The Truth About Cluster Headaches

Cluster headaches (also used in singular: headache), also nicknamed suicide headaches, occur several times a day, they come on unexpectedly, do not last long, and are generally very painful. The pain is usually intense, and sometimes only on one side of the head. Frequently, the sufferer also feels pain around the eye.

A cluster-headache sufferer can wake up during the night because of the pain. Often, this occurs at the same time each night. The eye on the painful side of the head may be reddened and watery. The individual’s nose may be runny or blocked on the side of the nose where the pain is.

In northern countries cluster headaches tend to occur more frequently during the autumn (fall) and spring. Alcohol or extreme variations in temperature can trigger an episode during a cluster period – generally, the change in temperature refers to a rapid rise in body temperature.

Cluster headache attacks occur cyclically, hence the name. A bout of regular attacks – cluster periods – can last from a few days, weeks, to even months. This is followed by remission periods during which no headaches are felt.

Cluster headaches are not very common – they are said to affect about 1 in every 1,000 people. Unlike migraines, they affect men more often than women; about 80% of sufferers are men, most of them smokers. Fortunately, they generally have no long-term effects on the sufferer’s physical health. There are therapies, such as oxygen therapy, available which can significantly reduce the number and intensities of headaches.

Each cluster can last from 15 minutes up to several hours – the majority of cases do not last more than an hour. Typically, a patient will suffer from one to three clusters each day.

According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary:
Cluster headache is “possibly due to a hypersensitivity to histamine; characterized by recurrent, severe, unilateral orbitotemporal headaches associated with ipsilateral photophobia, lacrimation, and nasal congestion.”
What are the signs and symptoms of cluster headaches?
A symptom is something the patient feels and reports, while a sign is something other people, including a doctor or a nurse may detect. For example, pain may be a symptom while a rash may be a sign.

Symptoms come on rapidly, generally without any warning, and they may include:
Intense pain, some describe it as excruciating. The pain is continuous, rather than throbbing. The pain often starts around the eye, and may then radiate to other parts of the head, including the face, and down to the neck and even the shoulders. Many patients feel pain in a temple or cheek.

• The pain remains on one side of the head
• The patient becomes restless.
• The eye on the side of the pain is watery and tearful
• The eye on the side of the pain reddens
• There may be swelling around the eye on the pain side
• Stuffy, blocked, or runny nose on the pain side
• Pallor – skin of the face is pale
• Face is sometimes sweaty
• Pupil size may shrink
• Eyelid on the pain side may droop

Patients often describe their pain as stabbing, sharp, burning and penetrating; as if a hot poker had been plunged into one of their eyes. The individual will usually pace around during the episodes of pain, unable to stay still for long. When they sit many may rock back and forth in an attempt to sooth the discomfort (sometimes this helps).

While migraine sufferers prefer to lie down during an attack, most people with a cluster headaches say that lying down worsens the pain.
Chronology of cluster headaches (time patterns)

A cluster period typically lasts from 1 to 12 weeks. They often start at similar calendar moments – perhaps during springtime or at some time in the fall (autumn).
Episodic cluster headaches – patients experience a series of searing headaches for about one week. Then nothing for six to twelve months. Then the week repeats itself.

Chronic cluster headaches – in this case the cluster periods can persist for several months, even for a year or longer. While periods of remission (periods with no pain) are short; perhaps just a month long.
A cluster period may consist of:
Daily occurrences, with symptoms appearing several times each day.
Just one attack, lasting from 15 minutes to up to three hours.
Attacks occur each day at approximately the same time.
Most attacks occur between 9pm and 9am (source: The Mayo Clinic, USA)
The pain will suddenly go as quickly as it appeared. Sufferers will be pain-free afterwards, and are often worn out.

If you start getting headaches, it is advisable to see your doctor. Usually, headaches do not have an underlying cause (some illness or condition). However, sometimes they do. It is important for the doctor to rule out any possible underlying causes.
What are the risk factors for cluster headaches?

In medicine, a risk factor is a condition, illness, situation or environment which raises the risk of developing a disease or condition. For example, obese people are more likely to develop diabetes type 2 compared to people of normal weight. Therefore, obesity is a risk factor for diabetes type 2.

