Is weed that bad for CH?

[Zipp]

I don't think so at all . Most of you know not all weed is the same. Besides the big differences in THC and CBD , different weed strains have different terpene profiles (taste profiles) which is what makes each strain work different. Overuse/high tolerance  makes it less effective, but it works sometimes. I'm not liking all these off label pharma drugs they're giving us.  Steroids etc..

[Dallas Denny]

G'mornin Zipp

I been toking for over 50 years and have had clusters going on 35 years......cannabis neither triggers me, nor does it provide any relief......but i use it on a daily basis to relieve/reduce chronic back pain due to several herniated discs and DDD.

Dallas Denny 

[Zipp]

Good for you DD. I remember on the old clusterheadaches.com ppl would get told they don't have Ch if weed gives them any relief. Or everyone would say it was a definite trigger.  For me,  at it's worst cannabis doesn't make a difference, but at best it gives me  relief. 

[MattBE]

Smoked weed daily from my 17-23 yrs still smoke during bad clusters . Have CH from 19-27 and onwards doesn't really help with the attacks.

Numbs / reliefs the shadow pains a bit 

[Justintim3]

I’ve been suffering from CH for over 20 years now and have smoked weed most my life. Remember smoking is carcinogenic and that may restrict blood flow from what I’ve been told. I personal have no relief at all from the ganja during an attack. And maybe it’s bad timing but there are time that I’ve smoke and had an attack soon after. I would ingest vs.smoking .

[Roadie]

Hi everyone. I'm not entirely new to CBs but I haven't been here for a decade and have a new user name.

I have to say that I used to think that smoking cannabis, or people smoking it around me, made my attacks worse when I was in cycle. I used to smoke a lot of it when I was in my late teens and early 20s, which is when my CH started.  I did wonder if it was linked.  I was also a regular tobacco smoker then.

My last 'normal' bout of CH was in 1999, a few months after I stopped smoking and, by then, I'd all but given up cannabis.  I'm not suggesting it cured me.  I began having frequent bouts of shadows instead with just a few CH attacks breaking through over the years.

Over the past 6 months I've been in one of these bouts of shadows with what seem to be low-level attacks.  My partner smokes weed at home sometimes and I feel it hit me behind my eye and makes my head feel worse if I can smell the smoke.  Make of it what you will!

[Melissa30]

What are shadows? Is that when you can feel a CH coming on? 

[Roadie]

Shadows can mean several things to me.  Yes - it's the feeling that an attack is coming on, but often it doesn't.  These can last for a few minutes or simply just be sudden bursts of CH pain.  

It can also be the feeling that you've been hit with a low level attack - one that isn't bad enough to treat.  I get these a lot at the moment.  It feels like an attack is starting but then it levels off and never really gets going.  The feeling can linger for hours - sometimes even the whole day.

After an attack, I'll get constant "reminders" of the attack, as if my body is suppressing the attack but it's trying to push through again.  I call these 'post-attack' shadows.

Lastly, and most bothersome to me, are the bouts of constant pains I get.  I've had lots of these bouts. Some days I'll just get repeated nasal blocking on my right side accompanied with sore/burning pain that worsens with each cycle of blockage.  I'll get days where I simply have a continuous burning/piercing pain behind my eye.  I'll get days where I have the nagging ache in my head that I get with CH attacks but never serious enough to be a real attack.  Throughout the whole cycle, I'll be in constant fear that attacks are just about to start but this has actually only ever happened once or twice.  These bouts of shadows usually don't result in full-blown CH attacks.  I recently spoke to another CH sufferer in the UK who recognised these symptoms in himself.

 

[Racer1_NC]

I've never indulged myself but after being around many, many cluster people I've heard a range of comments....it doesn't help and it doesn't hurt being far and away the most common. I've also heard a few swear it helps....and a few swear it's a trigger. Damifino.

I do know when I was a tobacco user even the thought of lighting up during an attack would make me worse....but then the first thing I wanted after the pain was gone was a smoke.

 

[Roadie]

14 hours ago, Racer1_NC said:

 

I do know when I was a tobacco user even the thought of lighting up during an attack would make me worse....but then the first thing I wanted after the pain was gone was a smoke.

 

Ditto this!

[jon019]

Double ditto...sometimes it was the only thing that got me through.......

[Rod H]

Same here it's been 11yrs since I had a cigarette. Still crave em til I smell one.

[Jackie110]

Idk, is weed as bad. I'm smoking with vape pens and everything ok for now:) 

If you don't know how it affects you can check here .

[Freud]

My headache Dr Brian Grosberg in CT recommends canibis and supposedly the researcher at Harvard that passed away was a supporter to according to my doc...  at the peak of an attack it doesn’t touch the pain. But it helps me relax as I’m dealing with the post attack Adrenalin rush jitters. Definitely doesn’t trigger attacks for me. I also smoke a cig while I’m waiting for my sumatriptan injection to kick in. 

[Oli]

I find higher indica % strains such as afghani are great after an attack, avoid citrus based strains as these seems to add to the intensity of a CH attack.
This is just anecdotal from the past month - your mileage may vary.

[HazBaz]

 

On 1/15/2018 at 2:21 PM, Roadie said:

Shadows can mean several things to me.  Yes - it's the feeling that an attack is coming on, but often it doesn't.  These can last for a few minutes or simply just be sudden bursts of CH pain.  

It can also be the feeling that you've been hit with a low level attack - one that isn't bad enough to treat.  I get these a lot at the moment.  It feels like an attack is starting but then it levels off and never really gets going.  The feeling can linger for hours - sometimes even the whole day.

After an attack, I'll get constant "reminders" of the attack, as if my body is suppressing the attack but it's trying to push through again.  I call these 'post-attack' shadows.

Lastly, and most bothersome to me, are the bouts of constant pains I get.  I've had lots of these bouts. Some days I'll just get repeated nasal blocking on my right side accompanied with sore/burning pain that worsens with each cycle of blockage.  I'll get days where I simply have a continuous burning/piercing pain behind my eye.  I'll get days where I have the nagging ache in my head that I get with CH attacks but never serious enough to be a real attack.  Throughout the whole cycle, I'll be in constant fear that attacks are just about to start but this has actually only ever happened once or twice.  These bouts of shadows usually don't result in full-blown CH attacks.  I recently spoke to another CH sufferer in the UK who recognised these symptoms in himself.

 

Amen Roadie. Another U.K. sufferer here who experiences all of the above. 

Edited August 31, 2018 by HazBaz

[MoxieGirl]

Weed helps my clusters, but indirectly. 

I had figured out that if I didn't get enough sleep, I'd get slammed with clusters. My rule is: 2 late nights a week are OK, but never back to back. More than 2 late nights or 2 back to back, and I'm in serious danger. Also doesn't help when I have insomnia, and just can't shut down and get to sleep.

This is where weed comes in. It helps me got to sleep, which means I have a better and longer night's sleep, and thus fewer clusters. 

As far as shadows go, to me it always felt like the beast (aka demon) was a creature of black smoke, and he would hide and lurk behind trees in the distant corners of my mind, ready to attack when I wasn't watching. I could feel him there, watching me and waiting for his chance. 

MG