Cluster headache
Extremely severe one sided head pain in bouts, with eye and nose symptoms.
About this condition
Cluster headache causes attacks of excruciating pain around one eye or temple, lasting from 15 minutes to 3 hours and often striking at the same times each day. The eye typically waters and reddens, the eyelid droops and the nostril runs or blocks. People are restless and agitated during attacks rather than still. It is one of the most severe pains in medicine.
Attacks come in bouts lasting weeks or months, separated by remission, though a minority have a chronic form without meaningful breaks. High flow oxygen and injectable triptans treat individual attacks; verapamil and other medicines aim to shorten bouts. Specialist headache care is important and often makes the difference.
Treatments people usually try first
These are the treatments commonly offered in the UK for this condition. A specialist doctor will want to know which of them you have tried, and what happened.
- High flow oxygen therapy for acute attacks
- Subcutaneous or nasal triptans
- Verapamil as a preventive treatment
- Short courses of steroids or greater occipital nerve blocks
- Lithium or topiramate under specialist supervision
- Neuromodulation in specialist headache services
Could medical cannabis be appropriate?
People with this condition sometimes ask whether medical cannabis could be appropriate for them. That is a question for a specialist doctor, who will look at your diagnosis, your history and everything you have already tried before saying anything either way.
Medical cannabis is an unlicensed prescription only medicine in the UK. It is considered only where a diagnosed condition has not responded adequately to conventional treatment, and it is never a first step. We cannot tell you in advance what might be prescribed, and UK law does not allow us to describe or advertise any medicine on this website.
What we can do is assess you properly and be honest with you. If a specialist doctor does not think this route is right for you, they will say so, and they will explain why.
All treatment is subject to clinical assessment and eligibility.
Questions about cluster headache
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