For cluster headaches, the risk factors include:
Being male – approximately 8 in every 10 sufferers are male.
Being an adult – nearly all suffers say their cluster headaches started after they were 20 years old.
Ethnic ancestry – people of African ancestry are twice as likely to suffer from cluster headaches, compared to Caucasian people.
Smoking - the majority of male sufferers are smokers.
Alcohol consumption – a significant proportion of sufferers claim that alcohol is a key trigger during a cluster period (not during remission periods).
Genetics – if you have a close relative (parent or sibling) who has (had) cluster headaches, your risk of having them yourself is greater.

What are the causes of cluster headaches?

Experts are unsure why cluster headaches occur. Some researcher neurologists have found that during an attack there is a great deal more activity in the hypothalamus – an area of the brain that controls body temperature, hunger, and thirst. It is suggested that perhaps that area of the brain releases chemicals that cause blood vessels to widen, resulting in a greater bloodflow to the brain, and subsequent headaches.

If the hypothalamus does act in this way, nobody knows why. We do know that such things as alcohol or a sudden rise in temperature, or exercising in hot weather may trigger attacks.

Biology – The cyclical nature of cluster headaches suggests there it may be linked to our biological clock, which is located in the hypothalamus.

Hormones - researchers have found that many people who suffer from cluster headaches have unusual levels of melatonin and cortisol during their attacks.

Apart from alcohol, cluster headaches are not linked to the consumption of any foods.  Even with alcohol, it is only a trigger when the sufferer is in the middle of a cluster period.   Some association has been found between cluster headaches and mental stress or anxiety.

Experts say there may be a link between cluster headaches and some medications, such as nitroglycerin, which is used for the treatment of heart disease.
What are the treatment options for cluster headaches?

Currently, public opinion states that there is no treatment that can get rid of cluster headaches completely. Modern therapy aims to alleviate some of the symptoms, shorten the periods of headaches, and reduce their frequency.

OTC (over-the-counter, no prescription required) painkillers, such as aspirin or ibuprofen are not effective for cluster headaches; because the pain comes on rapidly and goes away quickly too. By the time the medication has started to work the headache has probably gone. Therefore, many medications and treatments for cluster headaches are either aimed more at prevention, or fast action.

Fast-acting treatments (acute treatments)
Inhaling 100% oxygen – most patients find that if they breathe in oxygen through a mask at 7 to 10 liters per minute they experience significant relief of symptoms within 15 minutes. The only problem with this therapy is that the patient has to have an oxygen cylinder and regulator close at hand – carrying them around can be cumbersome. There are some small units on the market. In some cases this kind of therapy only postpones symptoms, rather than alleviating them.

Local anesthetic nasal drops. It is very effective for the treatment of cluster headaches.

Surgery – if patients do not respond adequately to aggressive treatments, or cannot tolerate some medications, surgery may be recommended – even so, surgery is very rare. Surgery can only be performed once, and is only suitable for sufferers who have pain on just one side of the head. Surgical procedures include:

Conventional surgery – the surgeon cuts part of the trigeminal nerve, which serves the area behind and around the eye. This is not a procedure of first choice as there are risks to the patient’s eye.

Glycerol injection – glycerol is injected into the facial nerves. This effective treatment is safer than other surgical procedures.

Stimulator (still being tested) – a small device is implanted over the occipital nerve and sends impulses via electrodes. According to researchers from the Mayo Clinic, USA, a significant number of patients experienced reduced chronic headache pain. The device appears to be well tolerated and safe to use. Another study is looking into implanting a stimulator in the hypothalamus. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK body that approves drugs and therapies for National Health Service (NHS) use, has not yet assessed either treatment.

Prevention of cluster headaches

As the medical experts are not yet sure what the causes of cluster headaches are, it is not possible to recommend proven measures for prevention. A comprehensive preventive strategy is vital for managing the cluster headaches – simply using acute therapies is not enough.

The following may help reduce the risk of future attacks:

Alcohol – during a period when headaches occur alcohol may trigger attacks. Abstaining from alcohol during these periods will help reduce the number of headaches. Alcohol does not appear to be a trigger during periods of remission.

Inhaled nitroglycerin – this medication causes blood vessels to dilate (enlarge) and can cause headache cluster attacks. The NHS (National Health Service), UK, recommends that cluster headache sufferers avoid this medication.

Exercising in hot weather – this is a well known trigger for cluster headache. Sufferers should avoid doing anything which may cause their body’s temperature to rise rapidly.

Smoking – a significantly higher percentage of cluster headache sufferers are smokers, compared to the rest of the population. Although not proven, some suggest that giving up smoking may help.

