Cluster headache symptoms fall into two categories, major and minor. The really big one is the stabbing sensation in one eye, or one side of the face.

If you’ve ever had this happen to you, and it lasted for around an hour or so, you probably had a cluster headache. But there are a great many minor symptoms that accompany cluster headaches, and we’ll discuss them in this article.

The first minor cluster headache symptoms you might notice are problems with your eye on the affected side of your face, in addition to the terrible pain. Cluster headaches are poorly understood by medical experts even today, so doctors really can’t say what causes this reaction, but the affected eyelid may have a noticeable droop during the duration of the headache. In addition, the eye itself may shed tears. These aren’t really tears of pain, because both eyes would tear up in that case. And the droopiness and tearing may occur individually, or together. But they’ll always happen to the eye on the same side of the face as the headache.

Nasal problems are also classic cluster headache symptoms. It’s common to experience either a runny nose or a stopped up nose, and, just as with the eye, it only happens in the nostril on the affected side of the face. Other symptoms include a pronounced restlessness, or anxiety, which is certainly understandable given the intense pain. Finally, profuse sweating and a flushed face are common cluster headache symptoms. One thing to note, although it’s not really a symptom, but more of an indicator, is that cluster headaches usually occur in January or July. The reason for this is not known, and is part of the medical mystery of cluster headaches.

If you’ve been suffering from these symptoms, you’ve probably been having cluster headaches but didn’t know it. It’s important that you seek an effective treatment, because they rarely stop occurring on their own.