What To Think About

The major drawback of this therapy is that you must have continuous access to an oxygen tank because you usually don't know when a cluster headache will occur. It may be inconvenient to keep oxygen on hand all the time. Medicines may be easier to use when headaches occur at times when you are not at home.

If needed, oxygen can be combined with cluster headache medicines (such as sumatriptan) for the most effective treatment. Oxygen also may be combined with preventive medicines to reduce how often you get headaches.

Oxygen may increase the risk of fire if it is used near an open flame. And oxygen cannot be safely stored or used if you are smoking or if you are near a flame of any kind (lit fireplace or gas stove).

Complete the new medication information form (PDF)(What is a PDF document?) to help you understand this medication.