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   Author  Topic: Cigarettes and coffee ?  (Read 1163 times)
Merc
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Cigarettes and coffee ?
« on: Feb 26th, 2002, 7:50am »
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Hi all :|
 
I'm a programmer and live on coffee and cigerretes all day long. My wife has been nagging me and says I get CH because of all the cafeen and nicotine. I'm not naiv enough to think that if I quit smoking and stopped drinking coffe all day that I could be cured, but could there be some sort of a link ?
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ejwrancher
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #1 on: Feb 26th, 2002, 9:28am »
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Shocked  I live on both as well.  Can't even imagine giving up either, I enjoy them so much and besides, they are so healthy Tongue  I do not think the coffee hurts as much as the cigs.  I remember during an episide, I also had a bad cough, kinda slowed down on the cigs and thought the attacks slowed down a bit and may not have been so severe.  I have also tried the coffee slow-down, don't think it did any good.  
 
Have also heard the coffee kinda helps abort.  Even tried a pot of lunk-warm coffee during an attach with not much help.  I will be interested in seeing what others say.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #2 on: Feb 26th, 2002, 2:22pm »
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Like the others I too am a coffee and ciggy fan.  I tried quitting coffee .... didn't change a damn thing.  Tried quitting the ciggies, started my CH's a month and a half early.  So basically...I don't know.  And honestly, who the hell wants to stop anything that makes them happy! Roll Eyes  My morale hit rock bottom when I quit smoking... it was not a pretty sight!  Grin
 
Take care and PFDAN to all
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don
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #3 on: Feb 26th, 2002, 8:57pm »
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Coffee may in fact aid in preventing attacks.  
 
Cigarettes may in fact cause you to die early and therefor not get another attack.
 
Depends on your perspective I guess.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #4 on: Feb 26th, 2002, 10:42pm »
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I quit smoking for an entire year. My ch's persisted. Many of the meds that work well for headaches have caffeine in them (it constricts the blood vessels as does nicotine), and personally I drink coffee at the first sign of a shadow to try to prevent it....
 
coffee is your friend smokey treats are your friends
 
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Merc
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #5 on: Feb 27th, 2002, 3:05am »
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Thanx all for your replys ...
I have actually been avoiding cigarettes and coffee just before or deuring an attack, but now I think I will reward myself !
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KevH07
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #6 on: Mar 1st, 2002, 6:22pm »
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Hi all first time posting here , so go easy on me lol
Just wanted to say thanks to Merc for asking this question been wondering about it myself. Been a CH for 8 years now , but have been misdiagnosed <~~hope thats right, lol, for the first 6yrs. Anyway you know every doc. I've seen has told me to lay off the smokes but I dont think I could deal with an attack without one. For some reason I think it helps me keep my mind off the pain some while that sucker is burning. I know its all in my mind but I could never give them up, they are just so damn good !
 
