Hello clusterica

glad you found us but sorry you had to
I've only had one cycle so far so I'm new to this too.
For now the best thing you can try is drinking a can of red bull or something similar at the start of an attack, it must have caffeine and turin in it, it can stop mild attacks and at least ease a bad one.

The only drug that I have had any success with is indictable Imtrex (sumatriptan) which works in about 5 minutes.

best advice is to try and find a head ache specialist , read all you can here.

some one with more experience will be along soon I'm sure and they will tell you to read the OXYGEN link to the left , it works well for most here , although I have not tried it yet.

best of luck taming the beast

Nigel

I'd be surprised if you do not have access to a headache specialist. This is our first choice because so many general neurologists have such limted training in complex headache disorders.

Read this entire article and the PDF file, below, as a way of gaining some perspective.
====

 
Cluster headache.
From: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or (Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases)
[Easy to read; one of the better overview articles I've seen. Suggest printing the full length article--link, line above--if you are serious about keeping a good medical library on the subject.]

Leroux E, Ducros A.

ABSTRACT: Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache disease characterized by recurrent short-lasting attacks (15 to 180 minutes) of excruciating unilateral periorbital pain accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs (lacrimation, nasal congestion, ptosis, miosis, lid edema, redness of the eye). It affects young adults, predominantly males. Prevalence is estimated at 0.5-1.0/1,000. CH has a circannual and circadian periodicity, attacks being clustered (hence the name) in bouts that can occur during specific months of the year. ALCOHOL IS THE ONLY DIETARY TRIGGER OF CH, STRONG ODORS (MAINLY SOLVENTS AND CIGARETTE SMOKE) AND NAPPING MAY ALSO TRIGGER CH ATTACKS. During bouts, attacks may happen at precise hours, especially during the night. During the attacks, patients tend to be restless. CH may be episodic or chronic, depending on the presence of remission periods. CH IS ASSOCIATED WITH TRIGEMINOVASCULAR ACTIVATION AND NEUROENDOCRINE AND VEGETATIVE DISTURBANCES, HOWEVER, THE PRECISE CAUSATIVE MECHANISMS REMAIN UNKNOWN. Involvement of the hypothalamus (a structure regulating endocrine function and sleep-wake rhythms) has been confirmed, explaining, at least in part, the cyclic aspects of CH. The disease is familial in about 10% of cases. Genetic factors play a role in CH susceptibility, and a causative role has been suggested for the hypocretin receptor gene. Diagnosis is clinical. Differential diagnoses include other primary headache diseases such as migraine, paroxysmal hemicrania and SUNCT syndrome. At present, there is no curative treatment. There are efficient treatments to shorten the painful attacks (acute treatments) and to reduce the number of daily attacks (prophylactic treatments). Acute treatment is based on subcutaneous administration of sumatriptan and high-flow oxygen. Verapamil, lithium, methysergide, prednisone, greater occipital nerve blocks and topiramate may be used for prophylaxis. In refractory cases, deep-brain stimulation of the hypothalamus and greater occipital nerve stimulators have been tried in experimental settings.THE DISEASE COURSE OVER A LIFETIME IS UNPREDICTABLE. Some patients have only one period of attacks, while in others the disease evolves from episodic to chronic form.

PMID: 18651939 [PubMed]
=========

answers:

first of all one of the head specialist (in er that i was taking while i had the most hard attack) told me that it looks like CH. there was two doctors in er: head specialist and neurologist but they weren't so sure 'coz of the male statistics. and  then i went to another doctor that told me the same and then i read here about the symptoms it was the same as i have.

about medications... my doc told me that there's no medication or pain reliefs but he gave me:
INDOVIS
INDOMETHACINE 25mg 3 times a day..
but i don't think its helpful, even though today i think was the first day without attacks in a past 3 weeks.

i read about red bull and i gave it a try couple of days ago and i think it helped me and i also found helpful hot compresses and i mean extremely hot!

in the next couple of day we're on holidays here (memorial day and independence day) so i guess I'll start looking for another head specialist on wednesday..

by the way the clusterbusters is under constructions or something like that..

and one more thing.. what do you know or think about alternative medicine? i mean yoga, reflexology etc.

till then, NO PAIN (i hope so!)

AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ANSWERS! you don't know how much it means to me to know that i have people that understand my pain   

Anna

Hi Anna,
A current survey shows 30% of CH sufferers are female. The Dr's you saw are using outdated and incorrect information.

Read around this site and you will soon know what proper treatments are for CH.

Welcome to CH.com,  Don