Posted by Jack Boyd on December 16, 1998 at 11:14:10:
In Reply to: Re: They're BACK!/"party" correlations posted by gary g on December 15, 1998 at 16:49:21:
Me - 48 years old , episodic since the age of 20.
Drinking history - from the age of 16 to 24 I would drink only occassionally but when I did it was often to excess. Never really liked the taste and always knew I would eventually cease. Since the age of 24 I never, ever drink alcohol and I do not miss it.
I used to be an occassional, very light smoker but stopped that completely also. Not one cigarette in the last 15 years.
I always felt that I was particularly sensitive to the effects of smoking and drinking.
I agree with much of your speculation. Clusters have helped to motivate me to live as healthy a lifestyle as possible. My gut feeling has always been that if I am physically fit that I could cope better. I suffered with clusters from the age of 20 till 35 without seeking treatment - like many on this web site I did not know there was effective treatment.
My personal interest in all of this has more to do with the relationship between clusters and such things as longevity, heart disease, etc. My cluster cycle has always been about 1 month and my time between bouts has steadily grown and is now up to 3 years. The very first literature I read about clusters ( about 14 years ago ) implied that cluster sufferers were strongly prone to cardiovascular problems - scared the heck out of me. I always knew I could cope with the pain but if I was prone to premature heart disease I wanted to know about it.
It seems that some of the earliest literature was very mistaken in their profiles. I remember reading one profile that went something like this - " typical cluster sufferer is a very large, masculine looking, middle aged male who is emotionally weak...." What hogwash!
As I have gotten more educated about clusters I have learned that there is lots of misinformation out there and we all need to only seek MDs who are very familiar with clusters. Twenty eight years ago when I had my first bout, I went to my general practioner - he prescribed a mild pain killer and an antibiotic - he said I had a sinus infection. I knew even then that he was way off the mark and I did not seek treatment again for many years - until I learned that there was this thing called cluster headaches and my condition matched the profile to a tee.
The cluster phenomenon is both excruciatingly painful and fascinating and I am always eager to learn as much about it as I can.
Sorry for rambling so much.