Calcium-channel blockers, commonly used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease, are important drugs for preventing episodic and chronic cluster headaches. Verapamil (Calan) is the standard calcium-channel blocker used for cluster headache prevention. It can take 2 - 3 weeks to have a full effect, and a corticosteroid drug may be used in combination during this transitional period. Constipation is a common side effect.
People taking...
Read moreFull Question: I have been dealing with rather bizarre and intense headaches for the last 8 years. So that you know what I am dealing... Read more »
Full Question: Is there anything I can do to prevent a cluster headache? Is there anything I can do to relieve the pain while it is... Read more »
Source: Medifocus Guidebook on: Cluster Headache
Headaches are classified as either primary or secondary. Primary headaches are those that are not caused by any disease or other medical condition.... Read more »
Source: ADAM Encyclopedia
Cluster HeadachesCluster headaches are among the most painful, and least common, of all headaches. The pain can be so excruciating that they are... Read more »
Source: ADAM Encyclopedia
Many patients report a delay of 1 - 6 years in the diagnosis of their cluster headaches. Migraine-like symptoms (light and sound sensitivity, aura,... Read more »
According to one reader of The People's Pharmacy, the use of a breathing mask and straight oxygen for a few minutes has helped ease his "suicide... Read more »
Debilitating cluster headaches--often called "suicide headaches" by sufferers--can be eased by giving patients oxygen through a mask at the first... Read more »