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        New Message Board Archives >> 2006-2007 Getting to Know Ya Posts >> alcohol trigger question
        
(Message started by: IpityU on Mar 13^th, 2006, 12:40am)

Title: alcohol trigger question
Post by IpityU on Mar 13^th, 2006, 12:40am

Hi folks,
back with an important question. i see in an earlier that
alcohol is a trigger for many sufferers. My Honey usually drinks beer every day. 1 or so a night and then a bit more on the weekend. Are you saying this can cause a headache to come on? Shoot couldn't you have said Charmin toilet paper causes it or something?? Not alcohol!!! This is going to bum him out! How do you know if it is for certain for an individual?. He has just started with clusters for the first time(4 weeks now),like I mentioned in an earlier thred. I know that on days he has not drank for what ever reson he still did have CH's. Do you have a routine on how to find out your triggers if you have any at all??
Lizah

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by sandie99 on Mar 13^th, 2006, 3:07am

Lizah,

There are so many things we don't know yet relating to ch. Triggers are one of them. What triggers ch for one, doesn't for another.

I found out that alcohol is a trigger for me in a hard way: I got hit not that long time after drinking some. I'm not much of drinker, so giving it up was easy for me. I've been PF since April 05, but I've had alcohol only twice since and in both times I got shadows almost instantly. Naturally I'm avoiding drinking any, I don't want to risk my precious PF time and get chronic ch back into my life!

Best wishes & PF days to your clusterhead,
Sanna

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by Bob_Johnson on Mar 13^th, 2006, 7:50am

A trigger means that--when we are in an active period, when we are having clusters--then using alcohol can often trigger an attack.

When we are not in an active period, then alcohol won't trigger an attack.

All related to the basic notion that clusters come in cycles, that is, periods of days to weeks, when we are subject to attacks.

The only test is to avoid alcohol and see what happens. There is no test, as such, to know when you are vulnerable.

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by marlinsfan on Mar 13^th, 2006, 8:49am

on 03/13/06 at 07:50:48, Bob_Johnson wrote:

The only test is to avoid alcohol and see what happens. There is no test, as such, to know when you are vulnerable.

That's good advice!

However if your husband loves beer as much as I do, and if he's as stubborn as I am, then have him drink a beer or two in the afternoon (not with a meal), and see if he gets a headache within the hour. If he does, then there's your confirmation.....

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by IpityU on Mar 13^th, 2006, 11:52am

Thanks folks. I have a better understanding now of tiggers. As far as my beer loving man goes, perhaps it will just be in the timing as far as consumption goes. I sure hope so for his sake!
And Sanna, if indeed the timing is the issue I will remember to tell him to beware of shadows too!
Any one found that drinking outside on a nice day not effecting you as much as indoors? Wondering if the O2 in the air seemed to help. (or fake you out)
Lizah

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by marlinsfan on Mar 13^th, 2006, 11:56am

Before I knew that beer was a trigger, I got hit after drinking 1/2 beer on an anchored boat off Elliott Key in Biscayne national park (florida). The air out there is as good as it gets......

When I'm off cycle, I can drink all I want withoug any pain, so tell your husband that he doesn't have to quit beer, he just has to stop while he's in cycle!!

I had about 10 beers this weekend watching the world baseball classic games!!!

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by IpityU on Mar 13^th, 2006, 12:11pm

Thanks Marlinsfan! 10 beers! That will make him very happy! (even if he has to wait for cycle to end)

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by Guiseppi on Mar 13^th, 2006, 2:46pm

Alcohol is a big time trigger for me when I'm on cycle, off cycle I love my whiskies, bourbons and rich, dark beers! If I really want to have a drink when on cycle, (say at the upcoming meet and greet in Sacramento)...I ramp up to about 60 mg. of prednisone a day on top of the lithium I take as a preventative. With the pred in my system I can get away with downing a couple drinks without getting hit!

Your doctor may or may not approve. Mine wasn't wild about the idea but said their aren't any hazards to mixing everything, over and above the basic hazards prednisone poses!!

Long way of saying, if you gotta have a drink, there are options!

