Cluster headaches are headaches that come in groups (clusters) lasting weeks or months, separated by pain-free periods of months or years.
* During the period in which the cluster headaches occur, pain typically occurs once or twice daily, but some patients may experience pain more than twice daily.
* Each episode of pain lasts from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.
* Attacks tend to occur at about the same time every day and often awaken the patient at night from a sound sleep.
* The pain typically is excruciating and located around or behind one eye.
* Some patients describe the pain as feeling like a hot poker in the eye. The affected eye may become red, inflamed, and watery.
* The nose on the affected side may become congested and runny.
Unlike patients with migraine headaches, patients with cluster headaches tend to be restless. They often pace the floor, bang their heads against a wall, and can be driven to desperate measures. Cluster headaches are much more common in males than females.