Is this a cluster headache?
I’ve had migraines for about ten years now that have gone from episodic to chronic in the last couple years. Last night I had a very weird headache. It came on suddenly. Usually with a migraine coming on I can continue to function for a few hours. Within five minutes of noticing this headache last night I had to go lie down. The pain was terrible, on the left side (the same as about 80% of my migraines) but I noticed it was more in my neck and face as well as where my migraine pain usually is in the top of my head and my eye. I also noticed that my left nostril was completely blocked. I was preparing myself for 15 hours of hell, but about 90 minutes after it started, it completely disappeared. My migraines are absolutely never that short. They always last 14-16 hours. I have had exactly one other headache like this one, earlier this year in March. It was exactly the same, and it freaked me out so bad that it completely went away in 90 minutes that I went to the ER for a CT scan (clear). I didn’t think it could be a cluster headache because I only had one.
Does anyone else experience both chronic migraines and cluster headaches? Does anyone get cluster headaches but only one every six months?
Posted Sep 11, 2020, 3:16 PM UTC · edited
Yes! I had my first one this past June. Started with an itchy left eye that turned red, left nostril was completely blocked, and about 30 minutes after that the pain started and I thought I was going to die. I took an Imitrex as I have read that is the best for cluster headaches just as a wild guess and immediately went to bed. Woke up a few hours later like nothing happened.
Talked it over with my neurologist and she called it a "cluster migraine." Not sure if that is technically a formal diagnosis or just her combining the two. She told me next time I get one go to the ER and get straight oxygen as that is the best treatment for them. I had another one in July, same thing. Due to COVID I avoided the ER, but I took an Imitrex before the pain started as I knew what was coming. Next morning I was fine again. It is insanely weird as I have no clue what causes mine!