Posted by William Bray (158.169.9.30) on August 31, 1999 at 06:36:21:
I've been giving this some thought and it occurred to me that one of the reasons that CH is not taken as seriously as it should be by medical professionals and our friends and colleagues (except my wife) is because of the term 'headache'. Everybody suffers from headaches from time to time, from too much reading, too much booze, eye strain, lack of sleep or whatever. A headache is a minor inconvenience, easily treated with over-the-counter painkillers. Comparing a headache to clusters is like comparing a kiddy's paddling pool to the Pacific Ocean. The monster that rampages around in my head is not a mere headache, it's agony of the worst order. So if it's not really a headache, what can we call it? We need a new name. Anybody got any suggestions?