Posted by Susan on May 27, 1999 at 14:18:35:
I don't know all the jargon yet, but briefly:
female, 45, two kids, had migraines from 16-31
Started getting what I now know to be cluster headaches 3 years ago, I think because I was in a truly hateful, stressful, ugly job. Ended up in Houston, new job, needing allergy meds (most transplants to here do, quite common). Doctor no help except to point me to the idea that what I thought was sinus headaches, were probably cluster instead.
I finally worked this out over the past year. Strenous exercise (flat out sprinting) alleviates the acute pain for a temporary period. Deep breathing, too. Susan
Arthritis cream with cayenne derivative mildly helpful, especially when I rub it in my eye, that hurts worse than the headache for a short time
Alleve works the best of all the over the counter headache meds.
Gingko bilboa and St. John's wort make me feel better anyway, whatever their effect on the headache is.
I also focus (a meditator/yoga person from way back) on stopping that facial nerve from spasming, relaxing my face as much as possible.
No booze at all. Sorry about that, I liked a little wine with dinner.
The thing that made the most difference to the worst year of this pain (last year) was to cut the stress by ditching the Ex. Now these headaches are manageable for me, last about one day, before I felt disabled with the acute pain covering 3 days at least.