Virus and Clusters?

[Bryan]

Hi fam, I was just listening to a radio program about a virus spread through a certain kind of tick that produces a rare allergic reaction to eating red meat. It confused the hell out of doctors for years until one doctor narrowed it down to an association with this particular tick. See the link below.

It got me thinking. Has there been any research on Cluster Headaches as a symptom of some kind of virus or infection that perhaps makes it's way to the brain/hypothalamus?  

I did some googling and searching on this site, but I don't see many theories of this kind. I see @didgens started a topic anout ear infections (which I suffered from as a child as well!). Curious if any research had been done on CH being on-set as a symptom, or caused by, something else? I always sort of defulted to the thought that I was born with this, but perhaps we all picked this up somewhere along the way? 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/25/621080751/red-meat-allergies-caused-by-tick-bites-are-on-the-rise

 

[MountainRose]

Hi

This is my first post to the forum, hope I'm doing it correctly. .. in any case, 7 month ago I had some sort of viral eye infection.  Before that infection I almost never had any sort of headache.  Immediately following the infection I developed chronic C.H.

Am currently looking into going on antiviral meds to see if they make a difference to my CH's

[perseverance]

On 7/30/2018 at 7:06 AM, MountainRose said:

Hi

This is my first post to the forum, hope I'm doing it correctly. .. in any case, 7 month ago I had some sort of viral eye infection.  Before that infection I almost never had any sort of headache.  Immediately following the infection I developed chronic C.H.

Am currently looking into going on antiviral meds to see if they make a difference to my CH's

Hello, if you're still there!

I'm fairly surprised to hear that. I also had a stubborn eye infection that relapsed few times back at 7 months before experiencing these headaches. I'm now more inclined to think that the virus may be connected to or triggering a mechanism in the hypothalamic region. Interestingly, I've been prescribed a drug that I've used for 11 months as an immune-modulator cyclosporine which is also extracted from fungi? maybe they all make sense who knows. FYI docs told me it's an epidemic adenovirus, nasty one. 

[m9ndfcuk]

I too suffered from a really bad inner ear infection on the side I have developed clusters. 

[Rich dowdy]

Anyone consider parasites to be a cause for clusters

[snafu]

5 hours ago, Rich dowdy said:

Anyone consider parasites to be a cause for clusters

no

[Jamesmsv]

I have had 3 bouts of shingles on the same side as CH (2 before CH started, one since), I do often wonder if that could be linked because the virus for Chicken Pox /Shingles embeds itself in the nerve endings within the spine (terminology there may not be 100% scientific but you get the idea). Luckily I've only had it once on my face but, when that did happen, it was as if someone had drawn a line from the middle of my forehead, through my left eye, down to the base of my left ear - ie. right where a lot of the frontal pain occurs during CH. When I had shingles on my back it was just to the left of my spine midway up mytorso - right at the base of where I feel the shoulder pain, frustratingly out of reach for self-massage during an attack.

Due to the trouble modern medicine has with getting to the bottom of CH I think there's a mix of genetic and environmental factors that play a part but I would not be surprised to see this linked one day. 

Edited May 23 by Jamesmsv

[BoscoPiko]

Every thought and opinion helps. I appreciate you sharing!

[Alyssaaaa]

On 4/29/2025 at 3:51 AM, Rich dowdy said:

Anyone consider parasites to be a cause for clusters

I was just considering this actually! After all CH is so bizarre as it seems to just come whenever it wants and go whenever it wants. Has always made me feel like it has a mind of its own or is being possessed by some living thing inside of us....after 19 years of dealing with this I'm open to any possibilities! Lol

[Antonio]

I got cluster headaches after a tick bite.