Posted by Seth Kurtzberg (208.194.82.226) on November 07, 1999 at 19:30:27:
In Reply to: WHY do we care if you REALLY have CH ? posted by gary g on November 07, 1999 at 12:35:59:
I agree that diagnosis is a problem. For example,
I was told by one Dr. that if Imitrex made the
headache go away, then I had CH; but it is well
known that Imitrex is also effective against
migraine. But, I think (and I may be wrong) that
I have at times had CH on top of chronic non CH
headaches, so that the CH SEEMed to be a much
longer lasting headache than is possible for a
properly diagnosed CH. There can be subtle
combinations that are hard to differentiate.
While I sympathise with the concerns about
muddying the waters with irrelevant or event
erroneous information, I think perhaps a bit more
tolerance might be helpful. People who have
headaches, whether CH or migraine, are understandably
looking for something, anything that will help.
No doubt there are people who are so anxious for
a diagnosis that they will jump at anything,
whether it is correct or not. I think, though,
that almost all of these people are suffering with
some type of headache.
And I can understand the frustration voiced here
over people who equate more ordinary, less debilitating
headaches with CH. So, go ahead and correct them
but I think they are more likely, perhaps, to listen if the
comments are toned down a bit. I may be wrong
about this as I clearly don't know as much about
it as others on this site, but I may also be right
(at least it is theoretically possible).