Posted by Tom A. (208.136.201.2) on July 17, 2001 at 17:52:15:
In Reply to: question posted by Elizabeth on July 15, 2001 at 11:33:11:
I'm also new to this site, but unfortunately not to CHs. I've had them for 20 years, but for the first 12 I thought they were sinus - I didn't realize that rolling on the floor in agony is not a normal sinus headache symptom.
For me, a cluster of about a 4 or less feels much like a sinus headache, except SHs can be on either side and CHs are always on my right. If a CH gets above a 5, I KNOW the difference.
What does often work for me for a CH is a 200mg caffeine pill, like in the OTC pep pills. These take effect in about 15 minutes. This only works for the short term (a week or so), since I build up a tolerance fairly quickly and there can also be rebound headaches when it wears off, but these are usually nothing compaired to a good head-banging CH. They make a good stop-gap measure until I can start preventative measures. Also, when the headache does go away, you feel REALLY good!