Anna Williams

"Are you stressed?" How many times has a well-meaning friend or physician said this? I wish there was a magic wand to relieve my stress! This begs the question though...

Have you reported symptoms to a doctor, they run some labs or other tests, and the results are normal? This happened to me recently. I did something new. I consulted...

I live with both cluster headache and migraine disease and they are two completely different things. The term “cluster migraine” is still used somewhat frequently in the community and when...

Sometimes the diagnostic journey has many twists and turns. Other times, it is simple. When I was diagnosed with migraine it wasn’t that difficult to get the diagnosis. I told...

Have you ever wondered which came first: headache disease, or insomnia? I have had both for as long as I can remember. Migraine disease started in childhood for me, as...

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child” but, do we ever stop needing a village? Just because we turn 18, doesn’t mean we...

In the days leading up to the first vacation I’ve taken since 2016, I really wondered what I had gotten myself into and hoped I was not making a huge...

When I say the word advocacy, what picture comes to mind? Do you envision standing before a committee in Congress testifying? Do you imagine you have to have a perfect...

My journey has been brutal since 2017 adding many new diagnoses and struggling to manage. Balancing chronic cluster headache, SUNCT, trigeminal neuralgia, migraine and vestibular migraine has really been challenging...

After two years of meeting virtually, Clusterbusters had an in-person conference. My brain was full of questions and concerns about traveling, meeting others, and fitting in. However, all of that...

Cluster headache disease can be episodic or chronic. While the primary symptoms are the same, the chronic version can have different presentations that make it tougher to manage. With episodic...

I want to have a tough conversation today. Adverse childhood events (ACEs) affect 61% of Americans, and 16% of adults have experienced four or more. Adverse childhood events (there are...

How do you navigate experiencing new symptoms?  How do you handle it when your doctor doesn't know a diagnosis or a treatment plan for the new presentation?  I experienced this...

People who experience cluster attacks often have pain outside of the traditional attacks. While the cluster attacks are completely debilitating and the pain is excruciating, shadows and ghosts are a part...

Ever have a plan? Ever have that plan get ripped to shreds? I know you do because if you are reading this, you probably have a devastating disease as well or know...

I have two teenage daughters who are amazing human beings. As their mom, I know I am biased! Over the years, my parenting has changed. In the early years I would push...

I experience two primary headache disorders: migraine and trigeminal autonomic cephalgia (TAC). My migraine started developing when I was 10. I developed cluster headaches, a member of the TAC disorders, in...

Whether you have cluster or migraine attacks, you quickly learn they are more than just a headache. One of the many parts of the head that gets triggered during an...