Cluster Headaches; The Nightmare by Pyroman48, Jun 9, 2010, 5:44:09 PM Journals / Personal A sudden spark of pain, my temple throbs, my eyes wince. The only hint of what is about to be anywhere from thirty minutes to possibly hours of torture. Suddenly jolts of pain shoot through my brain, as if someone is repeatedly hammering a red-hot nail through my skull in random spots. My body goes rigid, my fist clench in reaction to the onslaught of violent pain through my brain, where I cannot reach it, cannot put pressure, or comfort of any sort. Sweat forms above my brow, I breathe in shallow gasps as it gets worse, the pain multiplying exponentially by the second. My skin feels clammy, turning deathly white. Even with my eyes tightly closed the darkness of the back of my eyelids are illuminated with flashes of light that happen in conjunction to the sharp pain shooting through my head. I imagine the bones in my hands splintering under the pressure of my fist squeezing into itself, my head exploding with a violent burst as if firecrackers were planted within it, each one symbolizing one moment of pain replaced by another, and another. Each pulse of pain so severe, I can only wish that the next one ends me, the pain, the torment…but none ever does. All I can do is barely breathe between teeth clenched so tightly they may crack. I squeeze my hands tightly so my nail digs into my palm, trying to drag my mind away from the slaughter within my head to pain somewhere else, somewhere safe. The pain so excruciating my mind goes numb; blackness overwhelms me as I black out, my mind escaping to safety. I awake weakened and exhausted, unaware for a brief moment of whom or what I am, or where I am. My mind gathers itself, and I remember everything, every measurable ounce of the pain that overwhelmed me and every second. I slowly rise to my feet, and accept that this is but a promised occurrence in my life, what has become the norm. Even the words can hardly describe the experience, the pure pain associated with a cluster headache. The barrage of torture that is so random it has happened to me while walking between classes, sitting in a chair, walking to my car after shopping, and many times while driving. Three times I nearly crashed from the attacks, forced to pull over on the side of the road and put my car into park and enable the hand break quickly moving my foot between the pedals as my body goes rigid as if Im having a full body muscle spasm. Countless times Ive randomly collapsed into a fit on the ground during a serious attack, while some considered minor causing me nearly to collapse but able to brace myself, and ride out the storm. This is my daily nightmare, so few can understand. Those who witness it sympathize, often overwhelmed themselves in a feeling of helplessness they experience as their friend or loved one suffers before their very eyes. They find themselves unable to stop the attack in anyway, only to try and comfort us and reassure us that they are still there, our proof of a world that still exists outside the nightmare, before and after our attacks. Those who experience know the true pain, so immense it can cause people to pray for death and even kill themselves just to halt the pain…cluster headaches, nicknamed suicide headaches for a reason. Everything is a culprit in our world, from light to stress to loud noises and the pulsing bass of cars blaring music. It can happen so randomly and without an identified cause, even in a quiet and dim area we would have hoped to be a sanctuary from the attacks. No place is safe, no action without consequence, and yet we must live on…or try to. For who knows, it could be a mere 30 minutes of breathing time until our next typical nightmare… en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluster_… Cluster headache is probably the worst pain that humans experience. I know thats quite a strong remark to make, but if you ask a cluster headache patient if theyve had a worse experience, theyll universally say they havent. Women with cluster headache will tell you that an attack is worse than giving birth. So you can imagine that these people give birth without anesthetic once or twice a day, for six, eight, or ten weeks at a time, and then have a break. Its just awful.[5] Our patients were disabled by the disorder and suffered from bouts of pain from two to twenty times a week. They had found no relief from the usual methods of treatment. Their pain was so severe that several of them had to be constantly watched for fear of suicide. Most of them were willing to submit to any operation which might bring relief.[6] Indeed, cluster headaches are also known by the nickname suicide headaches.[7] 5. abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/h… 6. Horton BT, MacLean AR, Craig W.: A New Syndrome of Vascular Headache: Results of Treatment with Histamine. Proc Staff Meet, Mayo Clinic (1939) 14:257 7. Cluster Headaches Can Make Life Unbearable. ABC News. 2001-06-13. abcnews.go/GMA/PainManagem…. Retrieved 2010-02-05. No Comments
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 02:16:28 +0000
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