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This part sounds to me like a tension headache but the duration is still off.. most tension headaches last around 2 hours or so. I have had some pretty lengthy CH attacks (longest I remember was almost 6/hrs.). The other part where you say you lay down and wiggle around until you can fall asleep is also a bit different as a lot of folks with CH can't handle laying down and most can never fall asleep exhausted or not. Instead we pace, kick out at each spike, curse a lot and of course rock back and forth. If the pressure you speak of is the sort that leads you to believe that at any moment you may be holding your left eyeball in the palm of your hand then you may be suffering a CH attack. I am not saying it's not CH and am most certainly not qualified to diagnose squat, but the way you describe it sounds a little different. Sounds like some nasty relative of CH though... The previous responses have pretty much all the info you need to start trying to get this issue under control and I most definitely second the D3 regimen as it can't really hurt to pump yourself full of good vitamins. The oxygen is also something worth trying and has been scripted to some with migraine (my sister had a bad eye that caused her terrible migraine and they gave her oxygen) eventually the eye had to be removed as it was so cataract ridden it couldn't be saved but she didn't have to be diagnosed with CH to get oxygen. I sure hope you get this sorted out! Wishing you some pain free days!

Personally I recognize there can be legit reasons for some people to avoid busting, and I don't want to push it on anyone - you might get great results with the D3 regimen alone - but if this source is correct, magic mushrooms are legal for medical use in Quebec and other Canadian provinces

SciMMiA, your English is excellent, but I'm not sure I completely understand everything you have written. As Bejeeber says, the long duration of your primary attacks does not sound like it is CH, but the fact that a triptan helps, and the eye/nose symptoms, suggest that it is at least in the same category as CH. Are you also saying that in addition to the six bad attacks per month, you also have some "small" pain every day, and that pain is mostly associated with your eye? If you do have CH, then you should have oxygen, and you should probably have a triptan that is not a pill but is either an injection (called Imigrane in France, I think) or a nasal spray (which I think is called Zomig in France). These triptans will stop your attack much faster than a pill, and if you are only using them for attacks about six times a month, you should tolerate it okay. Oxygen will stop a CH attack pretty quickly and it is not as potentially harmful as triptans. Oxygen is inhaled through a mask, coming from a tank/cylinder/cannister. Oxygen and triptans are the recommended treatments in the European Union for stopping a CH attack. Verapamil is the recommended medicine for preventing attacks. You have to take it for several weeks before it becomes effective, so you don't really know yet. Your dosage is in the low range, so your doctor might be going to increase it. That is the way that verapamil is correctly prescribed, starting with a somewhat low dose, monitoring for side effects, and then increasing as needed. Some people need three or four times as much as you are taking before verapamil is fully effective. You could also try the CGRP drug Emgality. As Bejeeber has said, the Vitamin D3 regimen and busting are often very helpful for a variety of conditions. They have fewer side effects than the medications I listed above. There are some people here who have both migraine and CH, sometimes at the same time, or one directly following the other. This is a possibility. Another possibility is some kind of hemicrania (hemicrania continua (HC); paroxysmal hemicrania). These look a lot like CH, and HC includes a constant headache. But . . . usually they do not have such long-lasting attacks as yours, and usually they do not respond to triptans. Have you seen an eye doctor to rule out a headache associated with an eye condition?

Silly of me to have assumed France! Just making sure you saw my earlier, longer message in this thread. Being in Canada, getting oxygen and a more effective triptan should not be that hard. You could also consider a course of prednisone, which will usually stop CH attacks for some days. The everyday lower-level pain might add something to the suggestion of hemicrania continua (HC), and you could test the drug that stops HC, Indomethacin.

This is where you can find the information about the D3 regimen. It might be a little hard for you to get through in English. There is a list/table there showing the basic ingredients. https://vitamindwiki.com/Cluster+headaches+substantially+reduced+by+10%2C000+IU+of+Vitamin+D+in+80+percent+of+people

Me: Not a qualified diagnostician. But from your description I would say if it is CH, yes it sounds a bit atypical regarding the duration of the attacks, and maybe the pain level too. I've noticed that after many years, the attack durations can extend to a good 3, or a bit more, hours for many of us, but 8 hours sounds especially long. The fact that it responds to triptans does make it seem at least cluster adjacent though. And it makes it sound to me like it may very well respond to the D3 regimen and busting, which can bring some impressive preventive relief for both full blown attacks and shadows. Many find that ginger tea or pills can relieve shadows BTW. If you're interested in busting, info on it can be found at the blue New Users - Please Read Here First banner above. ^^^^