Driven mad by cluster headaches

Unlike migraine, cluster headaches are always on the same side and affect mainly men in a ratio of 4:1. The pain of a cluster headache...


I have suffered with headaches all my life, and at times get what have been called cluster headaches.

For the past month I have had a headache nearly every day. I go to bed with one and I wake up with one.

Sometimes they are so painful that I have to come home from work and lie down with my head under a pillow.

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They are very painful and I feel sick, shaky and very weak. I also have trouble concentrating and forget what I am doing at times.

It is beginning to make me depressed and I am getting upset and taking more time off work with headaches than I can afford to. In short it is disrupting my life.

I am looking for some help. I went to see a specialist some years ago who said it was just migraine and I had to live with it.

Is there anything I can do? Are there any foods or supplements I could take that could help?


Cluster headaches cause pain on one side, centred on the eye.

Along with the headache the affected eye is usually red with a weeping, running or stuffed up nose, sweating of the face and forehead and sometimes a drooping eyelid with a constricted pupil on that side.

Cluster headaches last from between 15 minutes and three hours, but can occur as often as eight times a day.

As the name suggests, cluster headaches occur in groups or clusters of about 6-12 weeks duration, usually then followed by a long period of remission which on average lasts about 12 months.

Unlike migraine, cluster headaches are always on the same side and affect mainly men in a ratio of 4:1. The pain of a cluster headache is constant, whereas migraine is usually throbbing.

Giving up smoking and drinking may help.

With the number of headaches you are having, you should look at trying to prevent future attacks by using drugs such as amitriptyline, propranolol, ergotamine, calcium channel blockers and lithium.

In existing attacks an injection of sumatriptan will abort the attack.

Since you have not seen a specialist for some years I would advise that you ask for another referral to exclude other diagnoses, especially as you have had trouble concentrating and have become forgetful as well as suffering from nausea.

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Migraine, acute glaucoma (a build up of pressure in the fluid of the eyeball) and other disorders need to be excluded.

Yours sincerely

The NetDoctor Medical Team

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