You didn't mention use of a preventive med.

Take a look at the PDF file, below.

Have a look at using vitamin D3 - Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or .

This is working well as a preventive for many with a 75%+ success rate.

Peter Goadsby and his team (author of following being one of them) discovered a revolutionary perspective on the origin of Cluster.
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Headache:lessons learned from functional imaging
British Medical Bulletin 2003; 65: 223-234

Arne May
Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

Using PET in a larger patient series, significant activations ascribable to the acute cluster headache were observed in the ipsilateral hypothalamic grey matter when compared to the headache-free state44. This highly significant activation was not seen in cluster headache patients out of the bout when compared to the patients experiencing an acute cluster headache attack45. In contrast to migraine25, no brainstem activation was found during the acute attack compared to the resting state. This is remarkable, as migraine and cluster headache are often discussed as related disorders and identical specific compounds, such as ergotamine and sumatriptan, are currently used in the acute treatment of both types of headache46. These data suggest that while primary headaches such as migraine and cluster headache may share a common pain pathway, the trigeminovascular innervation, the underlying pathogenesis differs significantly as might be inferred from the different patterns of presentation and responses to preventative agents46.
Just as it is striking that no brainstem activation occurs in contrast to acute migraine, no hypothalamic activation was seen in experimental pain induced by capsaicin injection into the forehead47. This is important because injection of the forehead would activate first (ophthalmic) division afferents which are the trigeminal division predominantly responsible for pain activation in cluster headache. Thus two other types of first division of trigeminal nerve pain, while sharing neuro-anatomical pathways with cluster headache, do not give rise to


VASCULAR HEADACHE: ARE BLOOD VESSELS INVOLVED?

Taking these observations on acute cluster headache together with what has been observed in experimental head-pain and migraine, the data establish that migraine and CLUSTER HEADACHE, FAR FROM BEING PRIMARILY VASCULAR DISORDERS, ARE CONDITIONS WHOSE GENESIS IS TO BE FOUND IN THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM IN PACEMAKER OR CIRCADIAN REGIONS SPECIFIC TO THE SYNDROME. If further studies confirm these findings, a better understanding will be gained of where and how acute and preventative therapy can be targeted.
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In the years you have been away from us, a new perspective has been gaining interest. Increasingly, finding headache situations which are NOT primary headache disorders, i.e., disorders which mimic Cluster.

One of the hallmarks is that the usual Cluster meds work for a brief time, then stop being effective OR don't work at all. If you wish to discuss this potential with your doc, print out this message:

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

Ugh....I hate hearing about you having CH in your 60's. May I ask how the intensity of them peaked out on you? I'm 37 and I'm hoping that it has peaked and will begin to "mellow out".....if you want to call it that. This last cycle (which was my longest) was the most painful yet. I can't imagine having another 20 years of these. They started for me about 15 years ago and got their most intense in the last 5.

My cycles are usually in 2 year intervals, but we know how unpredictable these are. Up until this point, I haven't used any preventatives, abortatives, or treatments. This past cycle has shown me that I can't do another cycle without seeing a specialist. I plan on getting O2, D3 regimine, and whatever else that will work for me. I have read so much here and am confident that I will be able to find a combination that will bring me somewhat comfort.

I just know that being beaten by these and my age.....I can't do another cycle "all natural". I feel confident enough from what I have read here to bring my case to a specialist knowing what to ask for to help me find relief. I'm scared to get on the pred so will try my luck with the D3. One thing I don't recall seeing, is when to start taking them. Should I just terminally start a regimine or just in my cycles. I'm sure somewhere in the archives it is explained, but these are lengthy reads that are hard to stay commited to when you are in pain.

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Me too, Tim.  No, wait. I'm 65 and just passed the magic 1 year chronic date. These things suck!