I have been having cluster headaches from around the age of 15, and found ways to reduce them by about 95% or even more. And this is without using an oxygen tank. I have maybe 2 to 3 cluster headaches per year, and they are usually seasonal. I know this guide may just be working for me, since we all have different bodies, but following it won't hurt if cluster headaches run your life.
How to prevent, stop, reduce, or alleviate Cluster Headaches:
1) Water - this is THE main reason why I would get cluster headaches. In fact, I just had one a few minutes ago. I woke up at 7am with a very mild cluster headache, and remembered right away that I didn't drink enough water throughout the day. I got up and drank a full glass of water. Headache lasted for 15 minutes. It went from very mild, to mild, back to very mild, and it disappeared. You got to drink enough water so that your piss is white throughout the day. So maybe about 6 to 8 full glasses of water throughout the day. I am approximating here. You got to use your own judgment. But be careful, drinking too much water too fast CAN kill you. So, drink a glass every hour or 2, and about 3 to 5 hours before going to bed you could stop.
2) Oxygen - I have personally never used an oxygen tank, but it is true that oxygen intake can lessen the headache. But that doesn't matter if you don't drink enough water! So, If I were to wake up just now from the headache and do heavy breathing, the headache would get worse and worse because I don't have enough water in my system, which also btw contains oxygen. I do martial arts. And the type of martial arts I practice has nothing to do with cardio, but more to do with building POWER! This prevents my lungs and brain from getting enough air. So, sometimes I got to breath really heavy by doing breathwork for maybe 5 to 10 minutes, or I do some forms that have more to do with moving around instead of standing in one spot. Another interesting fact is, if I do too much cardio (running, or playing any sort of sport too long like basketball, soccer, etc., I get a cluster headache). Which brings me to our next point...
3) Messaging Carotid Arteries - One time I had a severe case of a cluster headache when I was on a bus. I was in desperate need and as I looked out the window, I saw a Chinese acupressure place. I went in with my left eye all red dripping in tears explaining to the doctor about my headaches. He did a bunch of pressure work on me, and explained to me that my Carotid arteries are thinner than in some people. This prevents from blood fully getting to my brain. Hence, why I get these headaches when I exercise too much. I was going to this doctor for about a year with him doing acupressure work on me. The best way to do this is putting your palm around the back of your neck. Then wrap your hand around and press on the one carotid artery with your thumb, and the other with your remaining fingers. Then message your arteries with your fingers front to back while applying just enough pressure to the side of your neck. This will help to move the blood flow to your brain. Doing this a few times a week could decrease the number of cluster headaches you have.
4) Food - sometimes I would get cluster headaches when not eating enough food. This happened to me a few times. Let's say if I don't eat for 5 hours straight. It doesn't matter if I drink water. If I don't eat food, I could get a cluster headache. The best way to prevent this is to eat small portions of food every few hours WITH water, lol. And believe it or not, the type of food you eat also matters. I used to eat a lot of crap food. And this was around the time when I just started getting cluster headaches. By eating healthy, I prevent cluster headaches from occurring. Stay away from grease (french fries seem to be okay), junk food, or anything else that isn't healthy, and you'll decrease the amount of cluster headaches you have. Again, this may just be my body, as we all have bodies that function differently. So, use your own discretion on what your body needs as far as food, and what it doesn't. You put enough poison in your system, you will pay for it at some point. I just happen to pay with lots of pain. So, these headaches are keeping me healthy, so to speak.
*Edit* Stay away from Wheat Starch or Starch in general, as they cause Cluster Headaches https://libraliving.blogspot.com/2018/11/wheat-starch-triggered-cluster-headaches.html
5) Alcohol - One time I had a friend who suggested I drink one glass of red wine per day because "it's very healthy". Boy was I sorry. It was the biggest mistake of my life! I had a cluster headache from the pits of hell for 2 hours NON-STOP! I was screaming and holding my head as my blood vessels were bursting on my forehead, feeling like blood pressure was so high that it would pop my veins that were pumping blood in and out. It was that bad. Now, some guy recently told me that headaches occur from drinking red wine due to sulfites in it, but it may not be the case. All I will say is, STAY AWAY FROM ALCOHOL! This is the case for me. I could drink one beer, but after I drink more, I'll feel a headache coming. If I drink even more, then I'm screwed and low and behold cluster headache will greet me with open arms. Red wine just makes it 100x worse and hits me like a ton of bricks. But drinking alcohol in general, always gives me headaches. The only way I could drink is if I mix it with lots of water, orange juice, or other form of non-alcoholic liquid. I even gotta be careful drinking malt liquor, which has a very low alcohol.
6) Sleep - This may or may not be the case. But I remember back when I used to not sleep enough, I would get cluster headaches much more easily. So, get sufficient amount of sleep every night and you'll decrease the amount of headaches you have. Again, this has to do with what "sufficient" sleep means for YOUR body. I need 7-8 hours. I knew one guy who needed 5. Some people only need 3-4. You have to know your body, and give it what it needs, or suffer because you neglect it.
7) Bowel Movement - This is a very rare case, but it happened to me a few times. So, I feel like it is worth mentioning. This very last headache that I had earlier today had after shocks, sort of like an earthquake. So, I had tiny bits of pains popping up in my head even after drinking 2 glasses of water. That's the thing about cluster headaches. You got to do everything you can not to have one, or there may be another around the corner. Or worse is, most of the headache will dissipate, but the aftershocks of it will bug you. Or even in the worse case, which happened to me a few times, you will have a cluster headache for the rest of the day! So, back to today. After me feeling the after shocks, I emptied my bowels. And then the headache almost entirely disappeared. I did have a few more after shocks throughout the day, but they weren't as strong. So, make sure you don't need to go to the bathroom. And if you do, DO NOT PUSH OR FORCE IT OUT! You don't want to get hemorrhoids because you were too desperate to get rid of a headache.
Following this formula helps me to prevent having cluster headaches; maybe it will help you too. I cut down cluster headaches to about 2-5 per year, and they always tend to be seasonal and happen within a certain month. And when they do happen, it has to do with sinus. I always had allergies in my sinus. So, when I get these headaches, my left side of my nose and sinus above my eye gets clogged up draining discharge with my left eye turning red filled with tears. I am not sure how to stop these from occurring, exactly. I even used to cleanse my sinus with water filled with himalayan salt, but it doesn't appear to do anything long term.
Anyway, good luck and if you got any other methods that help you to prevent cluster headaches, leave a comment below so it could help other people. Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment