Newbie

@jon019 Thank you! Yes, obviously my frustration is seeping through here. I would obviously love if this was a misdiagnosis! But I hope I'll learn enough here to be a better advocate for myself, and I appreciate everyone's help.

Thanks, everybody. I have no intention of letting this halt my life. And there is strange solidarity in knowing I am not the only young woman old man doctors are just not listening to. @CHfather thanks for the links. These are a great place to start. Gonna get a handle on this.

Hi, I am a 29 year old woman a little more than a month into my first cluster cycle. Pretty scared, to be honest. I (kind of) just got an official diagnosis yesterday. I went to a headache clinic, and when I gave the resident my copious records I have kept this month, she immediately diagnosed as clusters. However, when her attending came to confirm, he said he wasn't comfortable officially diagnosing cluster headaches because I am a woman in her 20s (and apparently the more common demographic is male smokers in their 50s). He is calling it "severe migraines with many cluster like features", but allowing me to be treated as if it's clusters -- verapamil/injectable sumatriptan. However, without an official diagnosis the ONE thing I can't get is a prescription for oxygen -- the resident did her best, bless her to find a a way around it but there's no way to get the prescription without the diagnosis apparently, even just paying out of pocket. Unfortunately, it's the also the ONE thing I have found that really breaks up the attacks -- I've gone to the ER twice now for these and it does wonders. Has anyone here had luck sourcing oxygen a different way? I've seen oblique references to welders in articles and forums. Or, is there a doctor you know who is free with their oxygen prescriptions? I'd appreciate any guidance.