didgens Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 my son went from october till this morning without a CH ,, He only had 3 episodes back in October,, we saw neurologist ,, cat scan etc all ok. He didnt have any more,, of couse he was drinking alot of redbulls ,, now this morning he came to campus .. was early tried to catch quick nap in his car (college student) ..then wham .. 1st CH in 3 months .. I am so upset Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les genser Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Try not to be too upset. It doesn't necessarily mean a cycle is starting up all though obviously the potential is there. Naps are frequently triggering; they confuse circadian patterns and when the wake cycle in the hypothalamus fires, it releases histamine as a neurotransmitter. The wake cycle itself causes the metabolic flush, the histamine sloshing around the nerve sheathing triggers the headache by nerve induction. Why the wake cycle fires at seemingly random times is the million dollar cluster question; that it predictably fires during naps means your son needs to add this to his store of trigger wisdom. I sincerely hope he is feeling better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didgens Posted February 9, 2012 Author Share Posted February 9, 2012 that is fantastic information .. thank you .. I am definately going to research that more... I know I have been reading that histimine is definatly involved in CH but that anti-histimines have no effect ? any comment on that ? I also know that my youngest (16) came to me on tuesday so miserable (dripping eyes watery nose) requesting something for horrible allergy symptoms .. so I really do think there is a connection ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les genser Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Conventional antihistamines are of no use. There are a few reasons for this; First, when the neurotransmitter histamine fires its already too late, secondly antihistamines take too long to work and an attack is far gone before they reach effective levels and they can lead to rebound. You are better off vigorously attacking the inflammation as quickly as possible. Cold air, rapidly raising O2 demand with strenuous aerobic activity to raise BP (it only sounds counterintuitive, it works). This will help open sinuses; if they are closing up reversing this will abort an attack in half the time and lower the pain considerably. Nothing works faster than cayenne pepper properly applied; its anaesthetic and stimulant qualities are immediately effective; it will clear sinuses in minutes and unlike oxygen tanks you can carry it in your pocket. Brief instructions for use are found in the section on aborting in the licorice root protocol. Hope this is useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiny Posted February 9, 2012 Share Posted February 9, 2012 Hey Les, Why does my 'wake cycle' only hit after I go to sleep at night? Repeatedly? :-? didgens, That sucks for your son. Any stress involved in today's schedule? Stress is a trigger for many too. Two things, rolled into one may do more than add, it may be logarithmic. Put the two together and you may see the beast. Any weather fronts move thru at that time? Lower barometric pressure will be a trigger for many folks too. Try to consider all the bases leading to the home run. You will get a better answer. Hope that makes sense to someone other than me! : All the best, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les genser Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 As I said, that is the million dollar question. When someone answers it, CH will finally be curable as opposed to manageable, and not before. It is hopefully universally acknowledged at this point that episodic cluster attacks are definitely related to and instigated by circadian rhythm disturbances; lets call them errors. This rhythmic cycle regulates activity periods and sleep cycles and the hypothalamus is the principal time keeper. When the wake cycle fires, the hypothalamus does many things through other neurotransmitter (largely but not exclusively serotonin) networks; it stokes the fires, orders up breakfast for the soon-to-be active muscles, and starts nudging you towards wakefulness. It ordinarily will fire about ten minutes before you naturally wake up. (If you have ever been awakened by a night hit unaccountably flushed or overheated, that's why). Your body is already cruising along merrily and bang, the A hole drill sgt. is in your face smashing trash can lids together. Picture if you accidently set your alarm to 3AM instead of 8. You would be a bit confused, a bit pissed, and maybe have trouble settling again. But all this is secondary to that first dump of histamine and its lighting of the fuse. This happening between 1 1/2 to 2 hours after going to sleep is fairly common. Repeating at roughly two hour intervals through out a bad night is also sadly common. I have had far too many of them; most of us have. And to reiterate, no one on this plane of existence has any notion at all why this happens. Going out on a limb, I think the most that can be said is that the 'malfunction' if you can call it that is the physical analog of an energetic imbalance in the HPA axis, likely caused or aggravated by deeply held unconscious chronic stress (see the work of Dr. Gabor Mate; I cannot over praise this man's work..specifically "When the Body Says No"). As to causation, I think your notion is correct. No one thing is probably responsible for any given attack. Again, this is probably familiar to most of us as we attempt to abort, "what did I do/not do/eat/smoke/drink/stress over/etc etc to set this F-er off?" and while its a fun way to pass the time in hell, it is rarely illuminating; well not totally true as the truth about personal triggers can be explained in terms impossible to ignore. In the case of the young lad above, I believe the most likely primary trigger in this case was the nap itself, a fairly large percentage of CH people can be triggered in this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiny Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 didgens, How is your son today? Anymore hits? I sincerely hope not. Some 'flukes' just seem to happen, for me anyway. Fingers crossed it was one of those, just a 'stand alone' hit caused by outside stuff. Let us know, ok? spiny The Happy today ;D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 Glad your here.,...not glad your here. Glad your here. I would advise self study of this affliction the more you know. This thing called CH is an enigma. Just when you think you have it figured out....ow...ow...ow...ow....ow. all the best you are your own best doctor. the bb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggies Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 you are your own best doctor. i feel like this site and everyone in it makes up one giant, kick-ass doctor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 One of the most important things learned early on for me was not to vary my physical wake time. Never early, never late. OK to go back to bed but I must keep the wake cycle as routine as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 One of the most important things learned early on for me was not to vary my physical wake time. Never early, never late. OK to go back to bed but I must keep the wake cycle as routine as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veggies Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 interestingly enough my wake cycle has been right on time this cycle, regardless of when i go to sleep (mostly). 7:11 or 7:12 without an alarm, every day, no matter what. which i'm kind of thankful for, its something i can plan around. sometimes ill stay up too late, maybe 330 or 4, and then i will wake up with a headache around 730, so im guessing my wake cycle fires and im still all sleepy so i dont wake up so my brain is like, "oh you want to sleep more, I DONT THINK SO, here have a headache." thats my faux medical analysis, mostly based on les' knowledge.. i hope your boy is feeling better, i know how he feels! i just stopped being a student but last year i was in cycle for both semesters, and taking a nap in the library was a death sentence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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