bobcat

Thank you Dallas Denny for the connection! I reached out to Boston Headache D with a private message.

Thank you both for your input! I agree, I don't think I have CH. My mother and brother fit the description to the tee but my symptoms are completely different. It kills me that the doctors can not figure this out. 2 out of 3 neurologist have called then CH, I used the term "cluster migraines" because as a kid that's what my parents called them. I did notice they are called Cluster headaches. I have quite the hard time trying to type and stay focused with the pain. I have been to the Faulkner Hospital headache clinic in Boston and they diagnosed me with the low pressure headaches but their protocol in 2010 did nothing to help.. they tried a blind blood patch, botox, verapamil. Living with that for 6 years was terrible! The neurologist in Boston may have been the most arrogant person I have ever met. I will have to research other Headache clinics in my area I have other symptoms like numbness in my forehead, the intense pain sits right behind the eye equal with my temple. I tried a round of prednisone but it didn't touch it. I will research the cervicogenic headache again as they were on my radar in 2010 but I was told otherwise. Thanks again, Bob

Hi xBoss, Thanks for the welcome!

Hi all! My name is Bob and I recently been suffering with a consistent 24 hr a day headache since Feb 15 2019. Previously I had a 24hr a day headache from 6/2010-10/2016 and it ended with a cortisone shot I got in my lower back (l5/s1). So I went back this time and the shots didn't touch it (I also got 2 shots in my neck). It started this time while curling a 30# dumbbell. I thought I strained a muscle in my neck but soon realized it wasn't as 2 minutes later I had a sudden onset of these miserable headaches! Doctors did MRI of brain/neck and also vascular MRI of brain and neck but said everything was normal. I grew up watching my mother go through bouts of cluster migraines but she would get them after she went to sleep and they would subside after 6 or so hours only to start again the next night. Hers started when she was 19 and she still suffers from them today. My brother has them and they started when he was 17 and the mimic the same symptoms as my mother's. My headaches are much different as they never leave. Mine originally started when I was 36 after tightening a pipe with 2 pipe wrenches. They vary in intensity and get uncontrollable when I get my heart rate up. I'm a plumber and it's very hard to work with these as a lot of physical activity is required to do my job. I am currently only working every other day. But the days I do work I suffer and by the end of the day I'm not a pleasant person to deal with. From 2010-2106 I took a management position that didn't require manual labor. I get a terrible burning sensation in my neck and the headache throbs with every heartbeat. Some days it's bilateral and others it's unilateral, sometimes I can't move my head side to side because the pain is so intense. I am seeing a neurologist but his methods are not working. I am willing to suggest things to him but I don't know where to start. In 2010 I was diagnosed with cluster migraines by one doctor and low pressure headaches by another even though there was no signs of brain sag on the MRI. This doctor thinks they are cluster headaches and prescribed the verapamil and indocin and I'm in the wait and see mode! I take 240 mg of verapamil and 50 mg of indocin daily. It helps somewhat but never stops it and certainly doesn't prevent it from escalating when I get my heart rate up. From what I'm reading here it wont! I need a method to abort the headache then the preventive medicine may help? In March I landed in the ER because of high blood pressure (this was before I could see the neurologist). The pain seems to drive up my blood pressure. They put me through a stress test and in 7 minutes on a treadmill the pain escalated to a 10. I passed the stress test proving there is nothing wrong with my heart, but it also proved I can not function in daily activities without a terrible headache. I do know that a shot of Toradol and oxygen can calm it down for a few hours and then it intensifies again. This worked in the ER and has worked in the past. I have never had oxygen at the house to use daily would that be a good place to start? I know most of you aren't doctors but any suggestions that I can relay to my neurologist will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bob