I was wondering how everyone deals with the effects of CH at the workplace.  I'm in the Army, and have been for 15 years, and my immediate supervisors have been extremely understanding.  But as this continues into the second month of this cycle, and the second cycle in a year, I can see them unhappy with the impact.  I'm also worried about my continued service in the Army.  Having to keep an O2 cylinder close by at all times severely limits my ability to fulfill certain military specific requirements, and limits the locations they can send me. And the many side effects of Topomax and other preventatives doesn't help in a job that requires the ability to deal with stressful situations and be able to make decisions quickly.   

Is there anyone else out there in the military suffering with CH?  If so I'd really like to find out how your dealing with it.

Chuck was only just recently released from crayons and allowed pencils so ignore most of what he says....

If you haven't tried lithium yet as a prevent, it's what works for me. Once you get over the stigma of "lithium!!!!" It's best not to tell many people as they really weird out when they find you're on it.

I'm in law enforcement....as the strange one mentioned.......so I'm limited as to what I can use. At 1200 mg a day it blocks 70% or so of my attacks. On cycle I keep an E-Tank in my trunk while on duty. 10 minutes on the side of the road huffing away and I'm good to go again. Might be worth talking to your doc about it. Good luck.

Joe

Difficult for me to imagine the problems of CH whilst working in the forces or the police.

I work in law and it's certainly affecting my work.

Trouble is I work for myself so I am only as good as my last piece of work.

If I can't work I don't get paid.

I guess whatever you do it has a negative impact on what you do and the way some people will see you.

On the good side, the support means such a lot.

Hope it works out for you.

Ellick

I was let go from the Navy because of these HA's. E5 with six years in about to take the E6 exam. I logged to many visits to the ER and doc's office, I guess they thought I was a risk also. I worked on big, expensive aircraft, and the thought of me having a debilitating HA in time of emergency didnt settle to well with the high ups. Hope this helps man.
If I could suggest anything, I would try to hide your condition and act like they dont happen anymore, everytiime they know about them they get logged, believe me.
Tom

I had an unusual military experience involving my HA's.

Let me preface this by explaining that I didn't know what type of headaches I was having until I was released, so a lack of education on the subject (both for me and my physicians) was a big part of my experience.

I had very aggressive CH's since I was 17, but after I graduated from highschool, they subsided for close to a year. At this time, I didn't understand the episodic nature of CH's, so I thought they were gone for good.

I started to get headaches again in boot camp, and by the time I was in "A" school, the HA's were going full speed ahead. I barely made it through school, and I was chewing up a large bottle of aspirin every day. I consulted the corpsman there, and was prescribed Motrin, the military's drug of choice for headaches.

After graduating , I ended up on a guided missile cruiser, stationed in San Diego. As an Operations Specialist (fancy word for radarman),  I worked for 6 hours on, 6 hours off for weeks at a time while at sea.

The HA's subsided for some time, but came back in full force. I spoke to the ships corpsman repeatedly, and again I was prescribed Motrin. Plenty of it.

To say the least, I had a very tough time contending with the 6 on, 6 off shift with my headaches. I was constantly fatigued, and in a lot of pain.

I consider myself a squared-away guy,  but in a military environment, in time my fatigue and constant pain was viewed as a weakness, as if I was attempting to get out of work.

I would sneak off at times to go into unmanned hatches where noisy equipment ran, just so I could deal with my pain privately.

As much as I loved the Navy, it was the worst time of my life.

At the time, my highest priority was to find out what was wrong with my brain. My younger sister had brain surgery at 16 for an aneurysm which was caught ahead of time. Her symptoms were somewhat similar, but accompanied by spells of dizziness. I wasn't taking any chances since vascular issues can be congenital.

Once back in port, I requested to see land-based medical staff. I told my story to a naval physician, and she agreed that we would get to the bottom of my 'migraine' headaches once and for all.

When I went back for my follow-up, she had been reassigned to another base. I tried to follow up with her replacement, but he prescribed Motrin again along with some migraine medications (I don't recall what they were).

Based in San Diego, I got an apartment in Mexico instead of living on the ship. (At the time, San Diego was the highest cost of living in the US, so it didn't make much sense to get an apartment there on military pay). I learned some Spanish, and spoke with some seedy physicians there. I was prescribed a synthetic amphetamine. This didn't do much for me either, but I kept taking it in hopes that the physicians knew a little more than their US counterparts.

