Cluster headaches are one of the most debilitating types of headaches a person can suffer, and they can be excruciatingly painful. Cluster headaches only occur when your trigeminal nerve, which delivers sensory information from your face to your brain, is inflamed.
Cluster headaches are intense headaches in severe pain so severe that sufferers cannot function during the day. Most cluster headaches only last 30 minutes, but the pain can last for hours afterward. Cluster headaches affect people between their late teens and late 40s, but they may have different symptoms in younger children, teens, and seniors.
Preventive Treatments for Cluster Headache
Verapamil
Cluster headache, also known as trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia, is the most severe type of primary headache. It is characterized by severe pain, described as a sharp stab on one side of the head, usually lasting between 15 minutes to two hours and occurring at least 15 times per month. The treatment of choice for cluster headaches is verapamil. Verapamil is a calcium channel blocker believes pain by disabling the nerve cells that transmit pain signals to the brain.
Verapamil is a prescription medication used to treat high blood pressure and chest pain. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug in 1976. Since then, the drug has also been used to treat atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and abnormal heart rhythms. Verapamil is also used to prevent migraines like cluster migraine. Verapamil is available in tablet, capsule, and liquid form.
Lithium Carbonate
Cluster headaches are one of the most painful conditions a person can experience, and while they affect one out of 100 people, many sufferers avoid medical help, which can delay treatment. But you may be able to ease the pain before it gets too bad by trying a preventive drug treatment called lithium carbonate. The drug has been used since the 1960s, and research suggests it can reduce the frequency of cluster headaches by 50 percent.
Melatonin
One alternative treatment has been the use of melatonin. This hormone regulates your sleep-wake cycle and has been shown to be effective in treating many sleep disturbances, including CH. Melatonin has also been used successfully to treat cluster headaches. Melatonin works as a natural tranquilizer and can reduce the effects of serotonin syndrome.
Melatonin is a hormone that’s produced naturally by your body. It helps to regulate your sleep patterns and also helps put you in a deep sleep. Melatonin supplements are used to help regulate sleep patterns and can also be used to help support the body’s natural metabolism.
Civamide
The muscles in your face tighten and contract during a cluster headache. Your face may also stiffen or feel numb. These symptoms often cause your head to throb for hours, sometimes days or weeks. Cluster headaches can be especially difficult to control. Fortunately, a new medication for cluster headaches is currently available in the United States. Civamide induces sleep, thereby reducing cluster headaches and associated symptoms.
Treatments for acute cluster headaches
Oxygen
Cluster headaches are a type of excruciating, recurrent headache that visual hallucinations and mood changes can accompany. Cluster headaches are notoriously difficult to treat, but doctors say patients may have a much better chance of relief if they receive oxygen therapy during the attacks.
Acute cluster headaches are one of the most painful types of headaches to treat. They usually come on suddenly, last for 60 minutes, and can last for days. Since they affect only one side of the head, they are especially difficult to treat. Acute cluster headaches occur only once during a cluster period but can last for up to two months. Finding ways to stop cluster headaches from recurring is important, and since they are often triggered by hyperventilation, you can try breathing in pure oxygen as a strategy.
Triptans
Cluster headaches are extremely painful, regular attacks of headaches. Many patients experience cluster headaches on the same days each month, and they tend to be severe and very painful. Fortunately, some effective medications exist for treating cluster headaches. These medications are known as triptan medications, and they work by acting on the brain stem region to relieve the pain associated with cluster headaches.
Octreotide
Cluster headaches are unlike migraines and tension headaches. The headaches happen simultaneously each day, usually within the hour, and can last for days. Treatments for cluster headaches include prescription medicines and the injection of an anesthetic called octreotide.
Local anesthetics
Cluster headaches are a rare disease, only affecting about 1 in 2,000 people. They are chronic, not acute, meaning they recur steadily, every 15-30 days. They affect one side of the head and are excruciatingly painful. But that doesn’t limit treatment. Local anesthetics are frequently used for cluster headaches treatment; surgery is also an option for relief. You can check out cluster headache new treatment at Power if you’re looking for additional treatment options for cluster headaches.