Treatments Available for Cluster Headaches

In a previous article on this page, I wrote an overview of cluster headaches but didn't get into treatments for this worst of all head pains. Sad to say, there is no one absolutely effective treatment yet, but they're working on it.

In London, for instance, researchers have been studying some brave cluster sufferers who were willing to let the doctors induce an attack. The subjects inhaled nitroglycerin, then submitted to a PET scan during the ensuing headache so the researchers could see how blood flow in the brain was changed by the cluster headache.

That new information could prove to be valuable in the search for new treatments, since these headaches have been almost as mystifying to doctors as they are to the rest of us. The more they know about clusters, the better for cluster sufferers.

Meanwhile, there are some treatments available. Although there is no fail-safe cure, and none in sight at this point, some people are helped by a combination of treatments to reduce the number or intensity of their clusters.

First, what doesn't work. Over-the-counter analgesics won't cut it because they take too long to take effect. The pain is gone before they can even begin to help. Cluster pain comes on in minutes, tortures its victim for a few minutes to a couple hours, then goes away just as suddenly. No, slow-acting drugs simply aren't an option.

That's why treatments for a cluster headache in progress are usually in the form of injections or inhalants. For instance, many people have been helped by inhaling 100% oxygen, which incidentally should be obtained with a prescription to be sure of getting a pure grade. It is inhaled in high concentration through a mask.

However (you knew there was going to be a "however"), using oxygen can be dangerous. As Doc Greg writes on the website http://www.clusterheadaches.com, high concentration oxygen can be toxic to the lungs. A little damage can be repaired, but at some point the lungs are permanently damaged.

He also writes that there is no solid data on the long-term effects of oxygen use as yet, so it's important to limit how much you use.

Sumatriptan drugs, such as Imitrex and Zomig, target specific serotonin receptors. These drugs, in the form of injections or nasal spray, have been used to abort cluster headaches. The injections are problematic in that there are limits to the amount of Imitrex a doctor can prescribe.

Another treatment that has shown some success is Lidocaine nose drops. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic which deadens the pain in some of the nerves. This brings relief within five minutes but the relief lasts an hour at most.

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