you made a great point, out of the 3 neurologists I saw only 1 actually gave me any feedback or explanation at all, the other 2 were totally a waste of time & i question their existence on this planet. ie; "your pain should not be that bad" was one of their comments. So you can imagine what I have gone through slightly.
After reading up on cluster headache i will confidently say YES, 100% I had my first ever episode Sept 28th 2009 - approx 1:20pm or so (in that time ....) and i recall this and all of the details of that day - right down to the temp, people I spoke to, all and every detail because i thought it was MY LAST DAY ON EARTH IN THIS SHELL OF A BODY.
The pain was unlike any i have ever had. from a pain scale of 1 -10 with 10 being the worst pain i was at least at a 15, perhaps at 20 out of 10 at some distinct points in that Sept 28th day. This is why i also agree it was not a migraine per se, i just used this term too too loosely in error. sorry.
I was then in pain for the next 2 weeks in my home, dark room, and according to a video i saw of a guy unable to sit or lay or find a comfy position to rest, moaning, groaning, and swaying on his chair - i felt like that for 2 weeks.
Lucky for me I only had a few of those episodes since and only 1 was close to the 1st. A 12 out of 10 on the pain chart.
Since, i have had wimpy (compared to that monster) migraines since, but strong enough to make me extremely nervous, anxious, scared, terrified, and praying that it not progress.
shell said:
"Hi,
I'm not quite sure where to start, Im sorry you suffer from migraines. Have you been diagnosed officially by a Neurologist or at a headache clinic? From what you have written on your other post I am not sure that you understand fully what a cluster headache sufferer goes through. One of the most offensive things that can be said to a sufferer is "I have migraines, I know what your going through", This is due to the fact that migraines and clusterheadaches only commonality is that pain occurs within the head. Migraines are considered severe pain, CH is considered excrutiating, the frequency and extent of attacks are also very different. I am glad you can get some relief from oxy's and benzo's but if you ask any CH sufferer they will tell you that you could throw boxes of the stuff at them and the only effect it will have is to make them sleepy, these medications have no benefit at all against the pain of CH! Unfortunately some sufferers do from time to time in desperation have to resort to opioids just to take the edge off, however this tends to lead to an added issue of then becoming addicted as well as suffering from such a horrific condition.
All I can suggest is keep a well documented headache diary and find a specialist who has the capability of diagnosing you accurately.
Regards Shell
"
