MoxieGirl

Hi Plakatboy, Might be a shadow? Many people describe a shadow as a headache before or after an attack. I tend to think shadows are more like a presence in the mind, but that's probably just fear. I sometimes get a headache for about 2 hours before an attack, which I think would class as a shadow, and have headaches following an attack for a few hours. All pretty normal. I get a lot of migraines, and my migraines tend to be across both sides of the head, or more precisely above and behind both eyes. Clusters are nearly, always one sided. Once I was in about day 3 of a bad migraine when I got a cluster. After the cluster I was totally pain free for about 2 hours, then the migraine returned. I think the cluster scared it off. I don't know if you've seen all the hype about the Raspberry Ketones. They are the current weight loss miracle pill. I tried some awhile back and got very noticeable heart palpitations. I've never had palpitations in my life, so it was a bit weird, to put it mildly. I did some testing over the course of a few days with different dosses, but even a small dosage made my heart flutter. So I wouldn't worry much about the heart throbbing. Come off the D3 for a few days and see if it stops, then perhaps go back onto it, building up the dosage gradually over a week. Perhaps you'll find an effective dosage that doesn't cause the throbbing. That said, when anything to do with the heart, ALWAYS worth talking to your doctor about. MG

Hi Big hugs. It sucks majorly that this wonder medicine is illegal. Have you thought about RC Seeds? They are legal to buy in most places of the world (if not everywhere), easy to store (cool, dark place) and effective. I started with seeds for most of my first year. More hugs, MG

Ahhhh.... shucks. I agree with you, this site and the amazing people here also saved my life. I've probably said it before a few times, but I was actually putting a date in my calendar when I was going to end it all (Yes, I'm that anal sometimes). But I came here, found the answers, and am still residing on planet Earth. Hugs MG

I've always said, if I had a super power it would be to touch someone and have them experience my worst cluster attack for 5 minutes. But, alas, I don't have that super power, How did your neighbour react in the end? Has she changed her ways? MG

Hi koctail, Thankfully, alcohol is not a trigger for me. I've recently backed away from my usual intake of Rum, but for purely weight loss reasons. I find that if I have a particularly bad migraine that won't go away with the usual battery of pain killers, 6-8 shots of vodka gets rid of it. So I'm very alcohol isn't a cluster trigger. MG

Hi Astro, Welcome to the community, glad you're here. I am a qualified Holistic Massage Therapist here in the UK, which I imagine is pretty close to a LMT Stateside (assuming you are in the States). I suffer with: Daily Chronic Headaches, hereditary migraines and of course cluster headaches. On average, I have a headache 4 days out of 7. Psychedelics have not helped my headaches at all. Massage has some, and even on rare occasions stopped a headache, at least for an hour or two. My migraines can range from 3 a year to 40+ a year. It is thanks to psychedelics that I rarely have more than 10 or 12 a year any more. For me, stress is a MAJOR migraine trigger, as well as lack of sleep. Massage is fantastic for reducing my stress and improving my sleep. Three or four years ago I went to a massage therapist regularly while in a very stressful part of a project. That is what prompted me to study massage myself and get qualified. Clusters are an entirely different ball game. I'm chronic, which means my attacks come pretty non-stop all year round for 8 years now. About the longest cluster free gap I've had is around 23 days. I can have between 1 and 5 attacks a week, although before using mushrooms that number was easily 15-20 or more a week. I found some of the massage techniques helpful with clusters, while the same techniques are unbearable with migraines or headaches. As Weatherman mentioned above, the thumbs pressed into the underside of the brow line is wonderful for relieving the pressure of a cluster, but absolute agony with a migraine. I did notice a massive drop in daily headaches, migraines and clusters during my months of training, especially following the weekends we were gathered for the course and I had received 4 or massages that weekend. I also find giving massages also works wonders, as when done right giving a massage is nearly as therapeutic as receiving one. For the record, I don't always know when I'm about to get a cluster. Only about 20% of the time do I have a shadow or headache before the cluster attack. Sometimes I'll have a headache lasting up to 2 hours before a vicious attack, after which all pain will leave. But normally I get hit out of the blue, as if someone stepped around a corner and punched me in the face without warning. No, correct that. They are more like someone stepped around the corner and hit me in the eye with a baseball bat without warning. The vast majority of my clusters come on that suddenly and that forcefully. It is also worth noting, that although high stress can trigger migraines, low stress can trigger clusters. Many cluster heads find they get attacked when going on holiday or taking the long weekend away from work. Clusters are notorious for striking after someone has gone to sleep - when they are relaxed. I spend my life carefully balancing my stress levels. Too much is bad, too little is bad. Massage can help maintain that balance, or if I'm not careful, throw it out of whack. Hope you're enjoying your course. Moxie

Oh! Shopping centres - that's an interesting topic. I always get very dehydrated when shopping. I notice when I get dehydrated I find it hard to focus, words get jumbled, thinking is difficult. I am quite careful to make sure I stop and drink and re-hydrate.

