Hi. I've suffered from clusters since I was a teen (now 42) and thankfully I've got it easy compared to some of you. I'd say I'm definitely episodic and relatively minor in comparison to others. Just got over a very minor one.
That being said, I have a problem with the one of the frequent symptoms being restlessness/the need to walk. I see this associated with clusters everywhere and while that may be common, I don't think it's defining. When they occur for me there will be no walking around.  There may be thrashing and there's certainly going to be rubbing and various positioning in a desperate attempt to make it go away, but walking is never going to happen during the peak time. Also, while I never come close to vomiting, there are tinges of nausea during an episode and well, eating is just unthinkable anyway.

I know it's probably likely that the majority of sufferers DO experience the need to move about more, but I just want to state that it's not true with me.

I'm the same way. I've never been a pacer. I curl up on the bed or the floor and do the "bicycle kick" with my feet. It's a very common trait to be restless and pace around, but not an absolute.

Joe

I was a rocker.  Sat in a chair and rocked back and forth.

I live in the northern climes and find pacing helpful...if it's freezing and I go outside.  Mostly I've come to believe that the pacing I did when the beast was a new visitor was simply because I didn't know what else to do.  Trying to think about what to do and it profoundly impossible to have a logical thought.  That was when I had no dx, no tx, no friggin' idea what was happening.  Heck, maybe I just didn't want to die lying down.  I will walk a bit now, but mostly I kneel when it gets to that algorithmic and magical last digit of Kip's scale.  Once I pass 9, I change the scale...just so I never reach a ten.  I don't think I could bear the thought of reaching a ten and then wondering if they could actually be worse. 

Rambling.  Three episodes last night.  No wonder sleep deprivation is such a good torture.

TJ

It seems that everyone has their own version of the "dance", possibly with a few personal variations according to the Kipp number. For me it can be laying face down on a bed or the floor, just constantly moving around or possibly half sitting, half crouching on the floor, just rocking.

Relieved to hear there are others who don't walk as well.

My feet are always restless but especially during an episode. Paid special attention to that today when the visit came. I will, however do ANYthing that occurs to me to make it better and I'll often find myself hanging my head upside-down off the bed and contorting my position in unusual ways. As I mentioned, I'm luckily having mild ones right now and it's been well over a year since they've been back.  My worst ones did bring screams/whimpers, headbangs and a general wish for death relief during the worst moments.  But thankfully, I haven't seen that caliber in years.

Another Michigander here. Many years ago I would pace, scream, hit myself etc. In fact in 1989 I went out the front door screaming, after I came back in the house the Sheriff showed up.

Now I go to my CH room and drop to the floor & sit Indian style until the hit is over. Trying not to move.

Don                                 

I was curious as to what other people did during a hit and watched some videos on YouTube.  It was like watching a horror movie and darn near had a panic attack because I know that feeling all to well.

I usually begin by lying still, usually with my eye planted in the corner of the pillow, but that lasts maybe 5 minutes.  I rock back and forth, smash my eyeball and put pressure on various parts of my head.  Sometimes I find walking around helps a little.

As so many of my hits have occurred at work, I've developed a pretty low-key ritual. Don't wanna scare the "normies"  :D

I hide in the corner near the bathroom, one of few spots left to stand in our crowded workspace.  My left hand will be clamped to my leaking left eye, and I may be facing the wall as if to ram my head through it.  If it's bad enough, there may be tiny surprised gasps...quiet expressions of shock, I guess.  All of this in a space about 1 foot square.

So no, I don't need to move a lot.  But given the space and privacy, I'd run a marathon to get away from this pain in my head.

I rock back and forth and rub my head and neck during an attack.

Personally, I don't see the difference.  You say you don't feel the need to walk...but you also state you thrash around and need to re-position yourself.  Others need to rock or bicycle kick. Still others, do something else. (we are not called head-bangers for no good reason)  That is my my mode of dealing with it along with pacing and rocking.
It doesn't seem to matter...we are all having the need to move in SOME way.  Dr. Peter Goadsby, who has spoken at many of our conventions told us this..."when a cluster headache presents itself, there is absolutely NO WAY you can NOT move around"

(For those who don't know, Dr. Goadsby is one of the  pre-eminent neurologists in the country who has advocated for us.)

Those who say they sit absolutely still, or lay down quietly would be torture to the majority of us. This kind of headache is NOT migraine where they HAVE to lay still.   

