The trouble with asking for cluster headache help is that you get all sorts of well-meaning advice from migraine sufferers - no disrespect to them intended.
The two conditions are like chalk & cheese. In terms of pain, clusters are like migraines on steroids. They are one of the most painful conditions known to medical science.
Mrs SD is a long-time sufferer.
They are diagnosed by a Neurologist, in our experience, GP's know virtually nothing about them and it took considerable internet sleuthing to get ours to even acknowledge their existence!
The condition occurs due to abnormal activity in the hypothalamus portion of the brain. The condition is often genetic. Mrs SD's mother was a sufferer as is her eldest son.
The key clue to headaches being cluster vs migraine is time! Cluster sufferers will suffer episodes on a regular time basis eg every Spring, Autumn etc, once per month on a set number of days. Every day at a certain time etc. Very strange linkage to internal biological clock.
Mrs SD's occur every 18 months for a period of around 2-3 weeks, every day at 2am in the morning. She considers herself very lucky not to have them more frequently.
Other observable symptoms are a temporarily drooping (normally right-sided) eye plus manic back & forward pacing around the house etc. Occasionally, banging her head on the floor, and on the stone patio out back, in a desperate attempt to ease the pain has been known. This is a common action undertaken by some sufferers - it is illogical and the reason why they do so is unknown. Typically, a vicious pain on the right side of the head in the neck, over the ear and into the back of the right eye will be experienced.
Some sufferers, not Mrs SD, have been known to try to access the painful area via the eye orbit in an attempt to relieve the pain - far too gruesome to discuss here. They are also called suicide headaches. An outcome in the case of some badly affected individuals.
Treatments include breathing cylinder-fed oxygen & electrode pain-blocking implants for those suffering virtually continuous episodes. Lithium based drugs are also used - these are 'heavy duty' medications with some horrible side effects.
Mrs SD uses Sumatriptan (also used for migraines) to good effect. Tablet form is a waste of time, far too slow to act and of limited benefit. Nasal spray is better, and useful if you are awake and feel an attack coming on - kills pain in around 5 minutes. Self-injection 'pens' are very fast, handy when you awake to an attack - kills pain in around 2 minutes. Both the latter leave the victim feeling groggy, spaced out and completely 'crashed'. They also require the ingestion of anti-nausea drugs to combat the inevitable side-effect.
Expect a fight with a GP to obtain the 'pens'. When last checked some years ago they were around £70 each!
@Alien8 - good luck getting yours under control. A neuro referral and formal diagnosis is a good starting point.
