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Hey CoolestNurse, Welcome to Clusterbusters... Having a medical professional in our midst is always a treat... even more so when the medical professional suffers from the same headaches as the rest of us... What I would suggest is you need to see your PCP about lab tests of your serum 25(OH)D. 8 years providing information outreach on the benefits of vitamin D3, Omega-3 fish oil and the vitamin D3 cofactors has produced a wealth of data... For starters, cluster headache sufferers (CHers) and migraineurs presenting with active bouts of headache are almost always vitamin D3 deficient/insufficient... i.e., a serum 25(OH)D less than 30 ng/mL (75 nmol/l). Moreover, if these headache sufferers take sufficient amounts of vitamin D3, (10,000 IU/day plus all the cofactors, better than 80% of them experience a significant reduction in the frequency of their headaches from an average of 3 CH/day down to an average of 3 CH/week. 54% of them experience a complete cessation of CH symptoms. Migraineurs have a similar response to this regimen except they need a higher maintenance dose of vitamin D3 in a range between 15,000 and 25,000 IU/day. Download a copy of the anti-inflammatory regimen CH and MH preventative treatment protocol at the following link and discuss it with your PCP... http://www.vitamindwiki.com/tiki-download_wiki_attachment.php?attId=7708 This is not a joke and I don't sell anything. I've been providing information outreach to migraineurs and CHers on the benefits of this regimen and vitamin D3 since December of 2010. If you've any doubts about starting this regimen, click on the following VitaminDwiki link. It will take you to a page at that site that's all about my work with CHers taking this regimen with vitamin D3 and the cofactors. http://is.gd/clustervitd If you’re still in doubt about starting this regimen, see your PCP for the 25(OH)D lab test. The normal reference range for 25(OH)D is 30 to 100 ng/mL. It's a very safe bet your results will come back less than 30 ng/mL. As CHers and migraineurs, we need to keep our serum 25(OH)D concentration up between 80 and 120 ng/mL. I also suggest you read the following posts by other CHers who started this regimen. I have hundreds more just like them. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/798/#798 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1393027277/2/#2 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1425/#1425 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291969416/1465/#1465 http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1324046404/278/#278 Please feel free to ask questions... Most CHers have them when starting this regimen... I'm here to help. Take care and please keep us posted. V/R, Batch

'nurse, have you looked into hemicrania continua (or other hemicranias)? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemicrania_continua

I've only had full peak attacks on my right side, behind the eye, prior to taking the steroids. I believe I'm experiencing shadows, but they're sort of all over the head, various pings of "reminder pain" but rarely near the original area where my attacks took place, behind the right eye... Does that sound familiar or common?

Hi coolestnurse and welcome! Most people report 'shadows' as sort of -Here comes a hit. No. Actually. it never reached that level. They are described differently by different people. Rather like a low level hit. For me, it feels like the beginning of a hit that never materialized. Not a low level CH with the runny eye and all, just the beginning pains of a hit. It sounds like you have a very mixed bag of headaches! I find caffeine (energy drinks, coffee, etc) helps and so does ginger candy. Shadows can last all day sometimes. My pain can oscillate up and down depending on what I am doing. Lean over and pain goes up. That sort of thing. Of course this is my experience. What are you taking for your CH?

I too have been curious about "shadows", ironically, I just wrote this update to my family yesterday: "I still feel, what I call, 'tinges' of headache pain that typically coincide with the timing of what would be an attack, so 'The Beast' is letting me know he’s still hanging out, probably pissed off he’s had to sit on the sidelines while the steroids are getting all the attention. Hopefully, he won’t be ready to go full beast-mode on my dome when the steroids wear off." Thanks for connecting the dots Spiny!

Using imigran , after C.H. period everything is ok