buckeyefool;508725; said:
A few years ago I use to get what the Doctor called cluster headaches. What he said it was was almost like high blood pressure but only in your head, he said it was more common in men since we actually tend to think :)
I am a cluster headache patient. My neurospecialist was quite surprised when I was finally diagnosed correctly as it is unusual for women to get this kind of headache.
The first year I had them I had no idea what was going on and would eat handfuls of advil or excedrin, whatever was in the house and then spend the next few hours rocking back and forth(first clue), putting raw ice on my temples and the back of my neck, moaning and sometimes screaming in pain. I think one of the first few times I almost broke OCBF's fingers when I spasmed and squeezed his hand so hard. I had never in my life had headaches like this before(second clue.)
I was misdiagnosed as a migraine sufferer for two years prior to being finally diagnosed as a cluster. I took Midrin for those two years which worked great for awhile but always knocked me out. It's a mix of acetimenophen and a sedative. Supposed to knock you out so the excedrin has time to work. When I would wake up I would still have the headache (third clue.) Then it stopped working so well due to over-use.
I seemed to always have these headaches during the hottest months of the summer and never really any other time(fourth clue) which led to several arguments with several doctors about me having allergies. They must not have believed themselve either because they never tested me for specific allergies.
Last year I finally got an MRI and saw a neurologist who confirmed it wasn't migraines, I had clusterheadaches. Migraine sufferers typically have them all their life, I hadn't. Migraine suffers experience sensitivity to sound and light and often get hallucinatory reactions to the sound and light. I never had that. Migraines can occur any time during the year, my headaches usually only happened in a four month period on a regular cycle. Migraines can last for days and occur any time of the day, clusters tend to happen during sleep or on the way to sleep and don't go away with sleep. Migraine suffers tend to just need to lay down, in the dark and quiet, and allow the medicine to work. Not moving is part of what makes it go away. Clusters tend to rock and pace and even bang their head against the wall, movement actually makes it feel better.
Anyway, once I was correctly diagnosed I was put on a preventative course of Verapamil twice a day (its a high blood pressure medication with a side use for cluster headache therapy) and a muscle relaxant pill at night before bed. I was prescribed Imitrex Nasal spray, 20 mg to use as a "rescue" medication.
I escaped all this year from having a headache. My entire "cycle" was pain free. Until last night. Out of the blue, my eye felt like it was being pushed outward from inside my head, my nose felt like an ice cold spike was being shoved up my left nostril and my temple started pounding. When I first felt my temple start to throb I took a midrin but within 3 minutes it was a full blown cluster headache and I was rocking on the couch. So, for the first time ever I used an Imitrex.
Holy jumping strawberrys, is that shit FOUL! It was the worst kind of bitter bile-like fluid draining down the back of my throat. I got up after taking the dose to go get some ice in a plastic bac and when it first hit my throat I gagged so hard my legs collapsed and I had to grab the fridge to keep from falling. OCBF came in the kitchen when he heard it and ended up keeping me upright as I gagged and spit up in the kitchen sink. And the headache, holy crap the headache, actually EXPLODED into something that made me feel like my skull was cracking open. After all the draining and gagging was over I lay down in a dark room and rocked back and forth with an ice pack on my head for about 20 minutes until the worst of it finally broke. It's like a wave cresting.
Once it was managble, we went and got dinner with some friends. That took about an hour. Unfortunately, as soon as I got home, it happened again. That's the nature of cluster headaches, they come in bunches. Repeat of the above with less gagging this time as I was ready for it, plus two midrin and two muscle relaxers. It still made the whole thing worse before it made it better! Within 40 minutes I was passed out asleep. I am still fighting it off. Woke up with my eye still feeling like it was being pressed out from teh inside. Took one midrin, sat with an ice pack over my eyes until it subsided. Headed to work. Here I am periodically putting a soft ice pack on the back of my neck, closing my eyes, took some extra excedrin to compensate for not being able to take two midrin (due to the sedative) and hoping hoping hoping it doesn't go full blown.
I am seriously calling my doctor and getting the Imitrex in a self-administered hypo or changing meds entirely. That has to be better than the drain from it nasally. Has anyone else had this problem? Worse before it got better and drain like the worst bathtub crank ever?
hawaiianbuckeye;567242; said:
I recently read somewhere that SEX could alleviate the pain! Seriously, I just read it the other day somewhere. It's because of all the endorphins and/or other chemicals that are released during sex!
HAYN
Trust me, personal experience, says HELL NO.