I've signed up, and have posted the link to my Facebook page. Will get my house-mate to sign up this evening, we are both frequent amazon shoppers.

Hiya Steve Yes I have in fact. One of the very first posts I read on our sister site was about the H2o regimen. I tried it then for a week or so. Have never been so water logged in my life. Struggled to keep it up and it only helped marginally if at all. I do a pretty good job of keeping hydrated these days, am drinking more at home. Still get slammed though. Hey gardengal, I find keeping regular sleep patterns is key to keeping the beast away. I found that if I have more than 2 late nights in a row, I'm sure to get hammered. Even 2 late nights back to back is a risk, and I never have more than 2 late nights in a given week. 10:00 bed time is my norm. MG

Hi Brett, A change in cluster patterns is usually a sign that the busting is working, or at least doing something. Yes, they can come faster and harder, but will eventually break. I never know which side of my head the next attack will be on. I get more on the right side than the left, but the left are MUCH more painful. I've had the odd one or two on both sides at the same time and occasionally they'll swap sides during an attack. Or perhaps it is two attacks back-to-back on opposite sides. Hard to tell. The only rule with clusters is that no two people have them the same and just as soon as you figure yours out, it changes. A changing pattern is part and parcel with cluster attacks, even if it takes 10 or 15 years, they will eventually change in some way. I am one of those people who like to chop and change busting meds. After busting regularly with shrooms for months, I'll switch to seeds for awhile, then back again. I've learned that my body quickly adapts to any medicine it is on, so changing often is good. Although people here can give you advice based upon their own experience, and a list of things to try (Oxygen, sumatriptan, energy drinks, coffee, Vitamin D3, etc.), we have all entered a realm where we are our own doctors and chemists, and probably know more than the doctors we go to see about this condition. As such, it's hard to say what will work for you. There are no charts that says if you are this or that gender and this body weight you should take x grams of mushrooms or so many RC Seeds. We know rough ranges that most people find affective, and the ranges where people experience a minimal trip - most people that is. My advice. Try everything. Start with very small doses and work up. Find your comfort level, find what seems to have an impact against the beast and stick with it for a period of time. And most of all, document all attacks and meds taken. It will help you find a pattern that works, and to help know if you are having an impact on the pattern. MG

I think they are kind of like when you are trying to strike a match, but all you get is a flash of sparks. So you try again, and again and eventually it lights. That's what these things feel like. I get them a lot when I'm driving. Granted, I spend a lot of my time driving. These aren't like 'ice pick' or 'shooting' headaches, which is an electrical shock across the forehead, these are very much the same location and feel of a cluster, but more like a micro cluster. Lately mine have been coming with a splash of watery eye, like someone has shot me in the eye with a water pistol. MG

Well spotted. I read 'chronic migraines' as 'cluster migraines'. That's what you get for scanning too quickly.

I've not heard of this, but whenever I see someone mention 'cluster migraines' I want to either slap them or run. Or maybe slap them then run. Never sure which. It always makes me feel like they haven't a clue what they are talking about, and are just using some words they've heard before, and using them incorrectly. I love how they filter questions. The whole thing reeks of a sham. But, that is just my first impression.

Hey TTB, Yeah, mine fluctuate too. Can start to fade out, then come back in strong again. Sometimes, like right now, the pain fades to nearly zero, enough to make one think the cluster is over. Only for it to hit again a few minutes later. Such fun. MG

Slept better last night. Feel human again. Not as grouchy. Yeah!

