How long cluster headaches can last

To prevent a cluster headache, it's important to identify what triggers your headaches. Try avoiding smoking and alcohol use. Your doctor may be able to prescribe a medicine regimen that will help prevent cluster headaches. There are some danger signs that may occur with cluster headaches that warrant immediate medical care. These include:. Health Home Conditions and Diseases Headache. What causes cluster headaches?

The following may trigger cluster headaches: Alcohol use or smoking cigarettes Change to a high altitude Bright light Exercise or exertion Heat, either weather or a bath Foods that contain nitrates, such as bacon or lunch meat Cocaine use What are the symptoms of cluster headaches?

These are common symptoms of a cluster headache: Sudden onset of pain, generally around or behind the eye Pain builds to a peak in about 10 to 15 minutes Restlessness or agitation Red or watering eyes Nasal congestion Sweating on the forehead Eyelid drooping or swelling The symptoms of a cluster headache may look like other conditions or medical problems. How are cluster headaches diagnosed? How are cluster headaches treated? Several medicines are used to prevent cluster headache attacks: Verapamil.

A medicine that relaxes blood vessels. Most cluster headache patients are restless or agitated during attacks; unlike patients with migraine, they find it hard to stay still and rarely lie down.

According to Dr. Tepper, cluster headache manifests as a searing, stabbing pain—usually behind one eye or at the temple near the forehead. Tepper notes that cluster headache attacks are shorter than migraine; they can last between 15 minutes to 3 hours. Cluster headache periods often occur times annually and at predictable times of the year, or they can skip years. Cluster attacks commonly occur overnight , waking people from sleep.

Brewer says this issue means people sometimes wait between years to get a proper cluster headache diagnosis. People suspected of having cluster headache should be carefully assessed by their doctor for an underlying cause, and imaging of the brain and vessels in the head should occur.

They should also be evaluated to make sure they do not have a different primary headache disorder that can mimic cluster headache. Brewer says that treatment of cluster headache is still misunderstood, and that the patient community is often lumped in with migraine despite being two very different conditions.

A cluster headache can be successfully treated in most cases by individualizing acute and preventive drug treatment. Tepper, a full treatment plan includes a temporary bridge to provide initial relief with steroids, taken either orally or injected to the back of the head, then starting a daily preventive medication such as verapamil.

Possible symptoms include severe pain in or around one eye or on one side of your head. There may be tearing, nasal stuffiness and a runny nostril on the affected side of the head. A cluster headache strikes quickly, usually without warning, although you might first have migraine-like nausea and aura.

Common signs and symptoms during a headache include:. People with cluster headache, unlike those with migraine, are likely to pace or sit and rock back and forth.

Some migraine-like symptoms — including sensitivity to light and sound — can occur with a cluster headache, though usually on one side. A cluster period generally lasts for several weeks to months.

The starting date and the duration of each cluster period might be consistent from period to period. For example, cluster periods can occur seasonally, such as every spring or every fall. Most people have episodic cluster headaches. In episodic cluster headaches, the headaches occur for one week to a year, followed by a pain-free remission period that can last as long as 12 months before another cluster headache develops.

Chronic cluster periods might continue for more than a year, or pain-free periods might last less than one month. The pain usually ends as suddenly as it began, with rapidly decreasing intensity. After attacks, most people are pain-free but exhausted. During a cluster period the headaches can occur every day, every other day and sometimes many times a day.

It can also occur at the same time of day. People may find the start of the cluster, and the duration is consistent from one bout to another. Some people experience cluster headache seasonally — during the spring or autumn, and at the same time each year.

Cluster headache tends to get better with age, with people having less frequent bouts and prolonged periods of remission. Taiyeba shares her experience of cluster headache and chronic migraine. The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that is responsible for a range of bodily functions including body temperature, thirst, sleep cycles, blood pressure and heart rate. For some people there may be a family link. Often people who develop cluster headache are smokers.

People with cluster headache are often referred to a consultant neurologist or headache specialist for review and treatment. The main acute treatment s for cluster headache are:. It is not suitable for everyone. Verapamil is the preventive treatment of choice for cluster headache.

It can cause abnormal heart rhythms in some people so regular monitoring, by taking a heart tracing ECG is required. Other things that may be effective include lithium, melatonin, and Sphenopalatine Ganglion Stimulation. Raise awareness of cluster headache and provide information and support to people affected by Cluster Headache. This content has been reviewed by experts in headache and people affected by migraine.