Suspected cluster headache
Bring order to the suspicion.
This page helps you organise your symptoms, document your attacks in a traceable way and arrive well prepared at the doctor's visit.
This page cannot diagnose.
It helps you organise a suspicion and prepare for it — it cannot give you a diagnosis, and it does not intend to. There is no score here, no quiz and no computed result. Cluster headache is diagnosed by a neurologist in consultation and after a proper work-up.
The typical pattern — oriented on ICHD-3.
The following features describe what cluster attacks typically look like. They serve your orientation and the preparation of the doctor's visit — they are not inclusion or exclusion criteria that you can tick off yourself.
- Strictly one-sided, very severe pain around the eye and temple (orbital/temporal)
- Accompanying signs on the same side: watering or reddened eye, blocked or runny nose, swollen eyelid, sweating
- Physical restlessness during the attack — many patients cannot lie still
- Untreated, an attack typically lasts 15–180 minutes
- Attacks recur in clustered periods (cluster episodes), often at the same time of day
Documenting attacks — what matters.
A good attack diary is often more decisive in the doctor's office than any recollection. Note for every attack:
- Date and time of every attack
- Duration of the attack (from onset to end)
- Side and exact location of the pain
- Pain intensity (e.g. on a scale from 0 to 10)
- Accompanying signs: eye (watering, redness), nose, eyelid
- Physical restlessness during the attack
- Frequency: how many attacks per day or night
- Attack-free days and longer attack-free periods
- Possible triggers (e.g. alcohol, sleep, weather)
- Response to acute measures already prescribed
Well prepared for the doctor's visit.
Bring to the appointment:
- A headache or attack diary (see the checklist above)
- A complete list of your current medication
- Previous reports and imaging (MRI, CT), if available
- A concise timeline: since when, how often, how long
- Your prepared questions for the doctor
These warning signs need immediate assessment.
The following signs can point to other, urgent causes and do not belong in a diary — they belong in immediate medical assessment:
- Thunderclap headache or the worst headache of your life
- A materially changed pain pattern compared with what is usual for you
- Fever or neck stiffness
- Vision loss or confusion
- New weakness, speech problems or other neurological deficits
- First-ever headache following an injury
Where to go with a suspicion?
- Step 01GP practice
First point of contact for coordination and the referral to neurology.
- Step 02Neurology
Preferably with a headache focus — this is where the diagnosis is made and treatment is planned.
- Step 03Emergency care
For the warning signs above: do not wait for an appointment — get assessed immediately.
Our doctors' register lists headache-experienced points of contact by federal state — it is still being built up and is not yet complete. In addition, the Austrian Headache Society (Österreichische Kopfschmerzgesellschaft, ÖKSG) maintains its own list of specialists.
Primary sources
This page does not replace medical advice
The content of this page serves general information and education. It does not replace a medical diagnosis or treatment. For acute complaints, please contact your doctor — in an emergency call 144.