Colin.C
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Hey everyone,
I'm 30 years old and I've been getting episodic cluster headaches since I was approx 21. My episodes generally last approx 3-4 weeks. I get maybe 2-3 attacks during the day (kip 3,4,5) and 1-2 attacks at night after falling asleep (kip 7,8,9). I fear the nighttime attacks so much that I try to avoid sleeping, and when I do sleep I try and do it sitting up in bed. As you all probably know, it doesn't work.
My father also suffers from this monster, though since he hit his mid-fifties he's only gotten it once. Still, he's been a great source for me to talk to as he has 30+ years of experience with this under his belt.
I generally get my episodes at the start of the second week of November. One thing that worries me is that over the last couple of years it's been jumping around quite a bit. A few of years ago, I had my episode in August. The year after I had it in November as per norm. Then last year I had nothing at all. I personally think I missed it because of the stress of planning my wedding. Anyway, This year is the first time I've gotten it in May. This is worse than the anticipation of November because now I never know when I'm gonna get hit and if I'm going to start getting them more than once a year as I do now. My dad can't remember this happening to him.
Speaking of my dad. I remember as a little boy, waking up and seeing my dad sitting on the edge of the couch in the dark holding his head and rocking back and forth. It's kinda traumatic for little kids, or it was for me anyways.
One really frustrating aspect of cluster headaches is the fact that there are very few physical symptoms other than my really red, watery, and droopy right eye. For the amount of pain that I'm feeling, I should have something more pronounced, like an alien head popping out or something, just so people will really understand what I'm going through.
For treatment, I have the following:
1. Hot showers (I don't know why, but it sometimes aborts kip 2,3 and 4's)
2. Long walks (for the kip 7,8,9's and generally at night time thank god, because I look like i'm drunk)
3. Rocking back/forth in dark, holding area near right eye and making misc noises (when they get bad)
4. Music. (In conjunction with walking, or rocking back/forth)
5. Every year there is a different "tripan" that my doctor want me to try... none work, not even those fast acting under the tongue things... though to be fair, none of the above I've mentioned really does anything for a kip 7+
6. There is another medication my doctor prescribes to assist in reducing the frequency of my attacks, I've not used it this year because I don't really think it works.
7. I've been reading about Kudzu and Meltonin on the message boards so I went out today and bought some of each. I figure I'll take x2 tablets of Kudzu (nature's way) three times a day as recommended on the bottle and 2-3 tablets of Melatonin (wisdom of nature) 30-45 minutes before going to bed. I really hope this helps me.
A couple of things I DON'T do that I've seen some people post about are:
1. Bang my head or hit myself.
2. Consider suicide.
I'll assume that the reason I've not considered the above is because my cycles tend not to last more than a month. It may be different if I were suffering for month's on end or if I were chronic.
Has anyone else gotten really superstitious about thier headaches? For example, if I see any mention of an episodic switching over to chronic in any message board, I immediately blur my eyes and skip down the page. Also, when I'm not in cycle I try not to think about it at all, for fear of bringing it back. It's silly but I can't help it.
I'm sure there is more to say, but I feel like I'm going to get one in a minute... Can I get an episode from staring at the screen too long?..
Thank you for this site,
bye.
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