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(Message started by: janny on Mar 28^th, 2002, 9:33pm)

Title: Newbie
Post by janny on Mar 28^th, 2002, 9:33pm

Can anybody tell me how long these episodes typically last? My husband has had what he thought were bad sinus headaches for a couple of weeks now, but the last two nights he has been in agony, and I think he is having CH. In a way, I am relieved to know what the problem is, but I am also scared to death by what I am reading here.

The dr. gave him some Migraine meds, but we can't tell if they are working. He starts to get relief after about 30 minutes, and is asleep again in about an hour. This hits every night between 10:30 and 11:30 p.m.

I'm feeling so helpless, looking for anything that can help!

Title: Re: Newbie
Post by Jayne S. on Mar 29^th, 2002, 1:02am

Hi Janny, First things first. To know if your husband has CH you have to know the symtoms. First, extreme pain on one side of the head. Frequently accompanied by tearing of the eye, running or blocked nose, changes in pupil of the affected side and sweating. My husband has had CH for 14 yrs. His cycles last from anywheres from 1 month to 3 months. Most of his headaches start about an hour after he goes to sleep. It wakes him right up and is in a full flegged CH. Some of his headaches start at different times. He always knows because he gets alot of "pressure". The pressure is behind the eye and nostril of the affected side. He tells me it feels like, at times, someone is jamming an icepick into his scull behind the affected eye. He tells me that his scull feels bruised at times.The only thing that aborts the headache for him is Imitrex injections. He also takes Verapamil which he takes everyday as a preventative. He also is put on Prednisone, a steroid, that he has to be weaned off of. What kind of doctor is your husband seeing? He needs to see a neurologist. When he goes to the neurologist he needs to bring with him paperwork on CH. Some of these doctors seem not to even know what it is. If you have anymore questions please feel free to respond I'll help you the best i can. also there are alot of very knowelgeable people on this site. I'm sure you'll find you answer. Jayne S.

Title: Re: Newbie
Post by janny on Mar 29^th, 2002, 9:23am

Thank you Jayne. Actually, I spent a good part of my day yesterday going through this site, and my husband does have the symptoms you mentioned. I now believe he has had something similar in the past, (every July) but never as severe. The other day he went to our family doctor for what he thought was a sinus infection--a very bad "sinus headache" that was getting progressively worse over two weeks. That night was his first really bad episode. Fortunately, the doctor had realized he was having Migraines, and had prescribed Maxalt which started to help after about 30 minutes. She also put him on an antibiotic for sinus infection. But now I am wondering if he ever had a sinus infection at all. We will see!

Last night wasn't quite as bad, so I am hoping that maybe the worst is over. We are supposed to revisit the doctor in two weeks, but I think I may call sooner.