Thanks for sharing your story. It's giving me hope that I'll come through the worst time of my life! Just had a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage 2 weeks ago after having a severe thunderclap headache. I would say 99% of the population doesn't know what a 10 out of 10 pain is (I thought I did before this happened!) It was absolutely unbearable and indescribable. I wanted to die it hurt so bad. Despite getting morphine, Dilaudid, and fentanyl, the pain hardly diminished. They think I have reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome due to meds I was on and I also had COVID at the same time! My recovery has been very slow and painful so I just needed to know that there are other people that have gone through this and they've gotten better, so thank you again!

Thankyou for sharing your story, iam chronic cluster headachce been happening since 14 Had a thunder clapp last month, put me in the hospital. Was the worst headachce ive ever experienced. Had 24 headachce days last month, when i had my thunderclapp i thought the same myself thought that was me. I had alot of pressure for around 3-4 weeks feel abit better now but not 100 % myself , memory is just starting to come back thank god. Still bits i carnt remember hopefully it comes back, take care buddy

As a medical student, this is very very informative , especially when someone had it and explain it Thanks for being brave and sharing the story!!

Hey Scott, thanks for sharing your account of events. I recently went to hospital after having severe headaches, one minute i was in a meeting, the next on the floor in agony it felt like i was being stabbed in my head - i laid for 30 minutes and felt more human again, the next day i struggled. I was then admitted to hospital and have since had 2 CT scans with contrast, they thought they found an aneurysm however after an MRI/MRA it was ruled out. Along with a lumbar puncture (which to this day 5 weeks on i still feel like I'm recovering from it). Aneurysm was ruled out. I then had a cerebral angiogram and at this point i thought i was about to die, i blacked out and the whole left side of my head felt like it was going to explode - this is the most agonising pain i have ever felt and i honestly think that thinking of my kids and partner fighting for their image in my head kept me here. Findings on the angiogram have been stenosis. Coupled with my blood tests I have been diagnosed with high cholesterol (6.2) and chronic kidney disease stage 2. Odd that as i am healthy, i eat well and exercised a lot Now since being out of hospital ive dropped around 10kg from following a renal diet. I am still get tinges in my head and pressure build up especially in my ears (this i think must be related to the lumbar puncture). I'm waiting for a neurologist appointment but its taking around a 5 month wait. . I think what i had wasnt a thunderclap headache but called an ice pick headache. All i can do is walk, but i do get light headed at times. I also find like you said that my batteries are depleted - I'm in bed most nights by 9 and finding that i sleep all the way through. Crazy how our body does things. If anyone reading this has experienced anything that i have, please connect with me. It would be great to hear from you

Had my first Thunderclap headache on Tuesday of this week. Admitted to hospital for CT scan and lumbar puncture and no bleed on the brain. Just experienced another, less severe one this afternoon. Like you I couldn't find much info on it and was so glad to find your video this morning.

Thankyou for sharing this content. I am 2 months post 6 thunderclap headaches with a condition known as RCVS. It wasn't until I watched your video that I realised that I wasn't being lazy and that the fatigue was real. I have been slowly teaching myself to read and concentrate for longer periods of time. I still struggle with the brightness of the sun and have a continual headache which im told will pass. Anyway your video helped me and my family in understanding more from a sufferers view point so I thank you x

Hi Scott, well done on getting this out there, if it only helps one person, that's great! So glad you found that specialist, once someone can explain what's happened & what will happen going forward, it helps so much. Keep feeling well

Flippin ekk mate. Bravo for being so candid, I had never heard of this condition. Great to hear you feel more like your normal self. Chin up pal 👍

Thank you for sharing your story. I have an MRI on Thursday and hoping this is treatable.

I had a thunderclap headache for the first time in 2006 and they would be triggers that would cause them so I avoided those things and sort of learn to live with it. But then they started to happen less and less until eventually they went away...until this past Tuesday. OMG! I had forgotten how extremely painful they are. So I have finally set an appointment with my new PD and see how we can treat them. I was shocked to find out that they are uncommon. And also that they can indicate a bleed like you mentioned. I was told if I get another one or develop new neurological symptoms to go to the ER immediately.

