Hello new to the site but not clusters,Live in Missouri,No health insurance,,,Well i have been cluster free for 2 1/2 years and sept 24th the beast decided to visit me,went from small sinus like headaches the 1st week to 9 and 10 scale headaches from october 13th thru 31 st with 4 a day,then calm down  a bit then had a 5 hour monster the 23 rd and now its all in the ear/jaw area every 4-5 hours Hope they are on there way out soon as i cant recall how they ended up stopping last time,Dr put me on Imitrex(sumitriptan)pills which i take the max dose of 200mg a day to get rid of the pain and verapimil,So do you think i have much longer with this cluster cycle?

It's interesting how you say small sinus like headaches the first week.  The week before my husband started this cycle, he had a dull headache pain most of the week that never seemed to go away.  He thought maybe his clusters were starting up, but he also thought maybe it was the cold he was fighting or just the change of seasons.  Well, it turned out to be clusters because after that week, they turned into the familiar ones he had during his last cycle, so could that be the precursor all the time?  Not sure.  As I type this, he is in bed fighting a doozy that started 3 hours ago and the 'alternative' treatment he is trying tonight to treat this doesn't seem to be yielding any results...and we were so hopeful.  My screen name says it all...

There was a time where i would say a cycle would last 4-6 weeks but to be honest there were times that lasted 8-12 weeks. The beast will morph with each cycle and treatment thrown at it. Know that they will pass is what you hold onto. On a side note: Odd that the "busting" method also comes on like some peoples cycle with hits starting off at lower levels working their way to the peak of the worst hits of their cycle then a gradual decline in their intensity.

Change your doctor. O2 is the first line treatment, effective for 70% of sufferers.

As for melatonin - if you have nocturnal hits than it might get the best results in eliminating them and have at list some effect during the day. But 3mg usually isn't enough.

In my last cycle, I used 3-5mg of regular melatonin + 2mg of prolonged release melatonin, which did a good job. Some guys here had success with 10-15mg. Except for making birth control peels less effective, these high doses are considered pretty safe. Still a good idea to consult a doctor, but maybe not the one you're seeing now.

I also get false hopes as the headaches will occasionally recede for a week, then come roaring back for a couple more. This typically happens when I take prednisone, but I guess a week is better than nothing

well i am not taking the sumatriptan now but use alot of 02 go thru 3 e tanks a week as i am still having shadows all day and night and tearing of the eye constantly,,this has been a long road since sept 24th,,,get some ear pain at times and some neck pain as well,pray that the 10s dont come back but i sure wish i could get on with somewhat of a life seeing the holidays are closing in,But i presume this is not gonna take place.
Also cant get a job or health care in this condition as nobody will hire someone who has to have extra breaks and have 02 on site to try to function thru there daily lives.Gonna try to have the attorney appeal my disabilty claim but he said it will take 16 months to get a hearing and odds are i still wont get approved,Told him within 16 months it probably wont matter anyway.