Cluster headaches,what causes them?

Originally posted by DINSTAAR
I have actually read somewhere that research is being done with '___' as a possible cure for cluster headaches.

Yes, acid.

I will try to find the exact article, but they were also working on making it in a way to minimize or possibly neutralize hallucinogenic effects (why? :puz

.

Not only '___', but magic mushrooms as well! If you take a small dose (around 1 gram) you should be able to treat a cluster headache without tripping out.
www.erowid.org...

Until last year I worked for a company that delivered/installed medical oxygen in patients homes. This was my job and i did it for three years.

During this time, I regularly delivered o2 to cluster headache sufferers. This was prescribed by their GP's. I'm surprised none of you have it?

For those who continue to suffer, speak to your GP's. It is available everywhere here in the UK, and it was a US company I worked for so I know it is readily available there too.

Hope this helps.

i suffered with cluster headaches for 10 years, one year id get them one year i wouldnt. i was prescribed tramadol hydrochloride, whick worked for a while but also monged me out to the stage where i couldnt get out of bed(i had to take long periods of time off work) so i thought id try liberty caps/magic mushrooms and havent had a headache for 2 years now.

let me clear this up real fast..

about 98% of migraine and cluster headaches stem from miss alignment of the bones in your neck and the skull sitting on the bones.

i deal with mass headaches cluster type and over the years i've found that getting adjusted either by chiropractor or do it myself which i've gotten good at. it relieves the headaches with in 5 to 30 mins.

medical doctors are STUPID..

Originally posted by Pewbert
let me clear this up real fast..

about 98% of migraine and cluster headaches stem from miss alignment of the bones in your neck and the skull sitting on the bones.

i deal with mass headaches cluster type and over the years i've found that getting adjusted either by chiropractor or do it myself which i've gotten good at. it relieves the headaches with in 5 to 30 mins.

medical doctors are STUPID..

................and you are qualified in which field exactly?

Originally posted by KyoZero
As a migraine sufferer I know the pain well. It is debilitating and nauseating often causing me to throw up. I use Imitrex or Maxalt for mine but from what I understand Clusters are alot different. I have heard of some relief coming from a capsacin nose spray. Worth a try perhaps.

Good luck and I hope for all of you. Migraines are horrible but I hear clusters are worse

-Kyo

I've been using a capsaicin nasal spray, taken at the onset of the first 'shadows' (very intense! You need about four or five big sprays) and then using an icepack on my temple, ear, and neck on the affected side (the right side for me). I've noticed a dramatic difference. I was at 9 to 9-1/2 on the "Kip Scale", lasting for a couple of hours [sufferers will appreciate what that can do to your soul!], and using the capsaicin spray has got me down to about 4-5 on the Kip Scale, and lasting only 20 minutes or so.

You still get the 'hangover' (as I call it), but it's better than the way it was before. I've also found that the taurine rich energy drinks are good for the hangover.

As for what causes it.... No clue. Some liquors, beer, and chocolate can trigger mine. I've been having them for about a year and a half.
Tried calcium, magnesium, DHEA (controversial, but worth a try), water-water-water and others but nothing works. I've heard that psychotropics have been successfully used but I've never tried.


edited for spelling.

[edit on 1-3-2010 by Badgered1]

Originally posted by KyoZero
As a migraine sufferer I know the pain well. It is debilitating and nauseating often causing me to throw up. I use Imitrex or Maxalt for mine but from what I understand Clusters are alot different. I have heard of some relief coming from a capsacin nose spray. Worth a try perhaps.

Good luck and I hope for all of you. Migraines are horrible but I hear clusters are worse

-Kyo

In a perverse way, I like getting migrains, as this will prevent a cluster headache, or so it seems. Think of having an ice pick pounded into your eye. I am usually not a guy lost for words, but to properly define a cluster headache would require far more elaborate english them I'm caple of.

reply to post by arbiture


I know exactly what you are saying. A migraine would seem like sweet relief to a cluster headache sufferer.

I describe my cluster headaches as having a pool eight-ball hammered into your eye socket for a couple of hours.

