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Cluster headaches

Posted , 4 users are following.

tracey17029
tracey17029

Dear all,

I have suffered headaches since I hit my 40's.  I went to my then GP and he diagnosed that I was suffering from cluster headaches.  They seemed to appear around my period either side of my period and they would effect one side of my head, including my eye and become so severe, I felt like I wanted to jump out of the window.  I had a head scan the GP said just in case I had a tumour but it wasn't that.  The headaches last for around 5 days at a time, it didn't matter what over the counter drugs I took they didn't work.  The GP gave me what he called a stack of drugs but these made me feel sick so I stopped taking these.  Since then (almost 10 years later) I have suffered these headaches on my own.  The pain can increase severely at times and I now find that it is effected my mouth.  I get my teeth checked regularly but they are fine.  

My mother used to suffer from cluster headaches when she was my age and I thought ok maybe in the future these will stop like hers did, in her mid to late 50's. Something for me to look forward to but then I remembered that my father was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia and is still taking Tegretol years and years later.  I'm now concerned that this could end up being something I may start to endure.. God knows that sometimes I just feel so alone with this pain.  No-one can see it and there really isn't anything anyone can do for me, is there?  I really don't want to be taking hard pharma drugs and I try not to take too many headache pills as they don't shift it either.  

I just thought I would share my experience with you, fellow sufferers out there.  I found this website by chance as I was looking up my fathers symptoms.

 

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • StevenRose
    StevenRose tracey17029

    Posted

    Hi Tracey,

    I am a fellow cluster headache sufferer so I am with you on this one.  You are right, sometimes they can just disappear, but as in my case they havent.  I can understand what you mean about the painkillers and hard drugs but honestly if you want relief from the aweful pain, dont take painkillers, as they wont work. You need a triptan.  I take Sumatriptan and to prevent it I take Pregabalin and Verapamil.

    I wish I didnt have to take anything, but the pain is worse than any pain you can think of and it was described in the past as the suicide illness as nothing would help get rid of it.  Now we do have a range of different meds, that if one doesnt another one might.

    I hope I have helped in some way Tracey.

    Good luck and best wishes, take care

  • Hem1996
    Hem1996 tracey17029

    Posted

    Hi, so sorry to hear about what your going through , I also suffered really bad with headaches , for a good 2 years pretty much constant. As of late they have lost the intensity which I am immensely grateful for and not by doing anything in particular , I do have spells which I worry they will go back to what they once was. I never got answers unfortunately after scans and tests etc  and never found any medication to work either like yourself . They made me feel so low until I just tried to live my life as best as a could and stopped worrying about the future and I became much better at coping with them. I’m sure you will find relief and you are not alone going through this and I found talking to others on this website very comforting that there are people who know exactly how you feel! Good luck and stay positive ! 
  • moon53540
    moon53540 tracey17029

    Posted

    I have had these headaches and I think mine are down to artificial sweeteners. I stopped drinking my usual diet drinks for a bit recently and my headaches cleared up. I know this is personal to me and this isn’t why everyone gets headaches over one side of their heads and eyes, but is there a possibility there is something in your diet that may cause your headaches? Think about any artificial additives or processed foods, even sugar maybe and see if cutting it out or down helps with your headaches. The other thing I was thinking is perimenopause maybe? 

    One thing I can recommend is head and neck massage, I am currently on blood thinners and when I started them I had screaming headaches and massage really can help, you can even do it yourself. We hold so much tension in our head and neck that releasing some of that can make a headache more bearable.

    • tracey17029
      tracey17029 moon53540

      Posted

      Thank you Moon, for your lovely message.  Massages do help I agree.  I'm not really a sugar person and I love cooking from fresh. I really don't know what causes them, I have tried to find out so many times.

      Thanks for your comments, I have found them helpful.biggrin

       

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