I am pretty sure I just had one the other day (likely a primary thunderclap and not a secondary), 2 or 3 days after labrum and CAM surgery, and it was 12+ out of 10 on the pain scale. Felt like someone was crushing my head while it also wanted to explode from the inside. I was gripping my head and beginning to gag/vomit, couldn't think or speak clearly. The only thought I had was "is this a blood clot? Do I need to be in a hospital?" and even those thoughts were hard to think because of the pain. I managed to remember one med I was given was an anti-inflammatory and took it, but it barely touched on it. It only helped enough to give me enough thought to text my mother while In a shower wanting to die from pain, hoping the cold water would fix it if I sat under it (it did not). My mother reminded me I had an opioid I'd been refusing to take for surgery pain and it was on the other side of the damn house. I was on crutches, cannot fully use my leg, wet, naked and alone. So, I couldn't even go get it right away. I had to wait until I felt even a moment of clarity, before I somehow got to the kitchen and back, my leg less than happy as I couldn't coordinate my steps with the crutches, and I took the medicine. I vomited violently multiple times at the 13 minute mark of taking the medicine (likely from the opioid) and then at the 40ish minute mark of taking the medicine, I felt it ease enough that I had some semblance of reality back (could make words again, even though shaking and scared). It was just enough to allow me to climb out of the shower and into bed where I blacked out with the headache still going. The next day, I realized my neck was stiff and locked up on the right side, so I had to use my TENs unit and massage it until it released somewhat, but it's still tight and very tender to the touch. I've been on constant medicine to keep the headache away since (Tylenol, the anti-inflammatories mentioned above, etc.) as there is a building headache every morning and evening. Each day, it gets less intense, but...I'm scared it'll be bad again. I'll be bringing it up to my doctor on Thursday when I go in for post-op. I'm still very tired every day since it and feel like my brain is floating sometimes. It's hard to focus one moment and okay the next. Honestly, had I been with someone at the time, I likely would have been taken to the hospital, but being alone, I had to force myself to function, even if I barely could. I'm really thankful I had the opioids on me when it happened because I don't know what would have happened had I not had them. If it happens again though, to the hospital I go.

I had 3 thunderclap headaches between Feb 7 and Feb 10 with an unending headache still (Feb 27). I was finally admitted to the hospital after going back to the ER for the 3rd time on Feb 15. I was in the hospital for 9 days. I did have a small brain bleed, but the location was never found (they did all the tests) as there was blood in my spinal fluid and my spinal fluid pressure was twice as high as it should have been. I just got out of the hospital Feb 24. It’s probably the most terrifying experience I’ve ever had. To have pain happen so fast and so intense. And just as you said, you were fine and then someone was taking a sledgehammer to the back of your head and not stopping.

Great Video. Just experienced this, this week. Been to hospital for ct scan and lumbar puncture which thankfully was clear. Like you say doesn’t seem to be any information anywhere. Mine was Tuesday night and as I write this on Saturday I still have a pressure feeling headache which seems to calm down when doing nothing, lying in bed or on sofa. Then starts increasing in pressure feeling and pain as I start to try and do anything, even walking around the house. Sounds like I could be in for this for a while yet!

It's associated with a condition called reversible cerebral vaso-constriction syndrome some people can have only one episode others continue to have thunderclap headaches. No one appears to really know much about this type of headache. I had years in-between from the first onset to having another episode but as I am late 50's now they are very frequent almost daily.

I had one a while ago. It woke me up, I though it was a really bad migraine at first that lasted about 10 seconds then for the next 60 seconds I couldn’t remember anything. I just remember my parents where there then I was in the living room, then an ambulance, then I was in a bed. I remember the 60 seconds but all I remember was how bad my head hurt. All I could hear was ringing, but I don’t remember what I was doing or where I was. After the 60 seconds I was on the floor and my parents were talking. But then again I blacked out. I don’t remember much until I finally made it to the bed. I remember my mom was in the room with me and then we went home. She told me I had and MRP and I was awake through the whole thing, but I don’t recall it.

I had this. It was terrible. I ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks on heavy pain killers. I couldn't understand what had happened to me so I blamed the memory loss on the pain pills I had been on during the hospitalization. I work on the computer non stop. When this happened, I forgot how to log on to the computer. I had to learn it again but it came back pretty fast. My doctor sent me back to work after 1 month. He said it would aid in my recovery because I would concentrate on work and re-learn. But looking back at some emails from back then I laugh at some of the stuff I was doing. I was clearly not all the way better yet. Lol.😂 Luckily no one noticed.

