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36 years
I am suffering from a cluster headache with an each 2 years three months frequency. When it comes it is so painful. I want to know if there is a new treatment other than the traditional one?
Apr 28, 2014

Dr. Rania Mousa General Medicine
cluster headache" refers to a type of headache that recurs over a period of time. People who have cluster headaches experience an episode one to three times per day during a period of time (the cluster period), which may last from two weeks to three months. People who suffer from cluster headaches get them at the same time each year, such as the spring or fall.
The most successful treatments are Imitrex (sumatriptan) or other triptans, and breathing oxygen through a face mask for twenty minutes. Other options include: ergotamine drugs and intranasal lidocaine.
Preventive medications. Your doctor can prescribe preventive medications to shorten the length of the cluster headache period as well as decrease the severity of the headaches. All cluster headache sufferers should take preventive medication unless their cluster periods last less than two weeks. Some drugs used in the prevention of cluster headaches include verapamil, lithium, divalproex sodium, prednisone (only short courses), and ergotamine tartrate.
Surgery. This may be an option for people with chronic cluster headaches who have not been helped with standard therapy. Most of the procedures involve blocking the trigeminal nerve.
All of these treatments should be used under the direction of a doctor familiar with treating cluster headaches. As with any medication, it is important to carefully follow the label instructions and your doctor's advice.
TRY to figure out the onset of your cluster headache and before it begins and increases in intensity take your medication
this might be:
-Feeling of discomfort or a mild, one-sided burning sensation
-The eye on the side of the headache may become swollen or droop.
-Nasal discharge; there may be nasal discharge or congestion and tearing of the eye during an attack, which occur on the same side as the pain.
-Excessive sweating
-Flushing of the face on the affected side
-Light sensitivity
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