What can be done to prevent cluster headaches?

People with cluster headaches should remember to take prescribed medications at the doses and times the doctor specifies.

As previously noted, cluster headaches may be triggered by stress, relaxation, extreme temperatures, glare, allergic rhinitis (hay fever), and sexual activity. Eating certain foods sometimes brings on an attack, as does the use of alcohol- or tobacco-containing products. Although avoiding all these triggers all the time is not practical or even possible, people with cluster headaches should try to identify and avoid triggers sure to bring on a headache. Prevention is the best treatment available.

Smoking and high blood pressure can worsen cluster headaches, so it is very important to quit smoking and to lower and control high blood pressure.