what to do

[cathi878]

my husband has had these cluster headaches, for 5 years, they come every year, they start in the eye and he screams when they come, they last 5-10 seconds and his eye is red. hes taken all kinds of medicine but none of them work.

[ChappyCH]

P.S. - sumatriptan (imitrex) and other triptans (I liked zomeg best) can abort an attack in 5-10 minutes if your husband's ever last that long, but recent research shows that using triptans more than twice a week or so will increase the number of attacks and the pain level.  It's losing favor fast among sufferers.

As the good Dr said, oxygen is best, 100%, 15 lpm, with a non-rebreather mask.  It's effective for 60+% of sufferers depending on the study.  

Clisterheads also swear by the tried-and-true Red Bull abort.  Suck down a Red bull or other energy drink with 1000mg taurine per serving (Monster and Rock Star) at the first sign of an attack and you can often abort it.  Doctors don't like this much, but sufferers swear by it.  Do it more than once a day, though, and you can get rebound attacks later.

[ChappyCH]

Cathi,

I ran across this old post.  I've suffered from cluster headaches since 2000, chronic since 2005.  What you are describing sounds like a cluster headache in terms of the pain level and location, but I've been active on clusterheadaches ******* and I've never heard of anyone's attacks lasting only seconds.

There is, however, a condition called SUNCT where people get multiple attacks of the same kind of pain many times a day, but they usually last less than 60 seconds.

The answer to "what do I do" is to see a neurologist who is a headache specialist.  Make sure they really do specialize in headaches, and if you're not in a big city it's worth travelling to get a proper diagnosis and treatment options.

A website called OUCH dot org has a list of neuros recommended by headache sufferers by area.  I went 7 years with an improper diagnosis, and was even told by one neurologist that "you have no neurological symptoms.  Why are you here?". Find an expert.

[Dr Rajgopal]

Hi,
Oxygen and sumatriptan have been demonstrated to be effective in the acute treatment of cluster headaches. Verapamil has been shown to be effective for prophylaxis. For cluster headache completely refractory to all treatments, surgical modalities and newer interventions such as the implantation of stereotactic electrodes may be useful. Patients should be encouraged to avoid possible triggers such as smoking or alcohol consumption, especially during the cluster period.For knowing the complete treatment plan pl. Visit the site- http://www.aafp.org/afp/20050215/717.html. Hope this helps you. Take care and regards ! Do keep me posted.