Posted by rivka (212.199.122.81) on January 10, 2002 at 16:49:54:
In Reply to: Any women with cluster headaches? posted by Linda on January 09, 2002 at 15:52:06:
well, here is another female who suffer from this beast. first of all i have to apoligise for my bad english. i live in israel and english is not my first lenguage.
but, to the point.
i'm not almost 62 years old and i got my first ch around 1994. it always woke me after midnight and lass between 10 min to an hour. i dont think that the pain killer i take are known out of israel so i'll not mention it, any way it does not help, well may be sycologicly? i had no idea i have ch untill about a year when i went to a specailist by coincident and this is after i saw all kinds of dr's and had been through all kind of x-rays and what ever you name them and all the exems were ok. nothing had been found. when i came to this neoroligst who is specailist in the "hadasa" hospitel in jerusalem, israel, right as i discribe him what i'm going through he said: my dear lady, you got ch and there is nothing to do against it but to learn to live with it. during the few first years i got attacs like evry 2 weeks or so but as the years passed by they bacame more and more often and now for few years i get them evry night.
the pain is unberible! and when an attac last for about 10 min i feel so lucky. when it goes on and on i walk around the walls like a lion, tears pooring, i hold my head with my right hand like huging it and block my left ear with the other hand and so with close eyes put my right side of face toword the walls as they are cooler (we dont use paper wall). i blow my nose to get rid of any phlegm, try to brith deep like making meditation, try not to think of any thing. after a while i get tired of the brithing and brith "normaly". i try cool air, ice, but nothing help. last night it last for almost 2 hours. i was sure i'm geting crazy and realy wish to die because i just could not take it any more.
the neorologist told me that ch is much more common for men and he hardly knows women who suffer from it, so in a way a woman who does is "very specail" lol (bitter laugh).
the attacs always wakes me after midnight but not in set times and i never get any early simptoms but get the "boom" right away, jump out of bed, take a pill of cafergot and pray that it will help but it remains as pray...
i read somewhere that some one told about how his ch ended, that he feels like water wash the pain out so i keep thinking and beging: water come and take the pain away!
if i can "isolate" myself from the serounded i have feeling that the end of the attac will come faster. any way, what a nice feeling when i start to feel like waves rins my head, the right side of my head which the pain always there gets some cooler and i know the attac is about to leave me. very cerfuly i go back to bad because sharp movments brings it back, so i lay down very cerfuly and i know that i wont wake up for about 5-6 hours.
lucky me that i dont have any little kids at home to take care about because i know i could not do it.
well, i'm glad i found this site (only today) and to let you know that women do have the "previlege" of have these beasts. and as anouther ch writer mention, sense of humor is absolotly nececery to servive these attacs.
lets hope that some day and the sooner the better some one will fine why they come and a way to privent them.
thanks for leting me express myself.
no more text.