neurologic disorders
Cluster Headache
Symptoms and Signs of Cluster Headache
Symptoms of cluster headache are distinctive. Attacks, often multiple, frequently occur at the same time each day, often awakening patients from sleep. When attacks occur, pain is always unilateral and occurs on the same side of the head in an orbitotemporal distribution. It is excruciating, peaking within minutes; it usually subsides spontaneously within 30 minutes to 1 hour. Patients are agitated, restlessly pacing the floor, unlike patients with migraine who prefer to lie quietly in a darkened room. The restlessness can be so severe that it leads to bizarre behavior (eg, banging the head on a wall). Autonomic features, including nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, lacrimation, facial flushing, and Horner Syndrome , are prominent and occur on the same side as the headache. 