little since.

Shane
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by vig on Aug 1st, 2006, 1:22pm
I was 36... a decade ago
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Superpain on Aug 1st, 2006, 2:38pm
15
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by LeLimey on Aug 1st, 2006, 2:51pm
I was 38
My son was 3.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by kevinpix on Aug 1st, 2006, 2:57pm
Did you pass it to him or just bad odds??
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by seasonalboomer on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:05pm
kevin, there doesn't seem to be any clear statistical evidence that CH is inherited. There is however quite a bit of conjecture and anectdotal evidence that something is happening. My father has CH. I have CH. Others state the same types of stories here. A similar link is how you see Migraines seem to run in certain families.

Scott
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by headbanger45 on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:20pm
age started 32 - missed 6 years then bang last 2 years. No family history.

I've noticed - Dr.'s never admit not knowing what we have so all the uneducated ones come up with some off the wall treatment mostly used for migrains. My first doctor visits, I have enough pain killers to start dealing...
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by youngmichael on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:34pm
17 was the first year. Then it went away for a few years. 6 years ago it came back and I've had it every year since then...but last year was the mildest year so far. I'm 27 now, and I'm hoping it will be the first PF year in a long time.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Melissa on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:36pm
16
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by kevinpix on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:37pm
Yea, my doctor first said it was my teeth,  I was dumb and had most taken out, only to wear a mouth piece that sucks.  I'm 36 with dentures, how about that for sucking?  Then they thought I was having migranes,  My Mom finally went to this site and diagnosed me with chronic clusters, took the CH test, took the results to him, and the rest is history!!
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Turts on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:45pm
18
now 30
many yrs left to go


Turts
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by drivin_blind on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:47pm
I was probably 7-9. Got them very infrequently. Became chronic around 1985. I can remember my dad telling me everybody gets headaches, quit being such a baby. I knew what a regular headache was, I had them almost daily, as I still do, but nothing like the "Beast". I wished so many times he'd get one, just to spite him. Eh, he's 81 now, but every once in a while, I wish I had a cluster in a hand bag I could give him and be able to tell him to "Buck Up" everybody gets them!
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Skyhawk5 on Aug 1st, 2006, 3:47pm
Age 33,  currently 51.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by mr.c on Aug 1st, 2006, 4:29pm
I was 17 (and a half) when I started.

I am now 41.

They were first diagnosed as sinus headaches.  In my early 20ss a doctor suggested CH, but wouldn't give a definite because I didn't have insurance and he wanted me to have a CT.

A couple of years later (mid 20s), I got the "official" word.

I always hope that because I started CH "early" that they would leave earlier than normal.  One can hope. [smiley=mellow.gif]
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Ghost on Aug 1st, 2006, 4:36pm
5th grade so 10ish. Full blown hits every day at same time for a month, then was gone. again 9th grade, then back again in 11th grade.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by maffumatt on Aug 1st, 2006, 7:18pm
26
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by walkertexasranger on Aug 1st, 2006, 7:49pm
1st cycle started 1 month prior to my 19th  birthday, so 18 years old...  

36 now.  
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by BobG on Aug 1st, 2006, 10:00pm
26.

Now 59 and still get one or two KIP 4's a month. Always been eposodic. Haven't had a true cluster cycle for 7 years.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Sean_C on Aug 1st, 2006, 10:05pm
Do you fish Kev??
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by TimJohnson on Aug 1st, 2006, 11:37pm
23 - now I'm 36
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by kcopelin on Aug 1st, 2006, 11:43pm
age at on set:25, episodic for 24 years-now-at the half century mark-chronic.  
Kathy
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by jon019 on Aug 2nd, 2006, 12:17am
At 26. Started as tooth pain. Been 25 years now. I used to believe it was something to grow out of. I no longer think that. Cycle started again yesterday...

Jon
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by bluebrain on Aug 2nd, 2006, 2:27am
It started when I was 36, five years episodic then went to chronic.
Yours sincerely, bluebrain.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by unsolved1 on Aug 2nd, 2006, 2:42am
19   :-/

UNsolved
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by LeLimey on Aug 2nd, 2006, 6:20am

on 08/01/06 at 14:57:08, kevinpix wrote:
Did you pass it to him or just bad odds??


