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Features that make the severe LEFT sided head/face pain attacks more likely cluster include- rapid onset of attacks- CH attacks reach peak pain in a few short minutes, hence very quick ramp up, unlike migraine, and CH attacks last 30 min to a few short hours (typically an hour or two at most). There is a tendency to favor night attacks- so awoken from sleep with them- and there is no going back to sleep until the attack is over. These night attacks are earlier in the night- whereas migraine waking you up would be more likely morning. Any sensations in the area of CH attacks (head/face) in between attacks are shadows and less commonly shadows can be painful (milder than CH attacks). 95% of CH attacks are accompanied by tearing on the affected side or blocked nasal passage/running nostril on the painful side during the attack. Bad pain all day is not CH. Botox will NEVER work for CH. The metalic taste- may be medication side effect such as topiramate which can also cause tingling of hands/feet/face/tongue. Tongue tinging is a common experience with sensory aura of migraine- in which case it should fit with other aura symptoms. The aura symptoms do not exclude CH as an explanation of the left sided head pains. Experiencing more than one severe one sided head pain episode a day, and predictability of when an attack will occur ('circadian pattern') are commonly seen in CH. There are now many treatment options, guided by a neurologist/headache medicine specialist. Peace.

Yes, pretty normal. Lesser intensity pain between attacks? Also normal, commonly referred to as "shadows" This sucks @susie1984 - I'm no diagnostician, but "ridiculously painful, start behind my left eye and radiate down my face into my jaw and teeth and nothing is relieving them" sounds like classic cluster headache symptoms. Sorry you appear to have become a member of this club. If only there was some medical approach like botox that worked for CH like it does for migraines. BUT there are effective treatments!! The blue banner "New Users - Read Here First" at top of page here ^^^ links to some good starter busting info. That, along with the Basic Non-Busting Information could help you hit the ground running, and hopefully you'll be on the way to relief ASAP.

It was again an awesome time and great to se it growing over the few short years I have attended. Many more Doctors Authors and Vendors. Most of all a bunch of fun happy clusterheads from literally all over the world. Hope you all can make it next year.. Bring a friend and leave with 100 new ones.

Agreeing with everything stated above, I would still consult your neurologist or a headache specialist in your area and maybe get scanned to rule out any other issues going on in your head. If the scan shows a woodpecker holding a drill and pushing on the inside of your eye you pass the test and are now an official member of the Clusterbuster community. Read up on this site and ask all the questions you may have and we all will help you get into a manageable place to deal with this. It sucks but you are in a great place.

I generally only check these boards once a year, but I thought this was an interesting time to chime in. I didn't start having clusters until about 2015, and I left the Army in 2008. I also didn't file for disability until last year (January 2024). I did a lot of research before filing my claim, and from everything I could tell getting clusters linked/approved was almost impossible (I found lots of appeals denial letters which are public record). I had an awesome C&P examiner, and after discussing everything I believe she wrote up a very convincing argument to link them, although I don't know exactly what she wrote. When I filed, I believe I had it as secondary to PTSD. But I did also mention that I had a migraine (my first and only) at the very end of my service. I don't remember the exact details, except that I know we had already moved off base because it started on the drive home from base right before I started terminal leave. In retrospect, it's very possible it was my first cluster attack, although it was also a one off event. All that to say, I never saw anyone in the military for it. Additionally, a big thing with any headache for VA is it needs to be debilitating, and frequent. This is where I think a lot get denied, because episodic clusters won't get rated (almost everything uses migraines as a template). Luckily (or unluckily?) for me, when I was filing, I started seeing a therapist for the PTSD which caused me to have the longest cluster period I've had, lasting 5 months or so. The examiner decided that even though 2015 until 2023 had been episodic, that I was, at the time of the examination, chronic. I also made it clear that cluster headaches prevented me from having a normal work schedule, because once they come on that's it. In the end, I was rated at 30% for them, which I think is a miracle.

Got to meet so many folks, several from the board that I've interacted with for years! The big take away for me? At the 2010 conference in Portland we had one neurologist in attendance....our own bostonheadachedoc....this year we had several including one of our longtime members son who became a neurologist as a result of his Dad's clusters!!

It makes me feel hopeful that more neurologist are becoming educated and familiar with CH. It's good progress for us bangers. Thanks for the share.