I was out of options. I kept an open dialogue with my parents, who asked me to come home to Texas so that I could get proper assistance after several unsuccessful requests to my Navy captain to provide a CAT scan or MRI.

I went AWOL, and went back to Houston, where my parents paid for an MRI and CAT scan. Nothing showed up. I sent the MRI and CAT scan results to the USN so they could be added to my medical records. I explained to the USN and my captain about the drugs I had been prescribed in Mexico, and asked desperately for help.

I came back to San Diego, settled up with the Navy, and went back to living at my apartment in Mexico.

The Navy wouldn't give me an MRI or CAT scan per their former promises to me, my parents, or the captain of my ship.

Incidentally, there were some sailors caught with marijuana on the ship. There was a ship-wide drug test, and I was tested positive for amphetamines.

I was being processed out, and I was still experiencing CH's night and day. My goal at the time was to get medical leave from the Navy. My medical records were mysteriously lost by the land-based medical staff, so my argument no longer had a medical history for affirmation.

I was issued an "Other than Honorable" discharge for a "pattern of bad behavior", since my headaches had never been understood by my superiors.

After a bit of research and legal hassle (after my discharge), the medical records finally turned up.

It wasn't until months after my discharge that I discovered THIS site, which explained the exact symptoms I was experiencing. I was incredibly relieved, to the point that I couldn't exaggerate it if I tried to.

Today I work for a prominent company, and the "type of discharge" has never turned up, not that it would even be an issue at this point.

However, I will refute it for my peace of mind, and I hope that I can convince the military to change this someday.

Jwchestnut, I'd like to express, hopefully not at your expense, that I'm very happy that the US military seems to be recognizing your  cluster headaches at all.

The military, as well as many employers around the world, perceive headaches as a weak excuse, instead of a real affliction.

Ellick, I could not disagree with you more.  Of course I'm not in the millitary so my experience comes from the private sector in an engineering environment.

It was a very scary thing to open myself up about CH to coworkers.  But these people know me and know what I can do.  I'm a very good engineer and have some value.

When a bad cycle hits my productivity falls off.  Not as much now that I've got a prevent that works but it still affects some number of days a year.  If people don't know why then they'll begin to speculate about your desire, work ethic, abilities... Going it alone and silent only causes people to fill in the blanks in ways you may not care for.

After I opened up to those few I work closely with and began using O2 in my office, no one bats an eye at my "issues".  Sure, I got a few "I've had one of those" remarks.  But these people were just trying to relate.  They didn't truly understand (how could they?).  But they understood enough to put the disruptions in my work day into their proper context.  They knew I'd be back at my keyboard once I'd dealt with my head.  That I'd meet the project deadline or fix that critical customer problem.  I can be relied on.

I guess what it comes down to is, either your are seen as a valuable employee or you aren't.  If you are, then your CH is much more likely to be accepted/tollerated as part of the total package.  If not, then the condition just becomes a convenient hook on which your employer and disgruntled coworkers can hang their displeasure.

Now I'm not suggesting that you aren't good at what you do.  Far from it.  I'm simply saying that clusterheads just have to try harder and do more when they are PF to prove their worth.  It's just a fact of life.

-Dennis-

Hi Jwchestnut.

I served in the British Army for 12 years and started getting these bast*rd things about 4 years into my career. Fortunately they appeared with amazing regularity at the same time every year (one week after mid-summer day) and I was diagnosed very quickly by a navy neurologist. I was in a position where I could take annual leave whenever I chose and therefore always booked as much leave as I could in June/July.

This minimized my 'downtime' and I was also fortunate because I served in the Medical Corps, I always had fast and easy access to a whole range of medication and worked alongside some brilliant doctors who were sympathetic to my plight when I had to 'go for a long walk around the base'.

The only time it became an issue was when I was deployed to Cyprus for a 2 year tour; I found that heat and glaring sunlight were a trigger so I had a pretty miserable time of it. (Thank god I managed to avoid any time in Iraq).

I find that now I'm working back in civilian life, my bosses aren't so understanding. Especially now that the f**king thing now hits me in winter. The irony being that I moved to the north of Scotland to escape heat and sun....you gotta love the beast's sense of humor.

Anyway, all the best of British luck to you. I know how hard it can be when you absolutley, definately gotta be somewhere and Mr beast comes calling.

Andy