Posted by Claire (203.59.234.206) on November 25, 2001 at 21:21:24:
Hi - me again. I was hoping that someone can clarify something for me. Domenic went to the doctors last week to discuss his headaches and from the info I found here (including the quiz) both Domenic and I thought they were CH's. However his doctor said that they were tension headaches. She said that that a main sympton of CH's was weeping from the eye and nose. Domenic does not have any pain or weeping from his nose when he has headaches, however his right eye gets very red and watery when his headaches are bad. Also, his headaches never seem to go away fully - I'm not sure if that means his is a chronic sufferer - they have different levels of intensity and he sometime say that it's like someone waving to him from the other side of a football field - just wanting him to know that they are still there. When he has a bad one, he says it is like having a nail through his head or a huge open wound. he says he can feel (and see) his veins pulsating and thinks that at any point something is going to pop inside his head. He sometimes ties a bandana around this head to squeeze his temples, which he says helps a little, and lies still - he very rarely sleeps when they are bad, but he does not hit his head (althought he said he did once, but when the pain subsided, he was left with some pretty serious bruises). No run of the mill pain relievers seem to have any effect at all.Anyway, we are going to get a second opinion and get a referral to a neuro, but I really just wanted to see what you guys thought with regard to the weeping of the nose and eye - can CH's be ruled out because he does not have any pain or weeping from nose? and does anyone know the traits of tension headaches? (he has had these headaches since he was 8)Thanks for reading and if you have any info or advice, please let me know.(Also - sorry that Domenic is not doing this himself, I hope you don't feel that I am out of line visiting this sight as I do not suffer the pain myself, but believe me these headaches make all that love the sufferer, suffer!)