Funny, I've had the exact same accusation from CHTom.


on 08/01/06 at 15:37:15, kevinpix wrote:
Yea, my doctor first said it was my teeth,  I was dumb and had most taken out, only to wear a mouth piece that sucks.  I'm 36 with dentures, how about that for sucking?  Then they thought I was having migranes,  My Mom finally went to this site and diagnosed me with chronic clusters, took the CH test, took the results to him, and the rest is history!!


Your profile yesterday said you were 55..
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by sandie99 on Aug 2nd, 2006, 6:25am
I was 21...I'm 26 now.

From episodic to chronic to episodic... it's been quite a ride!

PFdays,
Sanna
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by starlight on Aug 2nd, 2006, 10:20am
My first hit was at 14 yrs old, currently 32.  I remember it well --I was at work during the summer--I had a job bagging groceries and all of a sudden from nowhere--bam the beast hit.  Luckily, I was naive and did not know he would continue visiting me all of these years!
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by erickthered on Aug 2nd, 2006, 12:27pm
If I remember right I was about 15 when I had my first one, 17 it started in cycles, pain free for several years, about 20 they came back, PF for a few more years, back again at 30, diag. at 33, cycles ever sence. Im 35 now. No history in the family, and pray my kids never get them. [smiley=worried.gif]
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Bond007 on Aug 2nd, 2006, 1:57pm
I was 22 in college and the doc at the Student Health Center just told me I had a sinus infection.  Yeah right!  That night I wound up in the ER in some serious pain.  The ER doc diagnosed me with migraines, which made sense since my mom had them.  I went to see her neurologist and the diagnosis just stuck.  Looking back now, that first headache was definitely a CH, not a migraine.  Although, I do have migraines, too.

I'm now 38 and only just now diagnosed with CH after years of trying slow acting migraine meds for treating CH.  No wonder nothing ever really worked very well for every headache.  Sheesh!
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by toonzboss on Aug 2nd, 2006, 2:54pm
I was 22,  42 now.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Ladybug314 on Aug 2nd, 2006, 9:27pm
Hmmm,

    Am I the oldest on the block 41/F ?  Diagnosed (7/11/06)<--not a lucky number.  I had a headache here and there in my lifetime, but nothing compares to CH..
    As I stated in another Subject I'd rather give birth with out any anesthesia than to have the pain that CH gives you. Dam I guess Im getting old, but wont let it ruin my life..
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Charlotte on Aug 2nd, 2006, 10:02pm
I have trouble thinking of this as a beast or a separate entity.  All of this, I just thought it was just me.

My hubbie, Joe, is learning a lot from this thread.  I xplained to him what "dancing with the beast", and he said he remembers me doing that, and he remembers my Grandma Galli also doing that.

I'd have to say, I'm just now meeting the beast and separating it from who I am.

Charlotte
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Aug 3rd, 2006, 2:47am

on 08/02/06 at 21:27:12, Ladybug314 wrote:
Hmmm,

    Am I the oldest on the block 41/F ?  


Nope! I'm in the Old Fart class.
49 for my first dance with the demon for about 10 - 12 weeks then nothing for 5 years, went Waltzing Matilda again for 12 weeks before turning chronic, now 57.

Barry
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by E-Double on Aug 3rd, 2006, 4:40am
I had my first clear cut cycle @ 21 while in college (I had thought it was from partying too much) though I had headaches throughout my childhood which were damn bad and untreated.

I then went a full decade having 2 cycles per year without getting diagnosed properly.

It took things going heywire for a diagnosis. Dx came June 2004. I went chronic in March 2005 and have remained in cycle now over 2 yrs.

I get a short break here and there but they always come back.

All good ;)
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Ladybug314 on Aug 3rd, 2006, 9:34am


Thanks Barry,
The oldest female here to get it at this age..Well maybe my bud Charlotte in here.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Charlotte on Aug 3rd, 2006, 9:55am
LOL.  Thanks, ladybug, Ida.  I mean I'm just now meeting the beast, per se.  I had never separated it from myself before.  Actually, separating it is very good mental hygiene.  Another tool in the old tool belt.