What Amber thinks of Natural Migraine Relief Now

I was looking at your website: (http://naturalmigrainereliefnow.com/blog/2009/11/alternative-supplements-for-natural-migraine-relief/) and I would really love to try the vitamins that are being marketed by truehope on the video you posted. The 4 day menstrual migraine I’m currently going through and the drugs I’m on AREN’T working. I’m sure you’ve heard that before! (I’m laughing, or at least trying to)

Thanks for your website and your constant research.

You have no idea how appreciated it truly is.

Btw, I’ll be in Rome for my honeymoon in October! YAY!

Cheers,
Amber

Can Magnets Relieve Migraines?

New animal research suggests that a noninvasive therapy called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may help treat chronic migraines. The hair dryer-size device triggers activity in the brain’s nerve cells and is already being tested as a way to treat depression.

What happens during TMS is this: the electrical activity in the brain is influenced by a pulsed magnetic field generated through coils of wire. The wires are wrapped in plastic and held close to the scalp. The location of the device allows for stimulation of specific areas of the brain.

In earlier human research, TMS relieved pain more effectively than placebo in patients who had migraines with auras, which are visual sensations (such as flashes of light) that occur before or during the pain of a migraine.

In this latest study, presented at the annual American Academy of Neurology scientific meeting in Seattle, researchers aimed to learn exactly how TMS may affect the brain to improve pain symptoms.

The authors found that the magnetic pulses of TMS may disrupt abnormal brain waves that have been linked to migraines. However, the authors state that more research in humans is needed to fully understand how TMS affects chronic migraines.

“I think for migraine, it’s extremely likely that this [device] will become part of the therapeutic armamentarium,” said Dr. Richard Lipton, director of the Montefiore Headache Center in New York. “I think for some people who don’t like taking prescription medications … or for people who have side effects to these drugs, this will prove to be a very useful option.”

TMS has also been studied as a potential therapy for chronic or treatment-resistant depression. Some research suggests that therapy may down regulate beta-adrenergic receptors and subsequently increase the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain.

Instructions:

Step 1
Use magnets and magnetic therapy under the care and guidance of a doctor or expert. An expert can place the magnets correctly at the right strength in order to best treat migraine pain.

Step 2
Adhere magnets in place as soon the migraine warning signs begin and leave them on until the symptoms pass. You can also use certain magnets to prevent headaches on a daily basis.

Step 3
Place stick magnets on either side of the spine, between the shoulder blade and spine. Magnets should adhere to the areas of the spine 1 to 2 inches above the bottom of your shoulder blade, 1 inch from the top of the shoulder blade and on the back of the shoulder above the shoulder blade.

Step 4
Wear a magnetic necklace, bracelet, earrings or headband and sleep with a magnetic pillow to reduce migraine pain daily. Start with a lower strength, as your body generally responds better to a lower strength magnet when relieving migraine pain.

Step 5
Find products at alternative medicine facilities, through your health care provider or online at websites such as Magnetic Products or Magnetic Therapy Magnets (or see my picks on right hand side).

Step 6
Use other pain treatment methods in conjunction with magnetic therapy, as they won’t interfere with magnetic therapy. For example, take a hot bath or shower and then apply magnets once completely dry.

Step 7
Use high quality magnets with the correct strength for your degree of migraine pain. Consult a book such as “Magnetic Therapy” by Gloria Vegari or ask an expert for assistance. If you use the wrong strength your symptoms could worsen, and if you use the wrong placement you might not get all the benefits that correct placement gives you.

Cold Laser Kills Your Migraines… Naturally

In searching for new posts on alternative and natural migraine relief, this organisation caught my eye. If results are as good as it claims, I wished it had been around when I was looking for effective treatment!

BioVeda Technologies is a two year old company founded by a small group of doctors and practice management professionals that have over 50 years of combined experience in the holistic and alternative health care industry.

They specialize in scientifically integrating holistic medical philosophy with modern technology providing an alternative, non-invasive and natural approach to health and wellness.

This pioneering technology and medical devices to licensed health care practitioners seeking to expand their practice by providing therapeutic relief to their patient’s acute and chronic conditions.

They claim that thanks to their unique understanding of how environmental substances can impact and influence normal body function, they are able to provide assessment and therapy for a wide range of acute and chronic systemic conditions by utilizing NSRT or Neurological Stress Reduction Therapy. The technology is patented, FDA cleared and fully automated. Neurological stress reduction is achieved using their proprietary LASER (Light And Sound Energy Relaxation) technique that first assesses the specific substances that cause stress on the nervous system followed by positively conditioning the body to react neutrally or appropriately to the identified harmless substances.

