Question about shadows?

[Brianh]

I am curious as anyone experiences shadows on the opposite side of their head from the side they get attacks on? I seem to experience shadows on the left side of my head and behind my eye during my cycle more than on the right side in which my attacks occur. Is this normal or something others experience?

[xxx]

Brianh. 

One of the best answers to your question comes from a survey of 1134 CHers conducted by Dr. Todd Rozen, M.D. FAAN October - December 2008.

1134 individuals completed the survey (816 male, 318 female). 868 patients had episodic CH (male: female 2.9:1) while 266 had chronic CH (male:female 1.8:1).
A. Age of Onset: 71% had their first ever CH at 30 years of age or younger, 35% 20 years of age or younger, while 20% of CCH started after age 40 years vs 10% ECH
- 45% of female CH patients had age of onset 20 yrs of age or younger vs 32% of male CH patients
B. Eye Color: Predominant eye color in cluster patients was blue 33%, brown 33% and hazel 21%. Brown eye color was the most common in ECH while blue eye color was the most prevalent in CCH. No difference in eye color distribution in male and female CH patients
C. Diagnosis: CH diagnosis was typically initially made by a general practitioner or a general neurologist (non headache specialist) .
- Average time to correct diagnosis was usually either less than 1 year (25%) or 10 years plus (22%).

Pain location
- 49.1% right-sided
- 44.1% left-sided
- 3.1% bilateral pain: CCH 8.3% vs ECH 1.5%.
- 30.5% stated that pain has changed sides since onset of CH
- 8% stated that pain shifted sides during an individual CH attack

Hope this helps,

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Edited to add:  There may be other good answers...  That said, from my 22 years experience with CH, the only thing consistent about them is their inconsistency... In other words, what you're experiencing is normal SOP for cluster headaches.