Does anyone else get short tempered and mega grouchy when in cycle? I imagine it comes with lack of sleep. I had a KIP 2 last night, and although it didn't really wake me up, it royally disturbed my sleep and I've been tired and ultra grouchy all day. I suppose you might call it a day of shadows. No distinct cluster attack, but pain here and there, foggy head, no motivation, no energy... you get the idea. The big problem is that my daughter is visiting this week. She's 11 and full of energy. I've been snapping at her all day and feeling terrible for it. I just wanna crawl into bed and sleep for a week. I didn't want to get out of bed this morning, which isn't like me at all. Rant over. MG

Hi, What is DHE 45? Have not heard of it. Does it have another name? Not getting your hopes up is often the safest option. The cluster demon is a tough nut to crack. Are you chronic or episodic? If you're chronic, then it can take some time before busting stops things, although if you are busting correctly, you should see, at the least, a difference in the attacks and some improvement after the first couple of busts. Few people bust with no change at all. Just to put it in perspective, I've been chronic for nearly 8 years, have been busting off and on for the last 2-1/2 years, and I still get attacks. They are a world better than they were before busting, but not gone. Although you may not wish to get your hopes up for a 100% pain free life, there are ways to reduce the Hell. Have you tried the Vitamin D3 regimen? What about coffee or energy drinks? Sumatriptan? MG

LOL

So, I'm walking through town centre yesterday and a man approaches. An instant before I could smell his collogne, or was it body odar, my head exploded. Then the smell hit me. A moment later he was past, the smell went away and so did the micro-cluster. It was weird as I don't recall ever experiencing such a clear cut trigger before. MG

Interesting. Keep us posted please.

Dear god, I hope so.

LOL - Worse than Clusters? ROLF - that's funny. Cluster Headaches sit in a group of primary headaches called TAC - Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgias Trigeminal, as you may know, is a major nerve in the face and the one that transmits the pain when we get an attack. It is also believed to be the nerve triggered when you get brain freeze from eating ice cream to fast, which may be why a cluster headache hits in the same place as brain freeze (more or less). Cephalgias is the fancy term for headache. TACs comprise of: Cluster Headaches, Paroxysmal Hemicrania and SUNCT. http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/72/suppl_2/ii19.full That site also lists Hemicrania Continua, which I've not seen before. Always thought TAC consisted of 3 types of headaches. Curious. More information can be found here, as Ouch.uk.org is well written. https://ouchuk.org/paroxysmal-hemicrania https://ouchuk.org/sunct-syndrome I often have attacks that look like SUNCT, or even Paroxysmal Hemicrania, but I don't think I have either of them because they respond well to drugs like Topiramate and Indomethacin. I've taken both of those medications over recent years and they did nothing to improve my attacks. So I can pretty much rule them out. I just have weird clusters. Also worth pointing out that my neuro struggled to put an exact diagnosis on my condition, just saying it is one or more of the three TACs, although more cluster like than anything else. Hope that helps and doesn't overwhelm. To answer your questions: TACs are ALL bad, be it CH, PH or SUNCT. If you have one of these, consider yourself to have paid the ferryman, crossed the river Styx and are well and truly in Hell. Thankfully, the ferryman likes hallucinogenics and you can sometimes bribe your way back across the river, if only for the occasional visit to life. Life threatening? No, no more so than CH. MG

Yeah Didgens, I was thinking along the SUNCT lines too. Hmm. Yep Ripper, I don't get them often, but they seem to come in groups, dare I say clusters. :/

Hi Gang, I've had this experience (for lack of a better word) several times now, but hadn't until today thought of it as a possible variation of a cluster attack. So I thought I'd ask the experts, or at least the vastly experienced. I sometimes get a series of quick, sharp, stabbing pains to my temple, eye and forehead region. These aren't anything like ice-pick headaches, a form of headache I know ALL to well. In total it can last an hour or two, but each stab can last anywhere from 2-15 seconds. Often the sensation is of an extremely cold knife being thrust into my head. It is always one sided, always in the same place and the same intensity of a cluster attack. It can have me wincing in pain for a couple of hours, although only for a few seconds at a time. Also, the pain free period in between can be from a few seconds to minutes. They are starting to really become annoying. Any thoughts? Thanks, MG

Chfather - that is a great survey, am surprised I am just now seeing it for the first time! WOW! I'd sit down and read it word for word if it weren't already after midnight. Will have to down load it and read it later. Sad to see some people had to wait over 10 years to get properly diagnosed. Hugs to all, off to bed now. MG PS 'Cluster Migraine', yeah... no...., don't do that. Cluster Headache causes enough confusion, cluster migraine does't help matters (at least in my opinion). Not wanting to fall into the debate of what these attacks should be called, that has been done to death. Cluster Headache and Cluster Migraine are SO misleading. Oh well.