MRI for cluster headache

[Kathyro930]

I am a 44 year old woman.  Did anyone out there ever have an MRI done for these ice pick, stabbing, "cluster headaches"???  Did anything EVER show up?  Does ANYONE have ANY suggestions for relief of these painful, painful head jabbing pains???

HELP!


This discussion is related to Stabbing, Jabbing, head pain.

[clusterhead]

Kathyro930,

It would be helpful to provide additional information. Have you been diagnosed with cluster headaches? How long ago? How have you been treated up until now? Cluster headaches are not used to diagnose positively with MRIs. Rather, MRIs are used to rule out other causes of headaches. Substantial research with PET scans has been encouraging, but generally used currently primarily in funded research.

There are lots of treatments to abort individual cluster headaches and others to try mitigate or prevent them. I do not know of any preventive treatments that work with a large percentage of cluster headache sufferers, but there are a number of abortives that seem to work for many, if not most. Some, like the triptans (the most popular being sumatripan [Imitrex], are used as a headache comes on, and are fairly expensive, even with insurance because they are considered "off label" for cluster headaches (on-label for migraines, while, say, six doses a month may work for migraines, that may be one or two days' worth for clusters). Others, like prednisone and other steroids, are begun when the cluster episode starts, and are tapered off until the episode is gone or until the dose stops working, and the dosage is restarted at a higher level and the tapering repeated. Steroids, unfortunately, have both long- and short-term side effects that have to be carefully weighed against the benefits. Triptans are generally safer, but are not appropriate for everyone, particularly when used frequently.

Oxygen therapy works for many (it is my abortive of choice), and has the benefit of having relatively few side effects when used safely. There is no generally accepted procedure for using O2, but you can read how many cluster sufferers approach their O2 use at www.clusterheadaches.com. The site has a discussion board where you can get support and advice from hundreds of long-term sufferers, find Web links to the latest in O2 therapy and other treatments, and read about the large range of treatments that have worked for at least some people.

Though neurologists are more likely to be up on cluster headache treatment than when I was first diagnosed 20 years ago, you should really try to find one that is tied in with the cluster headache community or the headache research community, because there is more research than ever before on cluster headaches than ever before. Because there is no one right (or even one best) treatment regimen, and because the precise mechanism that triggers clusters is not clearly understood, you should be prepared to go through several rounds of trial and error. But the right doctor will understand what you are going through and be sensitive and supportive, particularly if they have worked with a number of patients with cluster headaches, and be aware of breaking developments.

I wish you many pain-free days ahead. And know you are not alone.