Beginning/End of a Cycle

[igdc]

If you're ending a cycle, do your headaches simply stop or do they taper off? And if they taper off, do you feel them still (like the patterns of the headache/pain/shocks), but they're less intense over time until they're gone?

Similarly, if a new cycle is starting, does it hit you all at once or did you experience an on-ramp in terms of incident and intensity? Thanks.

[Luis]

My cycle has been ending but they taper off. Same with the beginning of my cycle. Week 2 and some days in week 3 are usually the worst for me. 

[jon019]

.....bell curve....slow ramp up/down # and intensity....one MASSIVE hit at end which signaled end of cycle.....

[onyx8nomad]

Bell curve as well. They are so specific in nature, (same spot, same feelings) you will.... (given a couple of cycles) notice ones at the beginning of a cluster that don't even qualify as "headaches".  After a couple of those you know... *sigh* a cluster has begun. This is when I usually warn employers, and family. To explain why I might "disappear for an hour or two" until a headache passes.

It then ramps up, and then eventually ramps down. The worst is when you are mid cycle. You keep asking, "have I past the peak? or am I still ramping up?"

It goes without saying, that as predictable as the headaches become, the length and severity of each cluster is something I have only been able to VERY roughly estimate.