Posted by Lee E. on July 09, 1998 at 18:18:15:
Hi all,
I now know that I have CH. I have been suffering from
periodic bouts of of these headaches for like the last
5-6 years (I'm 26) and never knew what they were. My
experiences sound very familiar to many of yours.
I feel a slight headache on my left side coming on
that gets intense around my left eye in 5-10 miunutes.
The pain lasts about 30-45 minutes and is hard to do
normal activities with it happening. My eyes start
watering and my nose gets runny. The pain can feel
like its at different parts of the left side of my
head during the attack. I first remember these
headaches when I would drink a beer in college. I
never knew what it was and always just "toughed" it
out. (Also, they seem to come on when I haven't eaten
for awhile) Well, over the last few years these bouts
would come and go. I've gotten them during important
business meetings where I've had to leave the room, out
at bars, on dates and driving in the car. Not fun. In
late June/early July I had a pretty lengthy 'bout that
may still be going. I started to track the attacks.
They were on June 27, 30 & then July 2 & 5.
Two of these were wine related. I gotta see a doctor I think.
The night after my June 27 attack, they had a story on cluster headaches
on Fox morning news - first time I ever heard of them.
I'm grateful I found this site today and while my pain
can be intense, I really feel for the people with
the unbearable pain who wake up at night. For those of
you who are still with me (sorry so long) I have a question.
Do I go right to a specialist for this or should I
first see a general practitioner? I know now what I have
and would like to look into nasal sprays. I don't want to
go to a doctor where I know more about CH than him/her.
Anyway, its pretty crazy that as I've been writing this for the
last 10 minutes I'm starting to feel a dull pain on the
left side of my head...not fullblown yet...maybe I'll do
some pushups or try the freezer thing. I'm glad
that I now know I don't have some "giant tumor" behind
my eye or an eye problem like glaucoma. Believe
me, I've thought about both! So, I'm lucky I've found
this site and people who know what I go thru...I had
no idea you all were out there.
God bless and pain free days to you all.......
- LEE