Guiseppi

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by seasonalboomer on Mar 13^th, 2006, 2:59pm

There are two ways to answer this question. As you are a new arrival and your spouse is new to CH, I'll first say that if you determine that alcohol is truly a trigger for him, the idea of abstaining when in cycle might be a good idea.

My "tough love" response involves looking at the question a little differently. How many times do we see (and remember ourselves saying) "I'd do ANYTHING to not have to deal with these #$%&ers"? Yet, for those who trigger by alcohol, we see all kinds of ways which we argue about whether we can drink, what we can drink, when we can drink, all ignoring the fact that if alcohol is your trigger and you are episodic, the best way to avoid getting hit is to abstain from drinking. There's the easiest "ANYTHING" any sufferer can do. For those who are hopelessly addicted to alcohol, then that may be a little harder to swallow, but for all the self-described social drinkers, asking for a coke or a perrier when the waitress comes by isn't really that hard.

Scott

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by kustramo on Mar 13^th, 2006, 7:19pm

Alcohol is probably my biggest trigger. Sometimes a few drinks of a beer will do it, other times I will have been out and had a few before it comes on.
I work in the restaurant industry and after a stressful day especially when your job has a bar built in, it is nice to sit down and have a beer. I have never really been able to tell when I will get one and when I won't. I'm a chronic sufferer, so cycle doesn't have an affect on me.
Before I really knew what was going on I would take a bunch of Ibuprofen and then go drink (SORRY LIVER...), which still didn't really help... but now I know I just have to limit drinking or suffer the consequences.

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by Richr8 on Mar 13^th, 2006, 7:27pm

on 03/13/06 at 00:40:08, IpityU wrote:

How do you know if it is for certain for an individual

For me it wasn't hard to figure out. Within fifteen minutes of drinking, I'm in agony regardless of the time of day. Aside from that, my hits usually come at night. Off cycle, I can drink all I want. As Scott says, i have no problem stopping in cycle, I am just a little disappointed that I can't party with the crowd.
Iced tea for me please.

pf wishes,

Rich

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by owk on Mar 27^th, 2006, 6:58pm

I also drink, not every night, but close.

When my cycle kicks in, I stop drinking. I have not verified that alcohol is a trigger for me, mind you. But just the thought that it might be, and that I might get a hit, makes me not want to drink. So I just don't.

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by thebbz on Mar 27^th, 2006, 9:01pm

Quote:

I have not verified that alcohol is a trigger for me, mind you. But just the thought that it might be, and that I might get a hit, makes me not want to drink. So I just don't.

That would be my advice
Good man
jb

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by burnt-toast on Mar 28^th, 2006, 7:46am

The sufferer who drinks during a cycle - and alchohol is a trigger to them - will find out soon enough. Alcohol doesn't waste much time in triggering attacks and most often these alcohol induced attacks are of biblical proportions and long lived.

Some report no problems with alcohol consumption during cycles. For other like myself alchohol is the sure-fast method for turning the beast - into a monster - into a nightmare.

Drink at your own risk. Hopefully you'll be lucky. If you're not be prepared for the consequences.

Tom

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by superhawk2300 on Mar 28^th, 2006, 8:01am

I have a little contradicting data. SO FAR, during a cycle, alcohol may actually prevent my attacks to the point where I considered considering it as a preventative. Now when I drink it usually isn’t one or two, it is usually when me and friends are out and the goal is to “have fun”. I rarely would just “have a beer”, I didn’t see the point: to me it was like only putting one shoe on.

This year is the first year I’ve heard of alcohol being a trigger so I pretty much quit drinking all together the last 11 months. I went from going out weekly or bi-weekly to only going out maybe three times in that time frame, and I didn’t drink nearly as much as I did in the past. Ironically the cycle that I am in is the longest / worst one I’ve ever had.

So for me the drinking thing doesn’t fit. Your guy will have to experiment. And be conscious when he drinks, which isn’t a bad thing.

Peace

Title: Re: alcohol trigger question
Post by Roxygirl on Mar 28^th, 2006, 10:01am

I've noticed when I drink beer I get hit really hard with a CH. Probably some of the worst ones I get. When I drink wine a lot of times I won't get a cluster headache at all. So now I've been trying to see if a glass or two at night helps but I stay far away from beer!