Watch this video:

Their goal as a company is to help as many people realize improved health and relief using our technology by getting our medical device into as many capable doctor’s hands as possible. They are guided by a patient before profit approach and look for doctors that share their principles and ideology.

For more information, their website is http://biovedawellness.com

If anyone has used this service, I’d be very interested to hear from you.
If you’ve found this post helpful, please leave a comment below.

Oranges Can Cause Magnesium Deficiency… and Migraines

The next post is brought to you thanks to Amber Stephenson  who is a member of my facebook page aptly called Natural Migraine Relief. She found the part about oranges causing magnesium deficiency in some migraine sufferers, interesting. I have to say I was intrigued as well.

Here is the article:

The idea that oranges are considered a possible trigger for migraine has surprised many of us, as orange juice is usually considered to be beneficial in our diet.

Not if you are sensitive to citrus. The citrus group of foods is a known allergen, including fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit. Additionally, a lot of commercial orange juice is squeezed with the rind on, subsequently bruising it and releasing synephrine, a vasoconstrictor.

There have been links between migraine headaches and synephrine as well as related vasoconstrictors, so it makes sense that this could be a trigger. Many patients found that freshly squeezed orange juice made at home had no adverse effect.

A 2004 study found that: “In migraine patients, plasma levels of octopamine and synephrine were higher compared with controls, although in migraine with aura, the difference was not significant”.(1)

Synephrine is a stimulant that raises blood pressure, which can also cause migraines. The theory being that migraine sufferers with a citrus allergy can gain relief from a low dosage of daily blood pressure medication.

Citrus fruits also cause magnesium deficiency in some patients, and magnesium deficiency has been linked to migraine without aura. In a study where thirty migraine patients were treated with magnesium versus ten treated with placebo, the number of patients experiencing relief was so high that the possibility of the test results being coincidental was less than a 1 in 1000 chance.(2) The magnesium was administered as a magnesium citrate supplement, 600mg per day, orally. Patients were assessed by computerized tomography before and after the three month treatment period.

Citrus fruits also contain histamine, another suspect in food related allergies. A study at Texas Tech in El Paso TX found a correlation between high histamine levels and migraine attacks in susceptible persons.

An unhappy relationship between hypoglycemia and migraine can be heightened by drinking of orange juice, lemonade or other citrus juice in an attempt to raise the blood sugar – the orange juice can actually increase the migraine pain and the blood sugar level is blamed instead. This justifies the importance of maintaining a food diary and testing for food allergies.(3)

One woman related how she had taken migraine medication daily for years, washing it down with an 8 oz glass of orange juice each morning. Finally, when her sons were diagnosed, it became apparent that by giving them juice daily, she had simply been stimulating the cycle of migraines. Incidentally, orange flavored drinks such as Tang and Sunny D also contain migraine triggering substances similar to the natural fruits, so if citrus is a problem for you, avoid them as well!

Elimination of citrus is much simpler than many other migraine trigger foods, and is relatively easy to live without. For people suffering severe food intolerance migraines, living without orange juice, lemonade and key lime pie was a minor exclusion from their diet.

Sources:

(1) pubmed15159465.do, Cure Hunter, 05/25/2004
(2) Magnesium Research, Jun 2008;21(2):101-8. PMID: 18705538, by Koseoglu E, Talaslioglu A, Gonul AS, Kula M. Erciyes University, Medicine Faculty, Neurology Department, Kayseri, Turkey
(3) Leira R, Rodriguez R, Revista de Neurologia 1996 May;24(129):534-8

Research by Grace-Alexander

When I used to have migraines, bananas would give me migraines and I thought it was the excess potassium but I couldn’t find any back up in science.

I was allergic to a number of foods (any kind of cheese except cottage cheese, coffee, chocolate, tuna fish, grapes, not gluten or wheat though etc) Since I got completely rid of my migraines, I also got rid of my food allergies and thankfully now can eat anything.

I believe that you can too.

Amber told me she’s researching all types of foods that trigger migraines and that don’t and that she’s really starting to go head over heels into Migraine Research which is GREAT because there is a lot of information on the web and I would love all the natural solutions, remedies and treatments be listed on one website (err.. this one!) for your benefit.

So thank you again Amber  for sharing this with everyone.

My First Testimonial for Natural Migraine Relief!

I’ve been blogging for about five months posting articles and videos I find on the web that give an alternative and natural choices to migraine sufferers, for long term relief instead of recommending narcotics which only give temporary relief.

