Hi Anthony. I just saw your message. What you describe seems similar to my symptoms. I get “classic†cluster headaches, which are exactly what others on this board describe. Fortunately I don’t get them nearly as often as many others do.
But I also get this constant headache behind my left eye (the same eye as my clusters). It can last for hours, days, or even multiple weeks. It’s constant. The pain level isn’t nearly as bad as a cluster, but the word “shadow†does exactly describe it. It’s seems worse than what others describe a shadows. And it just goes on and on and on…. It seems like it will never end.
Here’s what works for me. First, as someone else already mentioned, I take a drug call indomethacin to abort the constant headaches. That will either stop it cold or diminish the severity. It also lets me sleep better, so often I can wake up headache free.
Second, I’ve been taking a supplement called Phenibut on a daily basis. This has dramatically reduced all my headaches.
Finally I also use energy drinks, but you’ve already tried that.
In the past I took 240mg of Verapamil. I’m not sure if that helped or not. The indomethacin/Phenibut combination has worked so well I had my doctor take me off the Verapamil.
Oxygen helps the full blown clusters, but it doesn’t do anything for the constant headaches.
I’ve also taken Imitrex. That really works on my migraines, but it never did much for the pain behind the eye.
Hope that helps in some way!