 Anyway thanks again and pain free day's to all
 
 
Kev Cool
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #7 on: Mar 7th, 2002, 11:08am »
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never smoked and rarely drink coffee and have chronic CH. so now i'm gonna start smoking and drinking coffee...JK, sort of
jd
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #8 on: Mar 8th, 2002, 9:28am »
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In the past when I had to go through attacks with no abortives (AGGGHHR).
The first thing I wanted when the attack was over, was a cup of coffee and about 4 ciggy's.
Wierd.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #9 on: Mar 8th, 2002, 8:06pm »
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When I get an attack, after running hot water on my head, getting up sitting down, getting up running hot water on my head sitting down, walking back and forth. eating any pain pill I can find, THEN I sit down and drink coffee and smoke MORE ciggarettes.
Hope this helps.
John
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #10 on: Mar 9th, 2002, 2:46pm »
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I can't believe i'm reading this!  You guys!  I have had ch for over 25 years.  Smoking has not affect whatsoever on the ch for me.  Sometimes i smoke a butt during an attack (as i'm pacing around muttering to mysef) anyway, never noticed on way or another re the nicotine.  BUTTTTTT!  My husband comes home from work and smell coffee he knows ch is in the house.  I IMMEDIATELY start that coffee machine STRONG AND HOT and gulp it down to ward off that ch attack.   It has been my experience that coffee works better than most meds i've taken in "knocking out" the beast.  However, as the ch attacks intensify and get more frequent, alas, the coffee joins all the other ineffective methods!  Funny thing, so many neuros (and here i roll MY EYES and plug MY nose) have droned on about the detriments of nicotine and caffeine.  I truly believ that many neuros are notnos.  Oh well.  I say, swig that coffee and suck those fags!
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Brenton
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #11 on: Apr 7th, 2002, 10:25am »
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 Hi  
I am very new to this site and have read with interest all your comments re coffee and cigs. Oh boy how i relate to JohnCH comments,it is so typical of me during an attack.Until i found this site i really did think i was the only one who suffered this "hellish" pain.I am currenlty in another cycle [my first week of hell] and this time i have chosen not to drink coffee nor smoke and the pain and frequency of  attacks have not changed.
I will perservere with this,but after a week it has not worked for me.
Wishing you all
PFNAD'S
Brenton
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JimF
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #12 on: Apr 8th, 2002, 4:42pm »
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I quit smoking for 3 yrs and i still had CH...too much coffee seems to be a trigger for me. Actually i think a cig helps reduce the pain and eases the nausea. afterall, nicotine is a vasoconstrictor..so it makes sense. but the effect is short lived.  
Ice is my best friend...freeze your head till it hurts...
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #13 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 12:14am »
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Yet another 'eine' addict here and sometimes I wonder that if O2 helps abort an attack by supplying more and purer oxygen to the brain, isn't smoking the exact opposite of this? Smoke does, after all, clog hemoglobin and deprive cells of needed O2.
 
Just something to ponder....
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #14 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 12:27am »
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I agree that notseinfeld's response does seem logical, but after reading that almost everyone else found no difference when not smoking, I will not mention quitting ever again to my boyfriend, Steve.  Of course, as a smoker myself, I really didn't have a leg to stand on!
There are other obvious reasons to quit smoking, but if smoking a cigarette can help him get through an attack, so be it.
As far as coffee goes, as a supporter, my first job during an attack is to start the coffee pot.  There have been a few instances where coffee made his headache worse, but usually it does help, and for minor attacks, sometimes coffee is all it takes.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #15 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 12:38am »
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I started having this crap when I was 8 years old, way before I started smoking and drinking coffee, so it is certainly not the cause.
 
I like many others, go for that hot coffee as soon as one hits.  Sometimes it will abort it.  Otherwise it seems to be soothing for the heat to hit my upper palate and throat.
 
I will also smoke during my attacks as it will sometimes hurry the thing along.  So believe it or not I smoke to intensify the pain which, especially during the early stages of my cycle, reduces the duration of the attack.
 
I look quite the case I'm sure with my ice on the outside of my head the hot coffee being held in my mouth and a cigarette in the other hand, one eye streaming and red and almost closed, head cocked slightly to the pain side and rocking, readjusting and rocking some more.  
 
PF to all!
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #16 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 8:33am »
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oring, i hear ya.  Eigor on coffee break!   ;D
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Ueli
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For Notseinfeld
« Reply #17 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 9:47am »
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on Apr 9th, 2002, 12:14am, notseinfeld wrote:
... sometimes I wonder that if O2 helps abort an attack by supplying more and purer oxygen to the brain, isn't smoking the exact opposite of this? Smoke does, after all, clog hemoglobin and deprive cells of needed O2.

The fact is: The brain regulates to very close tolerances the amount of oxygen it receives. To achieve this goal, it sends out signals to increase or restrict he blood flow. In the chain of events in a cluster attack the expanding arteries are causing the pain by pressing on the trigeminal nerve. Here is where the abortives take action: Sumatriptan as a 5-TH (serotonin) agonist mimics a strong nerve signal to constrict the vessels. The oxygen rich blood (from breathing pure oxygen) provokes an autonomous signal to constrict the arteries (in order to avoid an over-supply of O2 to the brain).
 
There is no such thing as more or less pure oxygen supplied to the brain. The air we breathe contains 21% oxygen, a fraction of a % CO2 (carbon dioxide, a waste product of our metabolism), even less of all sorts of pollutants and the big rest are Nitrogen and noble gases. The very small fraction of CO (Carbon monoxide) in cigarette smoke does indeed bind irreversibly to haemoglobin, but this of no consequence to the oxygen supply for the brain (see above).
 