Glancing through the replies above it does seem that most people exhibit some kind of 'movement behaviour' during an attack. What form that takes seems to vary from one person to another, but pacing seems quite common, and rocking and banging etc also fairly common. Staying completely still seems uncommon, but would be interested to hear from more people on that one.

Personally I pace, and the stronger the pain the faster I go. However in some circumstances I can adopt some other form of movement, or even suppress it if need be. For example, when I am using oxygen I just sit in a chair, but tend to be somewhat agitated, possibly standing up then sitting again, then standing, then sitting etc (as opposed to just sitting quietly). I got a reasonably severe HA (around K-7) while in a conference surrounded by 4000 people. I quietly slipped a Maxalt wafer into my mouth and stayed relatively still for the 30 min it took to go away. I doubt the people sitting beside me would have realised something was wrong. It wasn't easy though!

Fighting the anxiety and agitation from a full blown CH attack has caused me to do all of the above and more. Some of this I'll call knee jerk reactions. It was impossible to avoid.

Over time I realized some of my reactions made the pain worse and extended the attack. Such as raising my blood pressure. I still pace during heavy shadows and pre-attack. This makes my wife very nervous and is one more reason I try to avoid these reactions.

The statement in the movie Platoon, "take the pain!", comes to mind. So I learned to rock as little as possible during hard attacks as each movement makes the pain spike for ME.

This is MY way, I can't ask or expect anyone else to just "take the pain".

Don

Besides what I said above I do....I also move from room to room the whole time, i'll stay in one room for probably a few minutes and then I go to another room. 

I believe this was why my husband was not diagnosed sooner.  He would punch and squeeze himself in the head, cry and yell on the way to the ER...but once there, he tried to keep himself all together.  As he would be sitting UPRIGHT fully or actually leaning forward a bit, (no laying back at all) his eyes closed, his head leaning into his right hand in the temple eye area, usually fingers of that hand were poking into his head wherever they were positioned.  They would give him pain meds....and if he spoke, usually was very short.  He really gets agitated which is one of the beginning signs for me if we are in public.The nurses would come in and ask how he was doing.  I would tell them he was still having pain...how did I know?  His feet!!! They never stopped moving!! It may even seem like he is asleep from all the meds, but his feet still were going!  If he had to move, he would grip on things so tightly, cause his eyes are usually shut.  Light sensitive, slight nausea, and NO eating during a hit for sure.  Sometimes not until quite a while afterward. He does NOT prefer total quiet though.  The TV or music that he likes on.  I think it helps him to try and focus on something other than the pain. 

Personaly for me I try to act normal, until it gets bad then I go away from people and do my normal odd stuff. I just dislike that people assume that Im mad at them or don't like them cuz I took off.

I think someone on the boards mentioned a Japanese study a while back, seemed to mention that they are much more reserved during attacks on the whole. I believe there is definitely a tendency to want to move in some way during an attack. But I also believe it is possible for a person to learn to control even the worst of worst pain... if that weren't so, we would not have stories of Civil War soldiers undergoing surgery with zero anaesthetics.  Yes, it CAN be learned.  No, it is NOT easy nor even desired, in a modern world with access to modern medicine.

AppleNutClusters wrote on Jul 17^th, 2012 at 10:29pm:

But I also believe it is possible for a person to learn to control even the worst of worst pain... if that weren't so, we would not have stories of Civil War soldiers undergoing surgery with zero anaesthetics.

Amputations were accompanied by opium derivatives, like laudinum. Limbs were removed without the use of anesthesia only when none was available, and many died as a result of what they called "limb removal shock." Heck, my mother-in-law grew up during WWII Germany, and had to endure tonsil removal without anesthetic. Contemplate that for awhile!

While I suspect we can endure a great deal more than we want, I also believe Don is correct: it isn't just the pain causing the the need to move, but the growing panic and anxiety accompanying the attack. The other day, while I was aborting a hit with O2 and rockin' back and forth, I had the thought perhaps I was trying to run away from the hurt. Same idea as Don mentioned. Blessings. lance

It depends.  Sometimes I can simply sit and rock and make pathetic little noises.  At other times, I've been known to go walkabout.

During my last cycle, I had one of the hits in an unfamiliar space, and wandered around banging into things.  Broke the middle toe on my right foot.  Didn't even feel it at the time.  It would probably not be a good thing to get hit when I'm out in the boonies somewhere, because I don't pay any particular attention to where I'm going.  I can't say that's ever happened, for whatever reason.  Probably a good thing.

Best,

George