Cluster Headache!! which medicine works best?
Ive been experiencing what i think is a cluster headache for the past 2 days, ( left sided temple pain), i started out with tylenol, and nothing, then i went to Excedrin migraine, no results, now i'm using ibuprofen pm to try to get some sleep but have decided to give in and see the dr. for a rx, i'm just wondering what would be the best prescription medication for a cluster headache and nothing expensive since i don't have health insurance, please help i need some relief.
Public Comments
1. Hi! First things first, you definitely do NOT have a cluster headache - your symptoms are very wrong. For example, cluster headaches are very short (as short as 15 minutes long, and definitely no more than 3 hours long). They are accompanied by tearing in your eye and a runny nose, both on only one side of the head (for example, a runny nose in only your left nostril). You can't help but be active when you have cluster headaches - you would be literally running around or pacing the room. So, in short, you're not looking for cluster headache medication, for sure!However, it sounds to me extremely possible that you have a migraine. These often last for more than a day. Moreover, over-the-counter "migraine" medication is NOT designed to be able to get rid of full migraines. They are very effective against tension headaches, for example, but not migraines. By far the best migraine drugs are 1. Maxalt, and 2. Imitrex. Both are quite expensive, BUT if they work you will literally not need more than a single pill (or injection, in the case of imitrex). You could get a prescription for one or two Maxalt pills for $15 per pill. That's a LOT of money, but you will only need one pill for it to work, so in the end it's not actually that much. If you don't have health insurance, ask your doctor if you can have a free sample to see if it works for you - they might be able to give you one pill for free!
Good luck. I hope this helps!
2. I have had cluster headaches for the last 5 years, I get them seasonally i.e. beginning of spring and fall. I just discovered that placing a heating pad on my neck, head and eye relieves my symptoms almost immediately and keeps them off for the rest of the day. I've had prescriptions for imitrex but it takes a while before they work, approx 15 to 30 minutes. Hope this works for you, I understand your pain. I just wish I had discovered this much earlier.
3. Oxygen Tank.... theyre actually pretty cheap and they work! AND make the diag of cluster headaches. Talk to your doctor first...
I found that my clusters will be lifted in about 5 minutes of being on 8L of 100% O2. Excedrin doesnt work at all when I get a cluster either...all it does is give me really bad heartburn.
Prednisone at 75mg while lowering the dosage for about a week also works but Prednisone also has negative effects on the body.
Verapimil (calcium channel blockers) and Topamax (sulfonamide blocker I think) are also common preventatives.
Lithium is a common cluster preventative.
I found that a cool compress over my eye and blowing my nose and using the bathroom at the very very start of a cluster headache morning works out well. Along with reading things I've never ever seen before, loud talking voices and screaming at someone/something (like a wall...).
Generally they come at the same time every morning....and last for up to an hour... but then can re occur again at another point....
And then they just stop for X amount of months and come back the same time of year which is the frustrating part.
