Well, Lord God, contratulations!

I'm 74 and have been free of attacks for about 3-yrs after a 40-year history of CH.

I can only assume that you are aging out. The medical literature is very scant on the topic, but a couple of medical types have speculated that Ch tends to dimish after 60-ish.

If you have kept up with medical advances in treatment, we can supply some current literature. I'll put one good article as an over view piece. And could suggest that you look at the excellent cluster support group in GB.
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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]

happy for you
but have you thought any other change on lifestyle
that might have helped even if it seems unoticeable?

i mean something must turn episodic to chronic
and vise versa even if it is rarer on other ages too.
Cause these studies mean that
1.i ve got to reach at least 60's
2.i ve got to buy 30 cakes!

Hi Guys,
Just thought that I'd update anyone interested in what's happening at the moment. I still seem to be coming down from being a chronic CHer, possibly from being any sort of CHer .
My headaches continue to be non CH, being all across the forehead just above the eyebrow level. I honestly can't remember the last proper (down one side of the face) CH, must be around a month ago I think  . That is not to say that I haven't felt the need to take almotriptan for a month. Some of these 'ordinary' headaches were really nasty and persistant and only a twin track attack by triptan and oxygen made any impression on them. For the last 3 or 4 days the usual daily headache showed signs of developing early/mid afternoon but never really developed and disappeared without any action on my part within an hour or so.
I'm not running any flags up any flagpoles just yet but I'm beginning to think that Bob Johnson may have put his finger on it  -  growing old may have it's benefit(s)  .
T'would be nice if it is permanently on it's way out as we go abroad on a couple of weeks holiday at the weekend (Icelandic dust and Greek air travel workers permitting, of course  .)
Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Hi Linda,
I am aware of Dr Goadsby, he is based on our side of the pond. My optimism is not based on how long a period I'm currently enjoying without a 'proper' CH but rather on Bob Johnson's post above that there is some evidence to indicate that there may be a natural decline in susceptibility to CH with people over 70 years old, a milestone I reach in 14 days time, God willing.

I think there is a possibility that the sparsity of cluster attacks and the resulting decrease in triptan use may be causing rebound headaches. Are these headaches a little different than your usual migraines?

Having a mixed headache diagnosis can be REALLY tricky in trying to get rid of all of them at one time.

Just as your use of triptans earlier when you were episodic may have some impact on your becoming chronic, they can complicate things.
I'm not saying that is what happened or is happening but it may be something to discuss with your doctor.

There is clinical evidence that triptan use can increase cluster activity.

Stopping or slowing excessive use of triptans, which many cluster sufferers end up doing at one time or another, can be similar to stopping excessive coffee drinking, IMHO
Everyone is different and I'm sure there are people here that stop cold turkey after taking 4 shots a day for 4 months, without a problem.
Many people though will taper down as their cycle fades away.

The type of headache you briefly described as this latest version of migraine doesn't sound like a typical migraine at all.

JM2C
Bobw