Posted by gary g (209.187.113.202) on November 07, 1999 at 16:54:39:
In Reply to: One question that has nothing to do with your main theme posted by Ted on November 07, 1999 at 13:17:03:
Hi Ted
this isn't a new observation,
Drummer brought it up in July with some really good insight, same concern, slightly different aspect
why do I say it's trendy right now-
here's a couple of several reasons:
1. - I've been following this board regularly for a LONG time, and it's been demonstrated VERY clearly by the change in the tone of newby posts coming in
before Goadsby's research was picked up and used as a medical info filler all over TV, early this summer,
the prevailing complaint of newbies was that they had been told for years they had other ailments, but it turned out what they had was CH
NOW, as you probably realize (I don't recall you "showing up" here til fairly recently, but I know you've been around CHMB for a couple months anyway)- there is a flood of newbies who say they were told they have CH right up front, by their GP or an ER doc, but whose symptoms CLEARLY aren't CH
2. my oxygen supplier told me that all of a sudden they are getting a LOT of calls from people whose DR told them to try O2 for their "cluster headache" - but that many of them CLEARLY didn't have CH when they talked to the med supply people
3. I have other sources of info from people all over, about CH, and a couple who work in large offices say that ALL of a sudden all these people are coming out of the woodwork saying "I've got that too" who, when talked with OBVIOUSLY have migraines
That's SOME of the mat'l I used in coming to my opinion re: currently "trendy"
and YES - I know somebody will argue with this, based on their case alone, - doesn't mean a damned thing, I'm talking TREND, not individual
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and a word about diagnosis-
diagnosis is nothing more than naming the correct label for a set of symptoms
there IS a set of symptoms which have been developed as being Cluster Headache - it is a specific, defined term representing a specific syndrome
there IS room for variation within the diagnosis
BUT
there are certain things which MAKE it Cluster Headache because THAT is what the damn term is defined as
and if a person doesn't fit within those outboard limits, they DON'T have CH, no matter how bad they want to
how hard a concept is that to get aholt of ?
it's called taxonomy in the broader sense
example:
big tan cats are whatever they are
big striped cats are whatever they are
they have more in common than they have differences
BUT
a LION is only a big tan cat
and a TIGER is only a big stripey cat
even though the two have many many more things the same than different
and don't kid yourself - a lot of people who don't have this fucker wish they did -
and as far as I'm concerned, THAT'S where their illness lies - and it IS in their head - just quite a bit deeper inside than the trigeminal nerve tree