Herbal Cigarettes

[CharleyN]

I was just wondering, do herbal cigarettes (i.e. tobacco-free) exacerbate or trigger any attacks? Just curious if anyone has tried anything

[Pebblesthecorgi]

I don't think you will get an answer to this because of the variety of herbal products out there.  My observation from attending CB conferences is that a significant number of clusterheads are smokers.  I have heard neurologist state this is a cause of the clusters but I suspicion the opposite is true.  Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor and vaso constriction is desirable in aborting cluster headaches.  So if you have a headache and smoking helps even a  little you are reinforced to smoke.  It becomes a vicious cycle.  There are plenty of cluster heads who do not smoke so drawing conclusions is hard even with a more common use on inhalant.  Pretty much anything you inhale into your lungs isn't good for them.  The smoke/vapor causes irritation and allows other problems to manifest.

[Bryan]

When I was a smoker, I definetly used them to abort milder attacks when I didnt think imitrex was needed. A quickly smoked cigarette at the onset of an attack was usually enough to abort it for me. I relapsed many times from quiting smoking during my cycles because they gave me relief. Now I use oxygen to abort and it works better than cigarretes with no side effects.  Not sure about  herbal cigarettes, but I imagine they woulds have a varied effect, depending on the brand/ingredients. 

[mamta25]

Herbal cigarettes may be tobacco-free and nicotine-free, but they still produce smoke when burned, and that smoke can irritate the airways and potentially trigger coughing, wheezing, or asthma-like symptoms in sensitive individuals. “Herbal” does not automatically mean safe for the lungs. If you’re curious about the types available in the market, you can explore this list of herbal cigarette brands. However, even these product can still cause repiratory irritation, beacuse the main issue is the smoke itself, not the tobacco.