What should you know about daily cluster headaches?

Cluster headache attacks usually cause intense pain on one side, around or behind an eye. The affected eye may water or become red, and the nostril on that side may feel blocked or run. Restlessness during an attack is common, unlike the wish to lie still that some people have with migraine. Attacks can arrive at a similar time each day and may occur in a period of repeated episodes, but a new daily pattern should not be self-diagnosed.

Other causes of [Headache](/symptoms/headache/) or [Facial Pain and Pressure](/symptoms/facial-pain-and-pressure/) can look similar. A clinician uses the timing, duration, associated eye or nose changes, examination, and medical history to decide whether scans or other tests are needed.

Keep an attack diary with start time, duration, side, eye and nose symptoms, sleep, alcohol exposure, medicines, and possible triggers. Arrange a prompt [GP Consultation](/treatments/consultations-and-assessment/gp-consultation/) for a new, severe, or daily pattern. Acute cluster-headache treatment is different from ordinary over-the-counter painkillers, and a clinician may discuss fast-acting options and a preventive plan. Do not repeatedly increase painkiller doses without advice. Avoid alcohol if it reliably triggers attacks, and do not drive if pain or treatment affects alertness.

Seek emergency help for a sudden thunderclap headache, weakness or numbness, trouble speaking, fainting, confusion, seizure, fever with a stiff neck, new vision loss, or a painful red eye with reduced sight. Get urgent assessment for a first severe headache, a major change in the established pattern, or headache after a head injury. These warning signs need evaluation regardless of whether the pain resembles cluster headache.

Ask whether the pattern fits cluster headache, whether examination or imaging is needed, which treatment should be used at attack onset, how prevention works, and which symptoms should send you to emergency care.