What is a Cluster Headache?
It’s ten times more powerful than migraine and is often referred to as "suicide headache," because many sufferers seriously consider killing themselves.
"There’s a publication in one of the headache journals that actually shows an x-ray of a cluster headache patient who had literally stuck a shot gun in his eye and pulled the trigger and shot throughout his brain. Extraordinarily, he survived." Dr Anne MacGregor is Director of Clinical Research at the City of London Migraine Clinic.
She says it is an incredibly debilitating condition and is often incorrectly treated as migraine. Medications are very different for the two, so getting a correct diagnosis is vital.
Sufferers who are episodic are typically men aged between 20 and 40. The attacks come in a cluster, usually once a year at the same time and last from between six and eight weeks. "They experience excruciating headaches, typically waking them from their sleep a couple of hours after they go to bed that build up very quickly and the agitation that accompanies a cluster headache is absolutely extreme."
One eye will be affected and will go red and runny, along with your nose and "…it’s literally focusing like a piercing hot poker in that one eye."
The attacks will then happen the subsequent night and sufferers can have as many as eight attacks in a day.
There’s also a condition called chronic cluster headache which occurs constantly without a break. This is notoriously difficult to treat.
If you think you are suffering with cluster headache and need advice about diagnosis, treatment and support, contact OUCH UK at www.ouchuk.org
