First, some background.
“Clusterhead” is a colloquial term used to describe cluster headache sufferers. Cluster headaches affect about 0.2% of the general population making them very rare indeed. Unless you are a sufferer, or live with one, it is unlikely that you will have ever heard of the condition. I don’t intend to explore the epidemiology of cluster headaches but those who are interested should look at the Wikipedia article and the Organisation for the Understanding of Cluster Headache (OUCH UK) site.
What is relevant to this post is the nature and severity of the pain experienced by clusterheads.
The pain of CH attack is remarkably greater than in other headache conditions, including severe migraine. The pain is typically described as burning, stabbing, boring or squeezing, and may be located near or behind the eye. Those with cluster headaches may experience suicidal thoughts during an attack as a result of the pain. It is reported as one of the most painful conditions.
There is no known cause and no known cure for cluster headaches.
Secondly, some information about me.
I’m male, 66 years old and a former Biology teacher. I retired six years ago. My first encounters with CH began about ten years ago but weren’t diagnosed until January 2010. I suffered a very serious episode whilst on holiday in South Africa and upon my return saw my GP who made the diagnosis. That episode lasted three months. My next episode began on April 1st 2012. This time I was in Sri Lanka and that attack also lasted for about three months. My most recent attack began on December 14th 2014 and ended on May 12th 2015. It was by far my most severe attack as well as being the longest and it is that episode which is the subject of this blog post.
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