Introduction

I have been living with cluster headaches for the last 9 years and they have been, at times, long, painful years. What has made them so painful is the fact that my headaches have been mis-diagnosed for so long.

My first encounter was in 2002 when I kept getting headaches in the middle of the night. My nose would be blocked and my eye on the same side of the headache would be streaming with water. Eventually they became so numerous that I went to the doctors, and this is where the trouble started really.

Because my nose was blocked it was assumed that the headaches were down to sinus problems or sinusitis. This theory was bourne out by the fact that I only got the headaches when I was in bed and lying down. I was then given some 'sinus busting' antibiotics and sent away. These obviously had no effect and so I went off to have my sinuses drilled and drained which is a fairly unpleasant operation