PFNAD's, Ueli   Shocked
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Bob P
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You've all got it backwards.
« Reply #18 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 10:09am »
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Think out of the box.
 
Smoking and drinking coffee doesn't cause out CH.
 
Our CH causes us to drink and smoke.
 
My theory is that the same disfunction that causes our 5HT system to be whacko is the same thing that gives us addictive personalities (see my post on the "drug addiction" topic or read the Cocaine article at the bottom of the serotonin page in the OUCH Library).  Seems 5HT has a lot to do with addiction.
 
I think our 5HT system is always messed up as shown by our constant low level of Melatonin (a metabolyte of 5HT) whether in or out of cluster cycle.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #19 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 11:57am »
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on Apr 9th, 2002, 10:09am, Bob_P wrote:
Smoking and drinking coffee doesn't cause out CH.
 
Our CH causes us to drink and smoke.

I believe Bob hit the nail on the head with this one. My neurologist agrees.  
 
He believes that the same defect in our brains that causes CH also makes us more prone to become addicted to nicotine and alcohol. He said it is easy to interpret the "cause and effect" thing backwards.
 
For example, I thought for years that eating chocolate triggered my CH. It wasn't till my neuro asked me how often I ate chocolate that I realized I NEVER eat chocolate except when in cycle. As a matter of fact, if I find myself buying chocolate bars, I know that a new cycle will start soon. In my case, the CH makes me crave chocolate.
 
I am not much of a drinker... I can go for months without touching a drop and not even realize till afterwards that I have done without, but I am definitely heavily addicted to nicotine. I sure would like to quit one day, but not because of my CH.
 
pinky
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #20 on: Apr 9th, 2002, 12:11pm »
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I actually did quit for 15 years, but still had cycles like clocwork.  
 
I re-started when going thru a nasty divorce and the clusters still went on as if nothing had ever changed.
 
I quit a few other times, but can't seem to make it past the 3  month mark for some reason.
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Re: For Notseinfeld
« Reply #21 on: Apr 20th, 2002, 10:48pm »
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on Apr 9th, 2002, 9:47am, Ueli wrote:

In the chain of events in a cluster attack the expanding arteries are causing the pain by pressing on the trigeminal nerve.

 
Ding! Ding! Ding! This is like a huge light bulb of sorts for me!  I have Trigeminal Neuralgia. I have a pins and needles type feeling on the left side of my face, of course accompanied by shooting and excrutiating pains.  My CH resides on the right side.  By the time that the CH is kicking into high gear the TN has been going on for hours.  Your comment has confirmed my thought that the two are related!  I have TN Bi-Laterally, so the scenerio is not always the same but this has been the way it has affected me for the last few weeks.
 
I also smoke and guzzle coffee.  Last month I was sick with bronchitis and basically quit for two or three weeks.  It made no difference in the frequency or intensity of my pain.
 
I find that late at night I do smoke a lot more, which is when my pain is the worst. Hmmm.
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #22 on: Apr 23rd, 2002, 10:19am »
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I know a lot of us have sleep issues.  I've had problems with insomnia since I was in high school.  I don't smoke or drink, but I was a total caffeine addict up until the beginning of my current cycle last November.  In the past month, after going off meds completely, I've been sleeping perfectly.  I fall asleep as soon as I go to bed, and sleep through the whole night, 8 hours.  
 
Coffee was very hard for me to give up, but if anyone else is interested in trying, I've found eating a high protein breakfast creates wakeful arousal which is a lot easier on your system than a cup o' joe.
 
-Rick
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Drk^Angel
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #23 on: May 2nd, 2002, 4:28am »
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I know this thread hasn't been replied to in a while, but I just wanted to mention something my neuro said when i mentioned cigs to him.  He agreed with me that during a cycle, the cigs may actually help with the pain a bit, but he said between cycles that cigs may reduce the length of the remission (dunno how true that is, because it seems that when I wasn't smoking, the remission wasn't any longer than it is when I am).   Shuttin' up now...
 
PFDAN............................ Drk^Angel
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Re: Cigarettes and coffee ?
« Reply #24 on: May 3rd, 2002, 7:33pm »
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Cigarettes are veddy bad for you.  I have a strong premonition that they have no bearing on ch.  Having suffered with these gobstopping god awful ch's  for decades, I have decided that I will one day quit smoking.  This in the hopes that I will not die of cancer.
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