Posted by Moe on March 10, 1999 at 11:06:24:
Hello, my name is Moe, I am 43 years old. About 35 years ago I began having very bad headaches. At age 13 I had eye surgery to correct Wall Eye. I was told I would also find relief from my headaches as a result. I did not. When I was around 16 I had four impacted wisdom teeth removed. Once again I was told this would help with my headaches, it did not. My GP prescribed an analgesic but it was no more effective then what I was getting over the counter.
At this point I gave up seeking medical help.
For the past 25 years I have been convinced that my problem was sinus headaches. I have always dealt well with pain even serious injury. So I could never understand why these headaches were so debilitating and life altering to me. The pain is nothing less then excruciating.
A few days ago my wife was reading about CH in Prevention magazine. The symptoms sounded very familiar so I searched out this site. I have read everything there is to read here and I now believe I suffer from chronic CH. In an effort to confirm, I am including everything I can think of about my headaches.
- At first warning they can take anywhere from 20 to 90 min to peak.
- They sometimes come on in my sleep.
- The effected side is congested.
- They are only on one side at a time but sometimes switch sides even during an attack.
- My neck cracks and pops and sometime others hear it when I turn my head.
- Even between periods of pain I am rarely clear headed.
- They leave me tired most of the time.
- For the most part they are debilitating.
- I normally have one every week or two. But I can go three weeks without one or have several in one week.
- Pacing is the best way to deal with a headache. If it’s not to bad I can sit. The pain gets to intense when I lay down. Sometimes I am almost to tired to stand but the pain keeps me pacing.
This has been a 35 year hell. It has not done much for my self esteem to see what a baby I have been about this. Most folks wonder how I can let a little thing like a headache rule me the way these do. Let me know if you think these are CH. I may feel a little better if I knew that my old friend of so many years really is a monster.