Last night I was laying in bed with a 6/10 cluster headache. I get them seasonally, a couple months around summer and a couple around winter. I've been getting them again this last week.

While laying there, I was rubbing my forehead while waiting for the headache to subside and let me sleep.

While rubbing my brow near the bridge of my nose, I heard the loud sound of my sinus clearing. It's hard to describe the sound but it was like a "sqqqquuuueeee." The sound came from my upper sinus, closer to my eyes and maybe even above them.

Immediately, my headache went from a 6 to a 1, and the pain went away entirely over the next few minutes.

I don't know what this means for cluster sufferers in general, but it makes sense that stuff in the sinus could be a trigger given the correlation between cluster sufferers and smokers.

I did a little research and found a few studies concluding a link between sinus issues and cluster headaches.

I just thought I'd share in case it gives anyone any ideas on a cure. I'm of the belief that there may be multiple causes for cluster headaches, and that this is linked to one of them. I wouldn't be excited about it if the pain relief wasn't so immediate! I'm also curious if anyone else has noticed a link between the two. I can say that in my past, my cluster headaches typically get worse when I've got a cold or a stuffy nose.

I'm going to try taking some Mucinex next time I have a cluster headache too, and see if that has any benefit.

Yes, I've read it.

CH causes my sinus to clog up too.

Chicken - egg?

Garmy wrote, Last night I was laying in bed with a 6/10 cluster headache. I get them seasonally, a couple months around summer and a couple around winter. I've been getting them again this last week.

While laying there, I was rubbing my forehead while waiting for the headache to subside and let me sleep.

While rubbing my brow near the bridge of my nose, I heard the loud sound of my sinus clearing. It's hard to describe the sound but it was like a "sqqqquuuueeee." The sound came from my upper sinus, closer to my eyes and maybe even above them.

Immediately, my headache went from a 6 to a 1, and the pain went away entirely over the next few minutes.

Laying in bed is not an option when having a kip 6-10 CH!

Hoppy

My nose gets stuffy on the hit side, too. My eye feels a little swollen sometimes as well.

I have a pretty high pain tolerance overall, but I'm also not sure that my CH are as bad as most. I can't relate to the claims that it's as bad as child birth, but I definitely can't work or do anything that requires any amount of concentration (including watching/listening to tv). About twice a season, I get a CH that's so bad I'm writhing and pacing, but most of the time it just feels like an ice pick is lodged in there and all I can do is find a room without distraction and do my best to meditate until its over.

I've been experimenting when I get CHs with sinus-related pressure points - specifically the ones around my eyes. Ive found that the headaches dont last as long, and a couple more times, I felt my upper sinus areas 'drain' and the pain immediately subside. This is happening even when I don't feel or notice any sinus problems. I've also noticed that when I have a bit of a cold, the CHs are worse, except for when my mucus is especially runny and I go days without an attack.

If others could also experiment with sinus pressure points and report their findings, that would help a lot. I want to know if this is specific to me, or if it can help others. For the first time in the 15 years that I've been getting these headaches, I feel hopeful.