Charlotte
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Margi on Aug 3rd, 2006, 10:30am
Mike started CH in his late teens, and has been episodic ever since - he's 49 now.  Same pattern as some report here.  Shorter cycles, shorter remissions in the early days but now, longer cycles, longer remissions.  We think his dad may have been a clusterhead but he died young (age 51) of lung cancer that metastisized to his brain very quickly.  But, prior to the lung cancer diagnosis, Mike's mum reports that he would sit in the bedroom, head in his hands and rock in pain.  She always thought he was just faking it and trying to get away from her (which could actually be partially right, but the body language is just all too familiar).
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by rbmb on Aug 3rd, 2006, 12:17pm
I'm in the Old Fart class too....started in my late 40s and am 57 now. I'm now in the longest period of remission I've had yet since I started getting these things.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Gena on Aug 3rd, 2006, 1:51pm
Got my first cycle following the birth of my first child at 21, Was Misdiagnosed for 12 years. Now I am 36 years old.

edit to add: It happened so soon after giving birth, I thought they had done something wrong when giving me the epidural. I insisted for months to the Dr. that it was the cause.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by serendipity on Aug 3rd, 2006, 2:32pm
I clearly remember my first episode.  I was 20 years old and my doctor diagnosed it as a sinus infection, although I persistently tried to explain to him that it was not.  Finally went to a neurologist and got a correct diagnosis.  I'm 37 years old now (right behind Charlotte and Ladybug!).

Funny, I always associated these headaches as a separate entity that periodically invaded my body.  It was easier for me to deal with the headaches when I did that, probably because of my defiant nature.   ;)

We're a tough bunch, that's for sure!
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by imnotbub on Aug 3rd, 2006, 4:18pm
I know I've answered this question posted by someone before, and I can't give an exact age. But it was around seven years ago, which would make me 42 at the time. Could have been a year either way of that, and it could have been earlier, as I have had 'Serious Sinus Infections' many times previous.

Steve
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by SophiaK on Aug 3rd, 2006, 4:24pm
I got this recently from a well known MD in answer to my question, I am 71, started at 70 in December 2005.
" The truth is, although
it's unusual for cluster headache to start at your age, it's not
impossible, and in fact, by the time you get to your age, it's almost as
common in women as men!"
This totally disagrees with what 3 neuros told me this year.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by hbomb on Aug 3rd, 2006, 8:01pm
I was 29 when I got my first and I am 59 now.  Episodiic that changed from my left eye to my right eye about 6 years ago.  I am currently in a longer than ever cycle and worried. It is hard to believe but when I went to the Dr. with my first cluster I thought it was a brain tumor.  It was a very small town (Marion, Illlinois) very young Dr. who immediately said  "you have cluster headaches".  He must have been the brightest medical student in his class to hit that one on the head.
HBomb (John)
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by chtrucker on Aug 3rd, 2006, 9:17pm
 1st HA at 19 and in the navy. 53 now and cycles every 2 years.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by thebbz on Aug 3rd, 2006, 9:45pm
19 just a few years back [smiley=bag.gif]
jb
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by MJ on Aug 5th, 2006, 12:23pm
first hits at 17, major clusterhead by 19, diagnosed early 20's.
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by big_guy on Aug 5th, 2006, 8:08pm
I think it was 13.  Lucky to be correctly diagnosed by a great neuro around 16. I am 53 now. Just coming out of a 19 year remission. When I had the first hit a few weeks ago it was just like they had never left. You never forget the Beast.

Big Guy
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by roy21302 on Aug 6th, 2006, 12:54pm
I was 30 year old------------------now 60 years and they are still here some thing just don't know when they are not wanted ----do they.  I'll let you know if they go!!!HaHaHa-----------------------------------Cheers Roy
Title: Re: AT WHAT AGE DID YOU FIRST MEET THE BEAST?
Post by Sandy_C on Aug 7th, 2006, 12:58pm
53 - I'm now 60. female (we don't get CH, didn't you know?)
At 53, I guess I'm just a late bloomer???

Sandy


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