Posted by Marcy (207.227.112.4) on June 27, 2000 at 15:25:54:
Okay, all you experienced folks out there...I stumbled on this site in my never-ending search for answers and I think I may finally have some! I have been complaining about these headaches for years and unsympathetic doctors have told me it's probably just stress, while others who might have suspected cluster headaches have suggested that very few women ever get them...and they were probably just migraines. Here's the deal...about ten years ago, I was in a serious car accident and shattered the windshield with my head. (Yes, I was wearing a seatbelt!) A week to the day later, I had a tremendous headache, truly the worst pain I have ever felt, which was diagnosed as a migraine. I still suffer from the occasional classic migraine, but they have become less frequent, while what I think are cluster headaches are becoming more frequent. I've been saying for about five years or so that my migraines were changing...lasting more days, but less time (more on and off), not responding to Imitrex as well, moving to a different spot and becoming more localized over my eye, and without the violent vomiting, but with pain just as intense as my original headaches. The pain is always in the upper inside corner of my left eye, sometimes radiating into my forehead. It usually lasts on and off for 5-7 days and then goes away for a few weeks at a time. It usually lasts 2-3 hours, but sometimes 1/2 hour or less. It comes on very suddenly and leaves just as suddenly. No OTC painkiller touches it, although sometimes Benadryl will make me feel a little better. Of course, it could just be that the pain is leaving at that particular moment anyway or it could be that the Benadryl is enough to knock me out for a while until it does just go away! I started trying the Benadryl to begin with because of the nasal stuffiness or allergy-like feeling I had with the headaches. All in all, I'm guessing having toured this whole site, that what I'm dealing with are indeed cluster headaches. Any insight?