Cluster headaches
Six years ago, my 33-year-old son was diagnosed as having cluster headaches. Since then, he has taken various medications which have kept the worst of these headaches at bay - but a few weeks ago, he started a new cluster and nothing has helped. He took Prednisolone for a week, which deadened the pain but did not make it go completely. He has now been put on Verapamil which does not seem to be helping either. Can you suggest any alternative?
Cluster headaches are an extremely painful but rare type of migraine headache. They affect mostly men over the age of 30 and can be triggered by alcohol. An attack always comes on suddenly, starting with an itching or watery discharge from one nostril, which then becomes an intense pain on that side of the head, spreading around the eye.
Attacks which are brief, lasting about an hour usually, come in groups - hence the name - and can range from two attacks a week to several in the same day. Most “episodes” last for 6-8 weeks, after which there will be a headache-free interval of several months before the attacks recur. While the pain of a cluster headache is excruciating, treatment can be managed but there is still no known cure.
According to Dr Valerie Dias, who combines complementary and orthodox treatments and who calls herself an integrated general physician, your son needs to find out if his attacks are triggered by either environmental factors or a sensitivity to certain foods.
He may, she says, have problems with his cervical spine, which can also be a cause of cluster headaches. The prednisone he has been prescribed is a steroid usually given when an inflammation of the cranial arteries is suspected and so the Chinese herb Ginkgo biloba, which improves circulation throughout the body, including the brain, may help. She also suggests he supplement his diet with Co-enzyme Q10, which is important for the production of energy in every cell in the body and which also plays a role in brain function.