Posted by Jim H (205.188.195.59) on July 19, 1999 at 23:03:32:
In Reply to: describing a cluster posted by Bud Kemp on July 19, 1999 at 12:44:51:
Before I found this site, I fouind it difficult to believe that there was anyone out there who had identical descriptions of the CH pain, as well as the different gradations and nuances. After a while with these things, you tend to become a real connoisseur of their subtleties. My episodes always start off with a single, "barely there," mild whisper of a twinge, usually several weeks before they begin in earnest. In fact, because it's not actually the sort of intense pain normally associated with actual attacks, it has taken me years to associate those gentle beginnings with the start of an episode. There might be another "whisper" about a week before the main event begins. When they finally begin in earnest, they vary in intensity and are equally capricious in their timing, although for some reason they can be counted on to occur at least every night, about an hour to ninety minutes after I fall asleep. They gradually increase in intensity until they reach the unbearable stage, all the while rising and falling in intensity, both between individual attacks and during the attacks, themselves. Sometimes the pain merely annoys; other times it devastates. It can be so intense that I vomit. It can be so sharp and unrelenting at the peak of an attack that even the positions I adopt which would make a circus contortionist envious are completely unavailing in bringing relief. Then, after a few milder attacks, they disappear. It's almost as if they're "waving goodbye" until next time. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones - the last time I had an episode (before my current bout) was three years ago.
Do your headaches follow any pattern that you've been able to detect?