Try the capsaicin spray. It's only about $13 for a bottle and it's worth trying. It was invented by a guy who sold self defense stuff. He got hit by pepper spray in a demonstration while he had a cluster headache (my hat goes off to him for working through one!!!). The pepper spray cleared his headache!

Migraine headaches can be pretty unpleasant,but yes cluster headaches are unbelievable,had various diagnoses over the years for mine from various doctors.I've been given migraine tablets these made me sick and didn't help in the slightest,..then another doctor gave me arthritis tablets,i was on them for years helped rheumatics didn't touch headache ,strangely enough Movelat cream (pain relief rub)it is an anti inflammatory rub that takes down swellings.
luckily as i got older the frequency of attacks has diminished,but i do still get them occasionally ,a couple of months ago someone suggested nurofen plus apparently the codeine is part of the opiate family and this does help considerably,its a case of not taking them to often.

Originally posted by Badgered1

Originally posted by KyoZero
As a migraine sufferer I know the pain well. It is debilitating and nauseating often causing me to throw up. I use Imitrex or Maxalt for mine but from what I understand Clusters are alot different. I have heard of some relief coming from a capsacin nose spray. Worth a try perhaps.

Good luck and I hope for all of you. Migraines are horrible but I hear clusters are worse

-Kyo

I've been using a capsaicin nasal spray, taken at the onset of the first 'shadows' (very intense! You need about four or five big sprays) and then using an icepack on my temple, ear, and neck on the affected side (the right side for me). I've noticed a dramatic difference. I was at 9 to 9-1/2 on the "Kip Scale", lasting for a couple of hours [sufferers will appreciate what that can do to your soul!], and using the capsaicin spray has got me down to about 4-5 on the Kip Scale, and lasting only 20 minutes or so.

You still get the 'hangover' (as I call it), but it's better than the way it was before. I've also found that the taurine rich energy drinks are good for the hangover.

As for what causes it.... No clue. Some liquors, beer, and chocolate can trigger mine. I've been having them for about a year and a half.
Tried calcium, magnesium, DHEA (controversial, but worth a try), water-water-water and others but nothing works. I've heard that psychotropics have been successfully used but I've never tried.


edited for spelling.

[edit on 1-3-2010 by Badgered1]

Take oxygen like the other guy suggested....

When you feel the headache coming on pop a goodies powder and hit the oxygen within 20 minutes you'll be on your feet again.

It's the only thing that helps, I am suffering once-three times a day this time of year. I am not sure why but the frequency chances throughout the year.

When it is hot I get them less.

reply to post by arbiture


Hi. I too have suffered from CH since I was 18. I am 41 now.
I use Verapamil and Imitrex injections and Oxygen therapy too.
You mentioned that you are in a support group.
I would love to know about this.
Are you talking about CH.com by any chance?
Thanks.

'___' and Psilocybin have been used in the treatment of cluster headaches.
erowid

Amazing that none of you have considered that it could be the food you eat that is causing headaches.
Big offenders:
MSG and Aspartame are big offenders.
I am MSG sensitive and the sensitivity cascaded to include almost everything on the food additive list. Anything with part of the name being citric, Phos, Sulf, Chor, all single aminos - like they are now using on our veggies as a plant growth stimulant and/or fungacide.
Household chemicals can cause problems both from contact and inhaling.
Cosmetics, toothpaste, shampoo, bath soap, perfume & cologne.

www.truthinlabeling.org...

www.thecanaryreport.org...

In my experience, cluster headaches are often misdiagnosed as Migraine headaches, and the people prescribed migraine medications. That is unfortunate because migraine medications do not help with cluster headaches. There are many useful remedies for cluster headaches: Oxygen inhaling, Magnesium spray or Magnesium powder ( works a lot faster), Capsicum spray or capsicum tincture, ideally taken without any water, niacin-flush type, good chiropractic adjustment of C1 through C7 vertebrae,hot packs on the neck and over the forehead and eyes. These all help and make cluster headaches more easily bearable and even relieve them form time to time. But for a permanent cure the only approach that I know of is deep emotional work-relating to relationships. I know people who are fully cured from cluster headaches after the emotional work and total acceptance of all relationships.

reply to post by OhZone


Yes, the C's are usual suspects as well, citrus, coffee, cheese, chocolate (im sure there's another but i can't think of it).

