Cluster Buster

I had never heard of the cluster headache until one of the quotes on Overheard in New York mentioned it.

It sounded like the sort of thing I might want to have, so I did some research. Turns out I don't have it. Nor, probably, do I have erythroprosopalgia, Raeder's syndrome, spenopalatine neuralgia, ciliary neuralgia, vidian neuralgia, or histamine cephalalgia.

I do occasionally get really bad headaches, which aren't susceptible to pain killers, though sometimes I can zonk myself out on Migraleve if I catch it early enough. They often happen on the same day of the week, so I sometimes call them my Tuesday headaches, except when they are on a Thursday, when they become my Friday headaches. And that's the way it is with a true Spaniard.

Anyway, cluster headache is such a good name that all my headaches will be called that from now on, even though they do not consist of the following characteristics:

The pain of a cluster headache commences quickly, without warning, and reaches a crescendo within 2 to 15 minutes. It is often excruciating in intensity, and is deep, nonfluctuating, and explosive in quality; only occasionally is it pulsatile. In addition, 10 to 20 percent of patients report superimposed paroxysms of stabbing, icepick-like pains in the periorbital region that last for a few seconds and may occur once or several times in rapid succession; this paroxysmal pain usually heralds the end of an attack. The symptoms resolve in 1 to 2 minutes.

If only. My cluster headaches last an entire day from up-before-dawn to bedtime, and I think they're related to lack of sleep. Or too much caffeine/chocolate/cheese/all of the above.