Why do I do it? Because I used to suffer from migraines for over 15 years. I know just how bad the pain is when it hits and how debilitating it is.

Anyway, by 2005, I had had enough of my life as it was – even when I was well the fear of a potential attack would always be lurking in my thoughts. So although my body was a wreck from my migraine attacks and the narcotics I took, I wanted a way out: a healthy way out. I decided I was going to get rid of migraines (though I had no clue how I was going to do that). It didn’t matter because but I’d always found that when I set my mind on achieving a goal, unexpected opportunities present themselves to me and it was up to me to recognise and act upon them.

I changed my lifestyle to include healthier habits and started to introspect to weed out what ‘virus programs’ I had in my system. I took a consciousness training (www.avatarepc.com) which gave me the tools to zap those virus programs and start regaining control of my life.

I got rid of my migraines and I want others to help other migraine sufferers to do the same. I know that it IS possible to manage, prevent and completely get rid of migraines. It is possible to even start eating foods that previously triggered an attack. It is possible to live a migraine-free life!

My goal is to help 1 million migraine sufferers get rid of their migraines completely in 10 years.

Today, I got my first testimonial from Danielle and I am so very proud.

Dear Sile

Because of you and your pages and support I have gotten off the narcotics. I just got thru a really rough detox time but I know it is worth it! It was really hard, especially difficult because with the withdrawal I knew the repair was so close by. I know my decision was the right one, what is the point to medicate your way out of living? You really helped me see this, thank you.

Thank you!

Danielle

PS I cancelled the appointment!

How to Relieve Stomach Migraines Naturally

Migraines are usually known as severe headaches but there are also stomach migraines, which if untreated, are also as painful. Although rare, this kind of migraine is treated via medication and other easy steps.

Stomach migraines are conditions of the health that can bring about extreme pain to a person. There are varied causes, signs, and treatments of such migraines and those will actually depend on an individual’s lifestyle. This kind of migraine should not be viewed as an illness, as it is one of your body’s way to inform and warn you that there is something wrong with your health.

How does one then identify a stomach migraine? The symptom that is usually experienced by a patient is internal aching in the stomach. This is because the muscles of the stomach vigorously contract to ease the pain. Other people may feel bloated or otherwise experience an acidic tummy, even for those non-hyper acidic folks.

There are also those who occasionally vomit and feel nauseous. It is also possible that the stomach pain may spread to key muscle areas located in the torso, making you feel weak all of the sudden, like you are about to faint. The pain chemical prostaglandin is actually responsible for the feeling of pain spreading throughout.

Some may suffer more than just stomach pains, as headaches may concurrently occur, which can sometimes immobilize the patient. Because of this, many of those who suffer from stomach migraines have high anxiety levels, which cause them to also increase their level of adrenaline. This actually makes the situation worse.

Children are the usual victims of this ailment, especially those between three to ten years of age. This often makes it difficult for parents to identify it as a stomach migraine because their kids have a hard time describing what they are experiencing. To address this, consult your pediatrician when the problem occurs.

To treat a stomach migraine, the first thing you have to do is minimize your consumption of food that is loaded with artificial flavor and substances. This will ease the options of the stomach in order to stabilize its activities. Next on the to-do list is to drink beverages that are not acidic, nor should they contain substances that are acidic. It is also beneficial to consult a gastroenterologist to avoid attacks in the future. And when visiting the doctor, make sure that you explain clearly to him or her what type of food you have eaten as well as other activities you have been taking on so that proper evaluation can be done regarding your condition.

Article from: www.healthbulb.com/migraines/how-to-treat-migraines-of-the-stomach/

Sile’s personal note: I found that drinking room temperature Seven Up or Sprite in very small quantities actually relieved my stomach when I had stomach migraines. Alternatively warmed water with a spoonful of sugar and lemon calmed the compulsive hiccup sensation in my stomach.

Alternative Supplements for Natural Migraine Relief

I came across this video where this jaded migraine sufferer describes her initial reluctance to try out a specific type of vitamin and mineral supplements for natural migraine relief. In the video below, she explains the types of migraines she has had such as chronic headaches and stomach migraines. Her description of her journey from doctors to chiropractors to medications to pain killers to finally how regular use of the supplements have worked for her is quite inspiring for anyone who thinks they are destined to be chained to their migraines.

Watch this video below and then take action!

The supplement is also suitable for children and has an effect on mood swings and temper problems.