Originally posted by Pewbert
let me clear this up real fast..

about 98% of migraine and cluster headaches stem from miss alignment of the bones in your neck and the skull sitting on the bones.

i deal with mass headaches cluster type and over the years i've found that getting adjusted either by chiropractor or do it myself which i've gotten good at. it relieves the headaches with in 5 to 30 mins.

medical doctors are STUPID..

Could you provide some links for the bones claim? I've never heard this before and would be very interested in seeing some studies about it.

I was searching for info on google regarding Cluster headaches and found this thread. As a user of the site and a long term sufferer, I thought I should have some input!

Firstly I would like to say to anyone making fun of this subject that it is no laughing matter whatsoever. I have suffered from cluster headaches for 10 years and they have been 'in remission' now for 3. However, I have recently began to have mild versions of a cluster headache occasionally which often signals the onset of a full blown cluster in the near future.

At the time, they are absolutely life destroying, you cannot go to work, you can't sleep, you sometimes can't eat and driving is at your own peril. I find myself unable to socialise and even when I'm not having an episode, I am usually exhausted and just want to sleep. I have read that it is the most painful condition known to medical science and this does not surprise me!

I have been taking Propanalol for several years now and although It seems to be working, clusters still do occur even when I am on the medication, therefore, I don't know if the medication is helping reduce them or doing nothing at all. Personally, I don't want to take the risk of coming off them to experience the blinding agony that may return. As most of the doctors I have ever had are useless, I have not been offered any other solution but I have read that sumatripan injections or 100% oxygen can help abort a headache.

It frustrates me that nobody I know (not even my GP) seems to realise how painful the condition actually is. Sometimes I feel like drilling a hole in my head to release the pain.. that's how bad it is.

If anyone would like to contact me to talk about it, especially if you have only recently started getting them, them message me and I will be glad to offer my support and advice. I'm 25 now so have lived through School, college and work with them and learnt to deal with them the best I can.

Regards
50/50

P.S - would like to say that the only trigger I have identified for myself is aspartame. I avoid all sugar free or diet drinks as most contain this. High levels of caffeine may also be a contributor although I did used to take pro-plus in my early days and they didn't ever trigger an attack.

reply to post by fiftyfifty


Have you tried cutting dairy completely out of your diet for a month? I found out that was THE cause of my issues. Trial and error for a long time to find out.

I think only really, really smart people get cluster headaches...

Seriously though, I've never wanted to drill a half inch bit into my skull so bad in my life. Thoughts of off-ing yourself are not uncommon either.

For me, I suspect diet soda. I've cut my intake to next to nothing and haven't had a cluster in a couple of years (knock on wood).

My mother has suffered from extreme headaches and migraines for the past 7 or so years. I also have a friend who gets them so severely she vomits from the pain. Like others have said here, my best advice is to find a doctor that is willing to work with you, and keep trying different solutions until you find a solution.

The human brain is such a mystery, and I don't really think most people, including doctors, understand many of the medicines that are prescribed to help treat neurological problems. My mom has explained the whole process as a sort of "drug roulette" where each time you spin the wheel of prescriptions to see what to try next. She's tried magnesium, anti-psychotics, anti-seizure medicines, given up just about every processed food, and who knows what else. It could be so many things, or maybe even something people haven't yet considered.

Treating headaches and migraines is like shooting at a target in the dark, blindfolded. I think the most important thing is to keep a positive attitude (as best you can) and keep working to find a solution that fits you.

I had been suffering from some pain injury then i contacted Chiropractor Suwanee GA they provided better treatment and in my words they returned my life.Now i am running,playing enjoying.From that time I believe chiropractic technique because It is suitable for pain related problems.