Trishann
11-25-2007, 01:25 PM
FIRST I WANT TO SAY 'HI' TO EVERYONE.
I have been getting these headaches. It starts with a headaches and pain that throbs down one side of the face that causes sharp pain around the eye. With these headaches my eyelid will be droopy. My doctor is having me to do Cat Scan with contrast on Monday to make sure nothing else is going on. I started looking on the internet about headaches and some of the words I was reading sound like IC stuff.
AUTHOR BY LORIK. SARGEANUT,MD.
Cluster headache, also known as HISTAMINE headache, is a form of neurovascular headache. Attacks usually are severe and unilateral and typically are located at the temple and periorbital region. The pain is typically associated with ipsilateral lacrimation, nasal congestion, conjunctival injection, miosis, ptosis, and lid edema. Each headache is brief in duration, typically lasting a few moments to 2 hours. Cluster refers to a grouping of headaches, usually over a period of several weeks. To fulfill criteria for diagnosis, patients must have had at least 5 attacks occurring from 1 every other day to 8 per day and no other cause for the headache.
The 2 existing forms of cluster headache are (1) episodic clusters with at least 2 cluster phases lasting 7 days to 1 year separated by a cluster-free interval of 1 month or longer, and (2) chronic form, in which the clusters occur more than once a year without remission or the cluster-free interval is less than 1 month.
Pathophysiology
The pathophysiology of cluster headaches is not well understood. Some proposed mechanisms are described here.
Hemodynamic: Vascular dilatation may play a role, but blood flow studies are inconsistent. Extracranial blood flow (hyperthermia and increased temporal artery blood flow) increases but following the onset of pain. Vascular change is considered secondary to primary neuronal discharge.
Trigeminal nerve: The trigeminal nerve may be responsible for neuronal discharge causing cluster headaches. SUBSTANCE P neurons carry sensory and motor impulses in the maxillary and ophthalmic divisions of the nerve. These connect with the sphenopalatine ganglion and interior carotid perivascular sympathetic plexus. Somatostatin inhibits SUBSTANCE P and reduces the duration and intensity of cluster headaches.
Autonomic nervous system: Sympathetic (eg, Horner syndrome, forehead sweating) and parasympathetic (eg, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion) effects occur.
Circadian rhythm: Cluster headaches often recur at the same time every day, suggesting that the hypothalamus, which controls circadian rhythms, may be the site of activation.
Serotonin: This is not as striking as in migraines, but some changes are seen.
HISTAMINE: Although evidence supporting a causative role is inconsistent, cluster headaches may be precipitated with small amounts of histamine. Antihistamines do not abort cluster headaches.
MAST CELL: Increased numbers of mast cells have been found in the skin of painful areas of some patients, but this finding is inconsistent.
DOESN'T MASS CELL, SUBSTANCE P, HISTAMINE, ALL SO FAMILIAR.
I can not help wondering if whatever is triggering this IC is also triggering these headaches. Do anyone else get these headaches? Do you think there is a connection.
Oh yes, I am very nervous about having this test done, you know the :toilet:
I have been getting these headaches. It starts with a headaches and pain that throbs down one side of the face that causes sharp pain around the eye. With these headaches my eyelid will be droopy. My doctor is having me to do Cat Scan with contrast on Monday to make sure nothing else is going on. I started looking on the internet about headaches and some of the words I was reading sound like IC stuff.
AUTHOR BY LORIK. SARGEANUT,MD.
Cluster headache, also known as HISTAMINE headache, is a form of neurovascular headache. Attacks usually are severe and unilateral and typically are located at the temple and periorbital region. The pain is typically associated with ipsilateral lacrimation, nasal congestion, conjunctival injection, miosis, ptosis, and lid edema. Each headache is brief in duration, typically lasting a few moments to 2 hours. Cluster refers to a grouping of headaches, usually over a period of several weeks. To fulfill criteria for diagnosis, patients must have had at least 5 attacks occurring from 1 every other day to 8 per day and no other cause for the headache.
The 2 existing forms of cluster headache are (1) episodic clusters with at least 2 cluster phases lasting 7 days to 1 year separated by a cluster-free interval of 1 month or longer, and (2) chronic form, in which the clusters occur more than once a year without remission or the cluster-free interval is less than 1 month.
Pathophysiology
The pathophysiology of cluster headaches is not well understood. Some proposed mechanisms are described here.
Hemodynamic: Vascular dilatation may play a role, but blood flow studies are inconsistent. Extracranial blood flow (hyperthermia and increased temporal artery blood flow) increases but following the onset of pain. Vascular change is considered secondary to primary neuronal discharge.
Trigeminal nerve: The trigeminal nerve may be responsible for neuronal discharge causing cluster headaches. SUBSTANCE P neurons carry sensory and motor impulses in the maxillary and ophthalmic divisions of the nerve. These connect with the sphenopalatine ganglion and interior carotid perivascular sympathetic plexus. Somatostatin inhibits SUBSTANCE P and reduces the duration and intensity of cluster headaches.
Autonomic nervous system: Sympathetic (eg, Horner syndrome, forehead sweating) and parasympathetic (eg, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, nasal congestion) effects occur.
Circadian rhythm: Cluster headaches often recur at the same time every day, suggesting that the hypothalamus, which controls circadian rhythms, may be the site of activation.
Serotonin: This is not as striking as in migraines, but some changes are seen.
HISTAMINE: Although evidence supporting a causative role is inconsistent, cluster headaches may be precipitated with small amounts of histamine. Antihistamines do not abort cluster headaches.
MAST CELL: Increased numbers of mast cells have been found in the skin of painful areas of some patients, but this finding is inconsistent.
DOESN'T MASS CELL, SUBSTANCE P, HISTAMINE, ALL SO FAMILIAR.
I can not help wondering if whatever is triggering this IC is also triggering these headaches. Do anyone else get these headaches? Do you think there is a connection.
Oh yes, I am very nervous about having this test done, you know the :toilet: