To ask about cluster headaches or migraines?

[Namechanger1776]

Has anyone got any experience of this. I’ve had a headache every day since Thursday. It got so bad this morning I wasn’t at work over it.

I phoned the doctor because I phoned after 8.30 I couldn’t get an appointment. I’m a migraine sufferer but this seems to be going on and on.

Anyone got any advice? Or something I can take over the counter?

You can read about cluster headache on the OUCH website. Check the diagnostic page to see if the symptoms match yours.

Whatever it is I sympathise. Headaches are miserable, and frequent ones can make your life hell. I hope you get to see your doctor soon and get some relief.

Interesting you posted this today OP as I’m the same. I’ve had a headache basically every day for over a week, I’m also a migraine sufferer and if I don’t take painkillers quick enough then it evolves. I was working myself into a froth last night that I might actually be really unwell as it’s been a long time since I’ve had so many headaches.

It is unlikely to be a cluster headache as they are some of worse pain imaginable from what I understand. It’s meant to be like an amputation without anaesthetic! I have suffered from chronic daily headaches for the last 12 years. So I have just had a constant headache which varies in intensity. Where is your pain located? And are you sensitive to light? It’s important to know if it is a tension headache or a migraine. Many people like a migraine is a bad headache but a tension headache can be more severe than a migraine. Sorry for last of paragraphs, my return key isn’t working ☹️

I sympathise with his. I've been having the same mental debate about cluster headaches versus migraines. I too have been getting week plus, what I assume are migraines. I have just come out of a two weeker. My migraine meds kill it for a few hours but then it returns. I spoke to my GP who didn't seem to commit to what she thought is going on. I was just told that if it hit the three week mark to go back. I'd love to hear from anybody who has the answer. The near constant state of having a headache is making me really low.

If they are migraines and normal migraine meds aren’t helping you need a refer to a neurologist. Then you can get Botox. This worked amazing for my friend and essentially get zero migraines now compared to 4 or so a week. However, Botox is only good for migraines not tension headaches

@Penguinpower my return isn’t either I thought it was just me!

Repeated triptan use can cause more headaches. I saw a specialist who was very helpful regarding a drug regime and management advice. I hope you feel better soon - constant pain is very debilitating.

It’s around the top of my head like a tightening band. Some days it’s worse than others. Today it has been awful with sickness so I have put that down to migraine. I’m taking solphadene and ibuprofen today. As I can’t even get out the house. My return key also not working!

You can ask your GP to prescribe you candesartan. My partner takes these for his migraine headaches. He did use oxygen but that didn't work, which is why they said it wasn't cluster (you could try that first?). They are also called suicide headaches because they are so bad, awful to witness as someone who doesn't have them, and we ended up in A&E when it was really bad.... Hugs and sympathies to you

I’ve been thinking that I have had some cluster headaches rather than migraine. I had some headaches last week which were so intense I thought my head was going to burst. I was incapacitated with pain for a short period of time a few times over two days. I have a migraine type headache again today and I am so worried it will happen again.

I have migraines that often last for days particularly around the time of the month. I have sumatriptan (immigran) on prescription. If I take it as soon as I feel the start I'm mostly OK but if too late I get a humdinger. Ask your gp about it. They used to only let me have a small pack because it was expensive but it's generic now and according to my gp at the time "cheap as chips" so don't be fobbed off.

My return key isn’t working either. I thought it was due to IOS 12.

Taking soluable aspirin in a full fat coke can really help with migraines. When my neurologist suggested it, i thought that would never work but it does! I find aspirin more effective than ibuprofen but usually have to take codeine and then you get into rebound headache territory so you need to be careful.

I suffer from migraines although not very often. I have only ever had a cluster headache once and I'd take week long migraines over that any day. I contemplated suicide (complete over reaction in the cold light of day now but at the time it felt like the only way to get relief as I was out of my mind with pain and too many painkillers) as nothing was helping and I resorted to smashing my head off the floor to divert my attention from the pain. I've never felt pain like it, not even child birth. I had went to bed just fine and woke around 2am with instant agonising pain. DP didn't know what to do and said it was probably the scariest thing to watch as I was so distressed. It lasted about 2.5 hours and then I collapsed into bed exhausted and slept for hours.

Oh my return key isn't working either.....strange.