You won't be officially chronic until you get to Dec. 1, 2012 without at least one break of 30 days or more.

Just trying to brighten your day a little.

Brew & Linda are right, Chronic is sometimes rushed. When it comes down to it, right now is what matters. If and when we may turn Chronic, we fight the same fight.

The attacks are the same for Episodic and Chronic CH, they hurt like hell. The fight is the same, winning is optional. And illusive at times. In the end all we have is our own knowledge of CH, and it's treatments even when the Doctor has never heard of it.

No I'm not anti Doctor, I'm anti CH.

Don

IHS Diagnostic Criteria: Chronic

Cluster headache attacks occurring for more than 1 year without remission or with remissions lasting less than 1 month.

Curr Treat Options Neurol. 2011 Feb;13(1):56-70.
MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC CLUSTER HEADACHE.
Leone M, Franzini A, Proietti Cecchini A, Mea E, Broggi G, Bussone G.
SourcePain Neuromodulation Unit, Department of Neurology, Headache Center, Carlo Besta Neurological Institute Foundation, Via Celoria 11, 20133, Milano, Italy, leone@istituto-besta.it.

Abstract
OPINION STATEMENT: Primary cluster headache (CH) is an excruciatingly severe pain condition. Several pharmacologic agents are available to treat chronic CH, but few double-blind, randomized clinical trials have been conducted on these agents in recent years, and the quality of the evidence supporting their use is often low, particularly for preventive agents. We recommend sumatriptan or oxygen to abort ongoing headaches; the evidence available to support their use is good (Class I). Ergotamine also appears to be an effective abortive agent, on the basis of experience rather than trials. We consider verapamil and lithium to be first-line preventives for chronic CH, although the trial evidence is at best Class II. Steroids are clearly the most effective and quick-acting preventive agents for chronic CH, but long-term steroid use carries a risk of several severe adverse effects. We therefore recommend steroids only if verapamil, lithium, and other preventive agents are ineffective. In rare cases, patients experience multiple daily cluster headaches for years and are also refractory to all medications. These patients almost always develop severe adverse effects from chronic steroid use. Such patients should be considered for neurostimulation. Occipital nerve stimulation is the newest and least invasive neurostimulation technique and should be tried first; the evidence supporting its use is encouraging. Hypothalamic stimulation is more invasive and can be performed only in specialist neurosurgical centers. Published experience suggests that about 60% of patients with chronic CH obtain long-term benefit with hypothalamic stimulation.

PMID:21107766[PubMed]
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While not very likely, I should guess, consider printing out this message and drop on your doc. Often, elminating competiting  diagnostic possibilities becomes very importnat.


Link to: cluster-LIKE headache.
Section, "Medications, Treatments, Therapies --> "Important Topics" --> "Cluster-LIKE headache"

I think I may be chronic too.  I didn't want to jinx myself, so I've been avoiding the subject.  This cycle started the first week of April.  Hit heavy, daily, 10's until end of June.  Now I go a couple of weeks PF, then BAM.  Now, 2 nights in a row, 2 K10's a few hours apart.  I'm scared.  23 years of episodic.  I won't be able to handle this.  Do chronics have K-10s daily?  I don't have the strength. Not anymore.  I welcome suggestions, and I pray a lot.  How do you deal with this on a daily basis?  I don't know.  I have O2, what a blessing.  And, I recently was able to get a few trex injects, and I am so thankful for that.  But still.  I just don't know.

Thanks. Believe it or not, the pain isn't so much what bothers me, if that makes sense, it's the thought of dealing with the pain, and it's been depressing. Not sure that makes sense, but it does in my head. so when the pain is here, I can handle it, but when I think about dealing with it 10 years from now, I'm depressed, or when I think of maybe missing things (I've missed a few things in the last year) it's sad. I'm only 41. I've been able to cope with serious exercise, which helps, though I've developed migraines over the last year, so sometimes the  migraines are worse with exercise, and I have "competing" headaches, one wants me to get up and run around, and one wants me to sit in a dark room and cry. Some of the pain comes on so gradually, that it goes from mild pain to making tears come out of my eyes, and it hurts my wife, I can see it, and I just get away from my kids so they don't see it. Other times, I'm OK, no pain, or just what "WE" consider no pain, and then BAM!!!, a K8 or K10, that literally makes me fall to the floor, or worse, if I'm driving, i have to pull over, and I get a few hits like that in an hour or two. Those are the worst.

This NJ weather of clouds and rain, and hot and cool and no steady weather has been horrible too.

Thanks for the rant.

Mike

Thanks Beth. Could you imagine a town with all CH'ers? I don't know if it would be great, or a terror town? We'd all understand each other, but outsiders probably would be welcome. LOL. I too don't like the O2 that much. That's why I started exercise instead. I run. It apparently has the same effect, and it's not as harsh on my sinuses and everything else, since the O2 seems to dry me out and make me feel odd. I use the Sumavel shots, and they make me feel like hell, but only for about 1/2 hour and they do often work. Sometimes up to a week, though sometimes for only about 12 hours. At $95 a pop, it's a gamble, but one I'll take when I'm desperate. I was becoming a Red Bull junkie, so I backed off those for a while, but I'm sure I'll go back to them soon, if my mid-day hits get too unbearable. Lately, the lightning strikes and severe pain in the middle of the night are what scare me. i can actually see what looks like lightning striking in my eye. and it wakes me up.

Hello Mike,

    Keep up with the D3. I'm episodic and still fairly new to the whole thing, but it's been really helping me. Also, I'm not far from you (Hamilton, NJ). If you'd like to meet up or just chat, send a Private Message.

-dvb