Posted by Kathy (207.172.11.150) on January 27, 2002 at 14:05:08:
I have had periods of my life when I have had these headaches. The first time was during 2 weeks in 1993. The second was during a couple weeks in 1994. Now, in 2002, they have come back again. I have seen a neurologist twice (in 92 and 94), but hesitate to go back again, since neither one of them ever gave me any solution except for to wait for them to go away.
I often try to ward off the headaches by waking myself up many times during the night (through an alarm clock), but this time that does not seem to be working.
I am also wondering, since my headaches are shorter and have more of a stabbing pain, if I could have been misdiagnosed. During this current round of headaches, the pain seems to be starting first in the neck instead of behind my eye (which is the way it was during the first 2 periods). During the pain (which lasts between 15 and 45 minutes and occurs only during sleeping hours), I have found that moving seems to aggravate the pain and make the episode longer. So I just lay there, breathe as deeply as I can and bear the pain. Perhaps I have CPH, which seems to be more prevalent in women?
I am planning to try acupunture to treat them this time. Does anyone out there have some advice for me? Do I sound relatively typical for a cluster headache sufferer?