Posted by Carl D (208.4.16.110) on September 12, 1999 at 19:42:15:
It starts off as a slow burning sensation in your eye or temple. As it builds, you start to get the sniffles/stopped up nose on the side of the pain - which is now building in it's burning into a sharp, piercing, intense pain focused in the eye/temple area. By now your eye is turning red and is tearing profusely - a combination of the nerve pressure and tears of extreme pain.
The sharp, piercing pain grows in intensity and you become angry. You may throw objects, curse, scream, puch and kick walls and/or punch yourself in the head or pound your head on the walls/floor. Your pulse may slow down during an attack, and your blood pressure slightly rise. You may have a lack of sweat/or profusely sweat. The hot,searing, consistent pain stays for a period of one hour. at the height of the pain, you may even pass out for a moment or two, but the pain will wake you back up within a period of 3 to 5 minutes tops. You may even feel pain in your jaw/teeth/neck/frontal area(above eyebrow)/ or rea of head at base of neck. As the attack ends, it leaves as it began, slowly letting off until you feel a tinge of it in your temple/eye as a residual effect.
Some people experience what is called by some "shadowing", where you feel the buildup begin like a Cluster attack, but never developes into a full blown CH intil an hour or several hours later. Sometimes the shadow only lasts as long as a CH attack.
I only write this out of personal experience, having had at least one everyday for the last 19 months straight. In that period of time I have also had 6 migraine attacks. They are quite different than cluster attacks. I have actually had a cluster attack while having a migraine. Is this what is being referred to as Cluster Migraines? Because from what I have come to know about headaches and pains, Clusters and migraines are two totally different subjects. Thats just my thoughts on the mess. Carl D