Suggest Treatment For Cluster Headaches

Posted on Thu, 27 Mar 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 Answered on

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : So you have the details, I am 64 with 30 year history of headaches. I take 60mg 2x daily of Cymbalta and 500mg of Depakote. I still get breakthrough headaches 2-3x yearly than can last 4-6 weeks. the pain is a 3/10 but the duration 9/10 as it always become worrisome after it lasts a while. The headache is without Aura and MAINLY on the right side and into right cheek bone. It will move around some. I was also in a recent MRI with and without contrast for low T found to have a 3cm? pituiatary tumor...the blood work evidently say just keep a watch. Could this pituitary tumor be the cause of my headaches for 30Years?? Would the MRI for the pituitary have shown likely any other issues in the brain? And, if it was good along with normal Neuro exam, and same type of headache rule out other tumors??? What the percentage likelihood? Thanks anything I can add to truly not treat symptoms but make headache go away

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (47 minutes later)

Brief Answer: My reply is below. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thank you for posting your query. I have noted your details and it seems to me that you have features of cluster headache with overlap of migraine. So, in addition to your current medications, lithium and prednisolone tablets would help your headache go away. Please discuss this with your neurologist. Regarding pituitary tumor, I presume it was 3 mm, as 3 cm is big and would have required surgery. In any case, pituitary tumor is not the cause of your headache of 30 years duration. Also, this MRI for pituitary would have also excluded other brain tumours or serious illnesses. I hope my answer helps. Please get back if you have any follow up queries or if you require any additional information. Wishing you good health, Dr Sudhir Kumar MD (Internal Medicine), DM (Neurology) XXXXXXX Consultant Neurologist Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India Click on this link to ask me a DIRECT QUERY: http://bit.ly/Dr-Sudhir-kumar My BLOG: http://bestneurodoctor.blogspot.in

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar