HI
  My name is Willis, I was injured while serving in the Navy in 1997. i suffered nerve damage to my left arm. I started getting pain in my left side of neck and then it would jump over to the right and then the headaches would start. I was diagnosed as having CH. It has been this way now eversince. been on many meds but i curently take ver 180 and tizanidine 2mil 3xs a day. since startining tizanidine headaches under control as long as i take it easy. my neck is stiff and aches all the time. i just went through a very bad cycle that made neck very weak and caused alot of pain. worst cycle ever for me. been through many over last 15 years. did get MRI and shows some arthritis in c4-5 and disk bulge but docs say is normal for my age(40). hope everyone has CH free holiday. Thanks

There are a number of disorders which mimic Cluster but which are not primary headache problems.

Suggest you print this message and use to discuss diagnostic options with your doc.


Link to: cluster-LIKE headache.


Section, "Medications, Treatments, Therapies --> "Important Topics" --> "Cluster-LIKE headache"

hell@back wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 10:25am:


Listen to what Bob has to say.

                 Potter

hell@back wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 11:49am:


  I think you want a pissin match.

            Potter

hell@back wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 12:31pm:


I served two tours of combat in Vietnam.  Shoots yer lack of respect for veterans in the ass.

       Potter

hell@back wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 12:46pm:


hell@back wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 8:24am:


Your first post.

        Potter

have you been diagnosed with cervicogenic headaches potter?  my first post was an attempt to find someone who has been and my newbee post was just a bit about my chs and myself. all i want is to be properly diagnosed and get the right treatment. no hard feelings sir.

there is a problem with my medical treatment. I get treatment through the VA.  As you probably know VA clinics are not the best place to get treatment for CH. I see a neurologist. You AND i KNOW MORE about CH than they do. my diagnoses was based as just CH, BUT LIKE YOU said potter my headaches are different and i need different treatment. i know that the VA is stuck on stupid and dont understand there is a different kind of ch with a different cause. this is exactly my problem. try telling it to the va.

Hey Willis,

Welcome to our community.  I'm sorry you felt you weren't treated with respect when you first arrived.  Being treated with respect is one of the cornerstones of our site as noted here: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

As a 23 year retired Air Force vet myself, I say this with all due respect... I don't think you represented yourself fairly when you first posted by starting a thread on a cluster headache site entitled "cervicogenic headache".  My first impression was the same as Potter's in that you had been diagnosed with something other than CH.  I also don't think it was fair for you to say Potter had a lack of respect for veterans.  Nothing he said was disrespectful to you as a veteran.

Listen, this community has been here since 1998.  We've seen tens of thousands of people walk thorough our doors and we've seen posts about every kind of headache (and treatment) you can imagine.  Trust me, we've seen it all.

So when someone new shows up on the front doorstep and says they've been diagnosed with a different type of headache and then starts to get defensive when someone tries to point them in a direction that might actually be of some help to them... well... it just isn't too productive of a conversation.

Bob Johnson gave you some good information based on how your represented yourself to the group and Joe (Guiseppi) gave you some GREAT info after the initial conversation went south.

I think that we've found over the years that CLUSTER HEADACHE is a very specific primary headache (which means it isn't caused by some other condition, it actually IS the condition).  Sounds to me like you've been told your diagnoses of CH is a different type of CH with a different cause (more commonly referred to as secondary headache).  As someone who suffered with CH for over 20 years, I personally find that pill hard to swallow.

We'd LOVE for you to stick around and research some of those links Bob told you about.  And if you'd like to talk about your cluster headaches, we'd be more than willing to lend you an ear.

Hope this sheds some light on the subject and clears up any confusion.

Thank you for your service and I hope you find something that gets rid of your pain!

Regards,

DJ

jon019 wrote on Dec 13^th, 2012 at 10:49pm:


James Lane Allen is attributed with this quote - Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Anyone who can walk with the beast or support someone who is visited by the beast truly has character.

Tim in Texas wrote on Dec 14^th, 2012 at 9:05am:


     I take exception to that comment as I've had nothing but great care from the V.A.

               Potter

I would like to clairify a few things. i have had 3 brain MRI. ALL NEG.1 neck MRI. MULIPLE exams to root out other potential causes. The va has done everything they could to find a cause. since they found no cause they diagnosed me with CH. Now i told them since my injury 15 years ago that i thought my neck pain was related to the cause of my ch. THEY refuse to listen so i have suffered through CH CYCLES ever since with no medications or oxygen having any real lasting effect. now it doest bother me if any thinks my ch are some how different or cluster like headaches. i get ch, and i have for 15 years. they are getting worse and so is my neck pain and problems related. this is why i believe that mine are caused by something wrong in my neck, because they are getting worse and normal ch sufferes do not have so many neck problems. this has led me to cervicogenic headaches as a possible diagnoses. the va has been difficult to get their head around it because my NECK MRI is not conclusive, and because they have run so many other tests.  i have had good va drs and some bad. but for the most part  it has been their reluctance to look further into my neck. i got a second opinion about my neck outside the VA but same result. THE DOCTERS think my neck problem AND CH are to different problems, or neck problem is secondary to CH. I am going to fax some articals about cervicogenic headaches to my neuro and see what she thinks.  Willis.

This is just my opinion on the hypo being the cause, it is affected by the ch just as the eye, sinuses, temple, jaw,etc. i feel it is just in the middle and takes a hit like everything else, but it is the main reason why the ch is a right side headache. is a conduit so to speak. and after it is irritated it reacts distributing pain. so what irritates it? other injury? Vascular? chemical imbalance? born this way? I have read the long list of cluster-like headaches and reasons for them and for me there are just to many reasons to pinpoint the hypo as the cause, but i cant rule it out either because for many it may well be. For me , i feel my neck problem is what is affecting the hypo and causing ch.     Willis