Analgesic use in cluster headache

Cluster headache is a brutal affliction characterized by excruciating pain with relatively brief, but frequent attacks. Because of the short duration of the attacks and the tremendous intensity of pain, symptomatic analgesics are often not effective. However, inhalation oxygen, while being cumbersome, is reported to be effective in the majority of sufferers. To assess the practical effectiveness and use of analgesics and/or oxygen, a review of 60 cluster patients was conducted. At initial evaluation, 48 patients had accepted oral analgesics and 51 patients accepted inhalation oxygen for breakthrough headaches. After acceptable prophylactic treatment was established, 65% of patients who accepted analgesics continued their use, although most reported only minimal relief. Only 31% of patients who accepted oxygen continued its use, in spite of the fact that most sufferers reported significant relief. From this brief study, it appears that cluster headache patients prefer to use analgesics for reasons that are not solely for relief of pain, and that patients decline the use of oxygen for reasons other than lack of effectiveness.