BENGALURU: Headache-triggering suicidal tendencies may sound unusual, but is plausible. Cluster headaches are equivalent to a hot iron rod being plunged into the eye, said Dr Pravin Thomas, founder of World Headache Society.
Usually, people ignore symptoms like pain on one side of the head, watery, red eyes, and even blocked nose, attributing it to fatigue, general sickness, excessive screen time, lack of sleep or even extended work hours.
A cluster headache is rare and incurable, and occurs in cyclic patterns and can affect any age group, while its exact cause remains unknown. Studies have declared it as one of the most painful headaches a person can experience.
At the 3rd Annual Congress of the World Headache Society organised from June 16 to 18, Dr Thomas gave details about the condition. Though there are no exact statistics, several studies have stated that 0.1 per cent of the population or more suffer from it. Despite headaches being a common issue, clinicians still lack expertise and often misdiagnose cluster headaches for a migraine.
He said symptoms of migraine and cluster headache can overlap. Hence, a person suffering from continuous headaches is advised to maintain a ‘headache diary’ to record the time span, symptoms and possible triggering factors of the headaches, which can give doctors a detailed perspective for better diagnosis.
Despite similar symptoms, cluster headaches show contrasting qualities. They follow a pattern which usually lasts 15 minutes to three hours. It can occur seasonally, lasting several weeks. The intensity of the pain is continuous, unlike in case of migraine, which can last for multiple days with varied pain intensity. A person can experience swelling around the eye, drooping eyelids, restlessness, excessive tearing and unbearable pain in the face area, head and neck.
In the case study of a patient, shared by Dr Thomas, a 26-year-old was misdiagnosed with migraine for eight years. His condition deteriorated to a point where the pain became unbearable and pushed him to attempt suicide. Dr Thomas advised patients to seek help, and not to ignore headache symptoms. Sumatriptan, a drug used to treat this condition, must be made available in injectable form in India.