• Eliminating stress and avoiding changing your sleeping patterns can avert bringing on an attack.
  • Alcohol is recognised as one of the main cluster triggers. It can happen after just one drink, in some cases before you even finish your first drink. It is recommended that you abstain from alcohol during the prone period.
  • Decreased blood oxygen levels (hypoxemia) are a trigger, in particular when the individual is sleeping. Cluster headaches often awaken people from sleep. Some people with cluster headache also have sleep apnea, a condition where people can stop breathing altogether for extended periods during sleep.
  • Preserved foods and the nitrates they contain can induce cluster headache
  • Smoking can lead to the onset of cluster headache

    • Treating Cluster Headache

    There are several acute and preventive treatments that are recommended for treating cluster headache and by working with your GP or specialist you will find which treatment is most suitable for you. Medical professionals believe that medicines taken orally take too long to offer effective relief for cluster headaches that tend to be short in duration.

    The inhalation of pure oxygen is also believed to be effective, in certain cases, in abolishing the pain of cluster headache. Oxygen therapy relieves the pain by constricting the blood vessels and it may have other relevant effects on the central nervous system. About 60%-70% of patients respond in 5-10 minutes if they take oxygen at the beginning of an attack. Pure Oxygen is a prescribed drug in Ireland. While it provides significant pain relief for the patient it is also seen as a safe method of treatment with no reported side effects. For details on purchasing oxygen and its correct use, see bottom of the page.

    Acute treatments, which are able to stop cluster headaches after they have begun, also include the quick-acting, injectable Sumatriptan (Imigran), which is available only on a 'named patient basis' in Ireland. Nasal spray triptans may also act quickly enough to help some people. Preventatives such as verapamil and sometimes topiramate are given to decrease the severity and frequency of attacks.

    Differences between migraine and cluster headache

    (published with permission in writing from:http://www.migraine.ie)




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