Posted by Colin (194.202.213.254) on July 02, 2001 at 08:20:52:
In Reply to: New cluster headache sufferer posted by Betty on July 01, 2001 at 01:19:23:
Hi Betty,
You're not alone, I suffer from CH and migraine as well. I'm in the UK and only had my CH diagnosed last year - I've had one cluster since then, but fortunately no migraines while in the cluster. Last year I got a migraine while I was in the cluster - not nice! Apart from the wailing, gnashing of teeth, trying to pull your eye out and wanting to scream your lungs out there's the added joy of your head pumping like there's no tomorrow and throwing up every couple of minutes. None of my meds did any good when I was hit by M and CH at the same time. I didn't completely lose my vision but it was so distorted that I couldn't see where I was going when I was 'wandering'. My partner had to guide me around because I couldn't stay still and I kept walking into things. I also lost the power of coherent speech - I knew what I was trying to say but couldn't control my mouth so everything came out as gibberish. My partner didn't know whether to call an ambulance or an exorcist! I can't give you any tips on how to help yourself, other than maybe trying a cold shower if you can stay still long enough to take it - I don't know if it actually helped or if the shock of the cold water just took my mind off the pain for a couple of minutes but maybe worth a try. You're not alone - e-mail me if you need to just get things off your chest, rant, scream, swear and curse.
Don't lose hope, I know it feels like you'll never survive another attack, but you always do. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Colin :-)