‘Suicide headache’ is another name for cluster headaches, which is a kind of neurological ailment that results in intense excruciating unilateral pain in the head. It arises rapidly and may last for 15 minutes to several hours. It is a series of periodical headaches that makes the sufferer undergo severe and very intense pain and agony. It is more common in males than in females, and currently affects 0.1% of the human population approximately. It gives no signs or symptoms to the patient and arises anytime and anywhere. Though some patients stated that they felt some sensations in one side of their head, but most never felt anything that can alert them from the coming more severe pain.
The pain that a person experiences during cluster headaches has been remarked as the worst a human can ever experience, by Dr. Peter Goadsby who is professor of Clinical Neurology at the University College London. The pain is very severe, strong and literally excruciating. It is like experiencing hell. It is a drilling kind of pain with epicenter behind the eyes, temple, neck or shoulder.
Such a headache is also referred to as an ‘alarm clock headache’ as it is felt even when a person is sleeping and he wakes up with agonizing pain in his head. It may even occur at same time of the day or when you are in a similar condition like earlier when you experienced it. Cluster headaches usually follow a set pattern of occurrence.
Such headaches if remain untreated can make a sufferer undergo even 16 attacks in just a matter of two days. Its severity increases if it is untreated at the first place. The intensity of pain and severity of symptoms can increase with time. Smoking, abnormality in the hypothalamus, and many a times genetic factors causes cluster headaches to arise.
In most cases, people are not able to find out that they are suffering from cluster headaches because they mistake it for a migraine. But cluster headaches, unlike other common types of headaches never respond to biofeedback.
There are basically two types of treatments that are followed for curing cluster headaches. One is the abortive treatment, which uses 100% oxygen inhalation and consumption of triptans as effective remedies. While the other one is the preventive treatment, which utilizes high doses of steroids, magnesium sulfates intravenously, lithium, Methysergide, and anticonvulsant topiramate for preventing cluster headaches from occurring.
A correct diagnosis is imperative for following the right treatment for curing this problem. Since it is often mistaken for a migraine attack, patient as well the doctor must be alert while noting the symptoms. Since cluster headache pain becomes very excruciating, the sufferer should not try and resist it or bear it for some more time, and should rush for getting some medical help immediately.
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