I’m still feeling like my brain is swelling. It almost feels like I’m going to die still. My thunderclap headache was on sat and sunday. Spent 2 days in hospital. Never had this happen in my life. Worst possible pain imaginable. I’m actually totally traumatized still. I don’t feel like myself

I had sudden thunderclap headaches multiple times in one day, it was like being stabbed directly in the brain!!! I was on the floor holding my head thinking it was about to explode. I put it down to toothache that i had been having everyday for weeks. After getting antibiotics from the dentist the same day, the TCH stopped the next day 'thank god' and i had the tooth out a week later. The dentist gave me antibiotics because i had a infection and then i went back to have the tooth removed. I think it was the infection that caused my experience, i vaguely remember the dentist saying the infection was in my jaw. I have had a load of pain in my life 'broken bones, cuts and falls etc' but that day of TCH was on another scale. I was very worried i was going to die. My mum died at 50 suddenly through a brain haemorrhage, and my dad's father had a serious stoke in his 60s. I wonder if it's worth me mentioning this to my doctor? It happened around 13 years ago. I haven't had a thunderclap headache since, but i am terrified of it happening again.

Hi Scott. So Pleased that all is now well with you. It is extremely brave to talk about and re-live your experiences in such an open forum but I am sure it will help people who are going through the same to realise that there is light at the end of the tunnel. It makes us all realise that life is quite fragile and that we should all make sure we live life the right way and make the most of the good times. Stay well mate and all the best from a very quiet Dubai. Regards Steve

I usually get the very sudden and very painful headaches and I have to literally sit still for like a min or 2. I have a history of migraines and occipital neuralgia (got a nerve block at it's worse).. but the thunderclaps keep coming though not so frequently but once they do, a mild migraine takes over. My head CT scans come normal. So it's really confusing. Thank you for sharing.

Hey, thank you so much for sharing! My partner had an episode of this recently and I’d like him to go private as well. Could you please send me the link for the consultant you saw privately ? I’d really appreciate it

I'm having thunderclap headache now 😭. And it's really painful.. I can't sleep, I can't stay normally due to pain.. It feels like someone is giving me current shock in my head. And the worst part about this type of headache is it goes from one point to another in the brain ,currently it's now in in left ear side. So my ear is also paining 😭... I'm just hoping it ends soon and no one on this earth ever get this headache!

I had this and went to A&E and they told me I needed a mental health assessment.... It's the most pain I've ever experienced

I have it for a few seconds and it disappears and after a few days it comes.

I get these thunder clap headaches daily. They freaking suck more than anything I've been through and I've been through a lot for my age

I’m curious whether you know if your diagnosis was reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome? I’ve had a similar experience (although it only comes on when I lean forward or tilt my head) and was told it’s just migraine but I’ve had migraines for 15years and it’s nothing like that. It’s lasted three weeks so far. :-(

Does it feel like a migraine? My niece is experiencing something like this - SUDDEN severe headaches with sensitivity to light and sound, vomiting, etc. That’s why doctors say it’s migraine. But when I try to search about it on the internet, migraines do not come on so suddenly. Does anyone here experience the same? CT scan, blood & urine tests came out OK.

How long does the thunder clap last ? I get these quick zaps that hurt for a quick second I’m so scared

Please can I ask have your headaches persisted , been suffering for 13 months now

Is there anything I can do, my wife is suffering right now

how long did yours last? I didn't get one suddenly but the pain went from a little to alot and now it's really painful.i think it's related to my bad posture as I used to get neck pain for some days.any advice.(can't go to the hospital as Covid )

Mines hurt in the day time do they having treatment for it ?

my girlfriend is having the same....she experiences it once or twice a month...her mom is suffering from a brain tumor too... don't know if it us heriditory or not.... I'm kinda worried about her...is thunderclap life threating? waiting for your reply ( sorry for my bad English)

So is it a throbbing/pulsating pain like a thumping pain or like heartbeat?

Mine happened while working out. I tried a few days later to work out and after one set of pullups the pain came on intensely and I stopped. Doesn't sound like you had any surgery or anything invasive. Did your brain just heal on its own and can you do physical work without anything happening? Thanks for sharing your story.

Had this back when i was 7 years old. Didn't know it was this specific headache though. Just thought I was dying 😂 Back then they concluded it as due to constant stress at home and school. That freaked me out. I'm asian and I used to spend every night doing my hw and it would never end. After getting the headache, I remember crying every night. The pain would come and go suddenly about 10-20 times a day and it was a nightmare. After months of crying in bed like a maniac we went to my father's friend (he happens to be a doctor of some sort) Idk what he did but i remember he did something to make me bleed out from my head a lot and I was fine starting from the next day... And I never studied after that. :) ...failing classes yeahh...