Hey peeps, the real name's Ray.

I started getting cluster headaches the winter of when I turned 19, I'm 21 now. I get them almost exclusively from noon to 1:30 PM. I waited about year until I was diagnosed because they never happened to me during the summer. Fall, and spring is a different story. My doc put me on imitrex(sumatriptan) pills, and it seems to work as long as I take it as soon as I feel the onset. Takes about 20 minutes for it to digest and kick in, so I still get the brunt of the hit.

I'm glad to have found this website.

Hey there Ray

It's good that you got a successful diagnosis for the alarm clock headaches. Some of us were undiagnosed for a decade or more.

Sumatriptan does work remarkably well to abort cluster headaches. The only problem is the delivery method. As you've noticed,  it takes the tablet 15-20 minutes to kick in if you're lucky. If you're not, it may take 45 minutes to an hour, or even sit in the stomach without being absorbed until after the attack finishes on its own.

Consider getting oxygen - it aborts attacks quickly and is about as safe as any treatment can be (it's oxygen after all). It's the first line abortive for the majority of experienced clusterheads.

Since sumatriptan has proven to work, see if you can get your hands on the injection (first choice) or the nasal spray (distant second). They both work faster than tablets and aren't affected by the nausea which some people get with severe CH attacks.

Isn't a peep a red or yellow marshmallow thingie?  ;)  Glad you found something that worked. We're big fans of O2 and energy drinks here, too. Have you tried those? blessings. lance