Get Rid Of Cluster Migraine Once And For All.
I mean it. I’m tired of cluster migraine. I’ve had enough. It needs to go.
I know, some people think they have a use for it. They don’t think there’s any easy alternative.
But frankly, I think it’s causing more problems than it’s solving. It’s had its day, and it’s time for it to be ditched, deleted, and drowned.
Some of you already know where I’m going with this. I’m not talking about head pain here. I’m not talking about diseases or symptoms. I’m talking about words and phrases.
Yes, the term "cluster migraine" has to go.
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What does it mean, anyway?
Well, that’s the question. Recently I was reading some articles and came across an absolutely horrendous one entitled A Cluster Migraine – Not the One You Like to Meet With (to read the painful article, click here). The author starts by describing symptoms – symptoms of cluster, not migraine. Next, they described more symptoms – not of cluster, but of migraine. The "treatments" had nothing to do with cluster at all (ie retire to a quiet room, dim the lights and get some rest! I’d like to see someone with cluster headache enjoy that peaceful scene, but I doubt it’s going to happen…).
Unfortunately, this absolute confusion between cluster and various types of migraine is all too common. Usually people are talking about one or the other, but with this phrase cluster migriane (or worse cluster migrane) flying around, you never know what people are talking about.
“But… I’m using it properly!”
Ok, there are some (debatable) ways to use the term that aren’t quite as confusing. First, the term is used for patients with cluster and migraine. But is that really useful? Can’t you just say they have both? After all, you don’t hear about people who have a "migraine ear infection" or "worms n’ cluster" (almost sounds like a desert at a children’s party…).
Now, I understand that sometimes – sometimes – the distinction isn’t so clear. You have someone with attacks that come in a series like cluster, but the symptoms look more like migraine. That’s the only useful spot I can think of where you could put the term cluster migraine.
However, with all the confusion, I think the term is not even useful here.
Seriously, I did a search recently for pages using this term. Out of the top 10 pages I visited, only one use the term in a "proper" way. All the rest showed confusion over the term.
So I say it’s time to throw it out completely. Stop using it. Clarify.
It will help people find treatment faster, instead of spending all this time in a maze trying to figure out what they have and what it’s called.
It’s time for the execution. It’s time to get rid of cluster migraine. Once and for all.
(For more ranting, see this Treatment Cluster Migraine article)
What’s the difference between cluster and migraine anyway? Find out here…
1 June 2011 @ 8:07 pm
For years I have and had suffered with both migraines and with cluster migraines. I became very intimately knowledgeable on the differing pain and symptoms both offered. Well, truthfully, the latter only until I saw a neurologist who looked up from the file in front of him and said “You do not have cluster migraines.” “Who told you you did?” I answered that my family physician and ER doctors had diagnosed them. He shook his head and said simply “Only men get clusters.” Just like that I supposedly did not have them anymore. If only it could be that easy.
2 June 2011 @ 8:56 am
I’ve suffered for years with both clusters and migraines. I would use the term cluster migraine to describe them to someone unfamiliar with the headache terminology because to call clusters “headaches” is to minimize the experience and the debilitating and excruciating pain. It’s similar to calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground. It’s still not close to describing what they are, but at least it gives someone a better frame of reference for them than “headache,” which is a two-aspirin-and-ignore-it problem. Telling a coworker or your boss you have a cluster headache doesn’t mean anything to them. Even the nurse where I work doesn’t understand a cluster means I can’t just drive home.
3 June 2011 @ 1:03 am
I agree totally. Although it would be accurate to say I have a cluster Of migraines… as in they cluster together into a status migraine. But yeah we don’t need the confusion in terms.
31 July 2014 @ 2:57 am
I’ve bee in a cluster of migraines for several weeks. I’m taking 2-4 esgic plus a day and it’s beginning to be really scary. I’m 65 and the migraines are only becoming more frequent.