The Story of a Patient with Cluster Headache Using Cortisone
A 52 year-old male patient, a computer engineer, has had cluster headache for 10 years. He has been on corticosteroids almost continuously for the last 2 years. His headaches have extended over the whole year. He has been taking cortisone for the last 3 years.
“My pain first started 10 years ago. I had had migraine attacks on and off before then. I sometimes would vomit and went to sleep. The pain I started to have late was still located in one side of my head, but it was so different from migraine. It was much more severe and inside and around my eye. My eye significantly became red too.
First, I thought it was a kind of migraine and went away in half an hour. I was puzzled. The pain reoccurred the next evening. I went to the hospital nearby. The neurologist in A&E diagnosed me with cluster headache as soon as he saw me. I was given oxygen and the pain got better within five minutes. I started to use blood pressure medication after that. My pain lasted on and off for nearly 15 days. As the hospital was nearby and I had attacks at nights, I had oxygen therapy. I had attacks in every transition from autumn to winter for the following 3-4 years. And that’s how I got over it. Due to work, I was in another city 5 years ago. The doctor I consulted prescribed me some medication. My pain was very intense and the duration was long. I got in touch with my previous doctor and he prescribed me endocetin (3 times) to use along with my present medication. The pain was brought under control after a while.
I had severe attacks during the period I worked abroad 4 years ago. I kept the oxygen tube in my car, at home and my office. Attacks didn’t respond to medication or oxygen. I started to have cortisone therapy and the pain went away instantly in two days. It was like a miracle. My pain didn’t recur at the start of winter, but everything changed afterwards. The nightmare of my life started.
I was delighted thinking my attacks were over, but they recurred in February. I took a full dose of cortisone and the pain passed off again. I wanted to disuse cortisone by lowering the cortisone intake. As I cut down on cortisone, my attacks restarted. I started to use high dose again. Since then, my attacks recur, whenever I cut down on the dosage. It doesn’t go away even when I’m on full dose, but only the severity of the pain reduces. I used to have one attack per day, but now I have 2-4 and sometimes even 6 attacks a day. There are days when I have to halt the meeting to inhale oxygen twice or three times. I started to get it during my sleep at night. My attacks are very severe and the duration is very long. I had edema because of cortisone and moon face, puffiness in my face. But I’m so desperate…
Cortisone seemed to help in the beginning. However, it ruined the rhythm. My condition was better before using the cortisone. If you ask my opinion, doctors administrating cortisone provide only a temporary solution, but not a permanent one. They do not follow the course of the disease in later years. I have also spoken with other patients with similar stories. When it reaches to this stage, there is no way to get rid of this disease.”
Eliminating cluster headache is possible. If only you find the cause and solve it, there is no need for cortisone. The cause is the teeth. If teeth are treated with Gokmen Approach, the problem will be solved.