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Sleep problems a possible trigger?


kymera_gr7
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Sorry if I'm asking a question that I might have missed on here before, but do sleep problems have an effect on clusters?

I'm curious since I kinda put together today that around the time my clusters started, I started experiencing serious bouts of sleeplessness, sleep apnea, sleep walking, and sleep paralysis. In fact my cycle just started a day or two ago and this morning I was hit with a cluster DURING sleep paralysis.

Just a theory...

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I dont think sleep triggers CH, I think CH causes the sleep issues. After all CH is known as histamine headache, histamines are responsible for wake cycles and the hypothalamus releases the histamines/nuero transmitters.

"Sleep regulation

Histamine is released as a neurotransmitter. The cell bodies of histaminergics, the neurons which release histamine, are found in the posterior hypothalamus, in various tuberomammillary nuclei. From here, these neurons project throughout the brain, to the cortex through the medial forebrain bundle. Histaminergic action is known to modulate sleep. Classically, antihistamines (H1 histamine receptor antagonists) produce sleep. Likewise, destruction of histamine releasing neurons, or inhibition of histamine synthesis leads to an inability to maintain vigilance. Finally, H3 receptor antagonists increase wakefulness.

It has been shown that histaminergic cells have the most wakefulness-related firing pattern of any neuronal type thus far recorded. They fire rapidly during waking, fire more slowly during periods of relaxation/tiredness and completely stop firing during REM and NREM (non-REM) sleep. Histaminergic cells can be recorded firing just before an animal shows signs of waking."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histamine

So your retarded hypothalmus releases histamines which wake you up, histamines cause allergic reaction symptoms and inflamation... stuffed/runny nose, puffy eye, red eye. Except with CH the reaction is of a biblical scale. To me it seems as if its a false allergic/ inflammatory reaction

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Entry into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is a known trigger for many clusterheads. This usually occurs anywhere from 60-120 minutes after falling asleep, and is the beginning of the dreaming phase of sleep.

It's also the part that we need most because it is during this phase of sleep that most of the restorative properties of sleep occur.

Isn't it ironic that the type of sleep we need the most during cycle time is often the type of sleep we are denied?

Not funny.

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Entry into REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is a known trigger for many clusterheads. This usually occurs anywhere from 60-120 minutes after falling asleep, and is the beginning of the dreaming phase of sleep

Probably because the histaminergic cells are still firing when they are supposed to stop....

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Unfortunately, after a few nights of 4-5 hits, REM starts within 10-15 minutes of falling asleep. >:(

So, you may get a whopping 10 minutes of sleep before the next hit. :o

As Brew said, you don't get any 'restorative' sleep. So, life sucks big time!!!!!! :(

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If my sleep is fecked with, I get hit, BAD.

I.E. If someone startles me awake, I'm going to wake up with a nasty hit, and in a nasty mood. It's usually in the K8+ range and has sent me to the ER.

The only time it DIDN'T happen was when I was in the hospital this last time, and drugged up majorly for the pain. Mom touched my cheek, I woke up and nearly took her arm off. The crocodile hunter should have been narrating it.

"Look, there's a sleeping Mysti. They're very dangerous to wake up from a deep sleep. There's her Mum. She's worried that the sleeping Mysti isn't breathing. She's going to touch her...

OH GOD, SHE'S ANGRY, SHE'S ANGRY!!!"

"AAUUUUUUUUGH!!!! What the fuck Mom?!"

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell if you were breathing or not!"

"ASK NEXT TIME."

I've had insomnia from the time I was a small child (Like, age  2 at least. Probably earlier than that.) at this point, I take meds that put me into a pretty deep sleep -- because otherwise I start to go crazy after a few days of no sleep. (More crazy than I already am.)

If you think you're having sleep apnea, get a sleep study done. You can TELL a huge difference with the machine. At least that's what I've been told. (I have central apnea+vocal cord dysfunction so the machine did nada for me.)

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Respiratory therapist says sleep apnea creates adrenaline production inducing headaches. When the airway closes the body goes into defense mode and we all know what happens then. When an attack comes then you get hit. When something triggers it..that is just double the fun.

bb

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Hi Kymera,

I had the the sleep study done when I was diagnosed by my doctor. He was a neurologist/sleep doctor so I guess I got the best of both worlds except he just prescribed Oxycontin and muscle relaxants, didn't do a bit of good. But I also had sleep apnea and he prescribed the CPAP for me.

  Tell you what when I wasn't getting attacked the CPAP provided me the best sleep I had in years that is between attacks. So I also suggest getting checked out it couldn't hurt what little time we have between attacks should be spent in as good a sleep as we can get.

Didn't wake myself or the wife up, didn't get up to pee 5-6 times a night, and I have a customer who knows someone who died from the apnea just quit breathing during sleep and by the time his wife noticed he was brain dead...True story.

Dave O

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Guys, I was wondering if clusters cause mania. I've cheated on my wife twice, and now I've done something stupid again. I saved pics and videos of me having sex with my last 7 girlfriends, and my dumb ass left them on her comp when I switched docs. I hit her today, and no matter what i seem to do I can't stop being angry or going after things I can't have. i know I love my wife, but I can't seem to stop my behavior. Could the headaches maybe be the result of a mental illness? I'm reaching out to you guys. She tried to kill herself today, and all I did was run away.

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