Keep a headache calendar or diary. Mark down when you get a
headache, how long it lasts, and what medications you took to help
relieve the pain. To download a headache calendar you can use,
click here.
Make sure that you have an adequate supply of medication on hand.
Cluster headaches can be unpredictable and planning ahead will prevent
the need to scramble for medications.
Learn as much as you can about cluster headaches. A list of Web
sites dedicated to cluster headaches is available
here.
Non-drug measures
Cluster headaches can have many different triggers. Try to identify
specific triggers for your headaches and avoid them if possible. For many,
alcohol is a particularly common trigger. Avoid it completely during a
cluster period.
Learn and practice relaxation techniques.
Click here for more information.
Stopping smoking has been associated with a lower recurrence of cluster
headaches. Yet another reason to quit!
Drug treatment for cluster headaches
Since cluster headaches are short in duration, you need to treat them
as soon as possible. Because of this short duration, tablets for acute
treatment generally aren't effective because they take too long to work.
Typically, sumatriptan injection or nasal spray is the most
effective acute treatment.
Medications for cluster headaches are divided into acute, transitional
and preventive medication categories.
Acute medications: those used to relieve the headache pain as fast
as possible.
Transitional medications: those used to “turn off” a cluster period
as soon as possible.
Preventive medications : those used to prevent the cluster periods
from recurring.
Goals
Remember your treatment goals:
Eliminate emergency room visits for headache treatment.
Develop a home program that works and is well tolerated.
Minimize the impact of your cluster headaches on your work, school
and family activities.
Follow-up
If you have an appointment scheduled, be sure to keep it. If the
headache pattern worsens, call your doctor.
Resources
For a list of books and articles related to cluster headaches,
click here.
