Please keep in mind when your reading this that I am still in the beginning of figuring out what is wrong with me and that I found my way here after a week of research and trying to find something that fits what I am experiencing.  I do have a regular doctor that is clueless and just keeps referring me to the emergency room where the pump me full of meds that don't help and I do have and appointment with a specialist but its over a month away.  I have been in pain 90% of the time since 12/18/2011.  Most of the time is a dull ucky pain and then....oh boy watch out, out of no where I get these sharp nasty pains in the left back side of my head, sort of near the ear but a little farther back, some times it seems like the pain is coming from behind my left eye and shooting backwards.  At times this pain has been strong enough to crumble me on the floor in pain.  Typically my face also turns bright red with these pains.  I have been to the ER several times and had a CT that showed a sinus infect but after taking the medication for that the pain never stopped. 

All of that being said, I am noticing something that seems to happen more at work (I am a supervisor in a call center that handles emergency doctor/hospital calls, tech support, answers for government agencies and all sorts of other things).  At work I start to get these spikes in pain around the beginning of my day and in the middle to late part of my day.  The ones in the late part of my work day are the worst.  I have trouble turning my head to look at someone that is on my left side, my neck gets stiff and I start to get ticked off.  Really ticked off.  All of their little questions tick me off, the noise of the clock on the wall makes me mad, the sound of my nails typing irritates me, and I feel so angry and in pain and then it seems that the angry even fuels the pain and makes it worse.  By the time I am off work I am a wreak, in pain, mad at the world, exhausted and haven't found anything that relieves the pain (the dull or the sharp).  To top it off I haven't been able to sleep much since this all started and I know that's making me a grumpy girl.  Has anyone else experienced this with anger?  Both the anger seeming to be caused by the pain and the pain being fueled by the anger and making it worse?

Shadows,

Sounds alot to me like CH. Ive dealt with the anger. It's not your fault. Do ur headaches occur around the same time of the day? Do they wake you at night? Does your eye water when u get the BIG one? These are some of the tell tell signs of CH.

I know its hard, but try not to anticipate the headache, try to live as normal as possible. and try to stay as normal as you can with your sleeping.

Vitamin D3 10,000 IU a day, along with magnesium 500mg a day will help within a couple of days. Also melatonin at night will help.

Cluster headaches are Bad... Dont fear them, they wont kill you. But you must respect them Because they are some BADASS MO FRO's... 

Play the Ball First...
Coach Bill

My money is on CH. Sounds a lot like me, and I can totally relate to the Anger. I'm no fun at all to be around when I'm in pain. I snap at anyone for anything, its embarrassing as I'm usually VERY polite.
People, with the best intentions usually seem they can help by suggesting the usual "do you want an advil"? "Ya I get those too, take a T3, thats what I do" lol
Like DJ say's "I'd like to stab an ice pick in to their eye socket and say,' oh ya?! You feel like this too?!!!" lmao

coach_bill has great advice as to not anticipate the pain. I found out years later that I was giving myself more pain from Tension/tension headaches on top of my CH. I found meditation-like moments helped me not make it worse. I take deep breaths and try to relax, mostly my shoulders. I found that I was a ball-of-stress before and after my CH, at that time my "Mysterious horrible Headaches".

Also, stay away from pain-killers completely. It will give you more pain, in the form of 'Rebound headaches' if you use them regularly. I'm sure, in my case, I was almost doubling my pain with tension and pain-killers. Both natural reactions to pain, but both counterproductive.

I would ask your Dr for a O2 prescription, or even look into getting a welding O2 setup till you see a specialist. If that doesn't work, print off some of the medical info designed for Dr's (available here) and bring it to the ER. Ask to see a neurologist at the ER, and show them the papers. Even bring them to your family Dr, and ask either for O2 at 15-25 LPM, if not more.

If you have $300 or so, get Batch's O2 setup with a demand valve and 60 LPM regulator. Even if you have to rent your own O2, it will save you so much pain its amazing. I disregarded the O2 therapy for a couple years, at my own demise, since it seemed way to simple.

Get some Imitrex also if your Dr thinks its ok for you to take, regarding side effects. Its expensive, but works. Don't wait a month if you can, and don't take no for an answer. You need to be very assertive regarding your CH's.

The OUCH website has a list of Dr's who are CH knowledgeable, so if possible ask for an appointment with one of them.

You've come to the right place, and you should start to get relief soon from the many resources here. CH's are referred to as the Devil or Demon, and he will try to ruin your life. You need to fight, yet stay positive and calm/relaxed. Explain to people before or after your CH, that you have a very serious neurological condition that causes you excruciating head-pain. Avoid the term "Headache" as people will jump to conclusions, unless you don't care. lol

Your name on here is interesting, as the low-level pain your experience during the day, is referred to as a "Shadow". Give the Vitamins a try for sure, they're my new savior.

My2 cents on daytime hits...


I haven't heard this from anyone else on here and many may dismiss this, but for me the it seems the food digestion process has become a trigger for me the last few years. I found that regardless of what I eat and I eat really healthy naturally, that's when I get my headaches during the day. Other than some toast or bagel in the morning to wash down whatever I might be taking to try to abort the cycle, I don't eat during my work day. I know many on here would not agree but it gets me through my work days. My wife and I wondered if maybe it takes more blood away from other parts of the body to digest food and maybe that was the cause of my daytime hits which I rarely get anymore. Of course I scarf when I get home and the hits start coming but at least I'm home to deal with it.

Rick