So I finally saw a headache specialist today. He said that they were cluster headaches. We had a chat about where to go from here. He said he'll write a letter to my GP outlining the medication I need to be prescribed (steroids and Varapamil) as well as the injections being essential for if/when I get the headaches. He said that the injections are a last resort and they should be able to find the right combination of drugs that means I'll be able to live normally if/when I have another cluster.

Although it's still a bit up in the air, I feel better having spoken to someone who knows what they are talking about.

Cluster Headaches

Just over a week ago I had what I thought was a really bad migraine. It was a different kind of pain, though. It was centered behind my eye and went into my teeth and jaw. Unlike migraines, being in a dark room didn't seem to help. Thankfully it went after an hour. About a week later I was woken at around 2 am by the same pain. This time, however, it was much more intense. I was restless and regardless of how much I tried I just couldn't get comfortable. In the end I was pacing up and down in the hope that the pain would go. Normally I have a reasonably high tolerance to pain but, as this had reached a 10 on the pain scale, I will admit that it did actually make me cry. I ended up in A&E but after 2.5 hours of waiting, and still no doctor, the pain had subsided and so I went home (I was extremely tired by this point). The pain came back the next day, although it was 'only' a 7, and so I returned to A&E. I had to wait about 3 hours before I finally saw the doctor. The pain had subsided again by that point but I was determined to been seen by someone.

He said that it sounded like cluster headaches (CH) and to book an appointment with my GP. He gave me some Co-Codamol in case it happened again. I had a further 3 attacks after that, the worst reaching a 9 on Tuesday but luckily I didn't have one yesterday. The doctor took some blood and I get the results back tomorrow. He told me to take Paracetamol and Ibuprofen together, but I have been speaking to some CH sufferers who have said that painkillers just won't work. If the blood tests come back as normal and I get another attack I will go back and ask for some suitable medication.

I was advised to print off a journal article and take it with me, in the hope of educating my GP a bit further with regard to CHs. It says the following:

"Cluster headache (CH) pain is considered the most severe of the primary headache syndromes and
is arguably one of the most severe pain syndromes that afflict humans."

I would say that is an accurate description of how I feel during an attack. I'm hoping that it might be viral or stress related as there is no cure for CHs and people suffer for weeks or months at a time before being pain free. Inevitably, however, the CHs will return at some point and the cycle starts over. I will update once I have the results of the blood test and/or if I have another attack.