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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> CH and allergies?
        
(Message started by: Thomas_Martin on Jul 18^th, 2006, 4:06pm)

Title: CH and allergies?
Post by Thomas_Martin on Jul 18^th, 2006, 4:06pm

Hello my fellow comrades of pain
(or if your a lady, comradine(okay, I'm not quite sure if that word even exists!))

During these last few days I've been hit hard with clusters at night and a few milder ones during the day. To give you all a recap of my week its been like this.

Been pretty much indoors. Each time I walk outside I start sneezing really bad (Allergic to grass). So after a couple of those I just say "To hell with it!" and go back inside.
My CH comes around a couple of times a day and says hello, giving me kip 3 - 5. These are bearable for the most, but then its time for bed. I've only been catching the ZZz..'s for about 30 - 45 minutes when I wake up to a Kip 7. I get out of bed and walk into our living room where I pace and moan for about 30 - 40 minutes. The beast is gone, I wait 10 more minutes to ensure that doesn't get and chance for a quick comeback and drag myself back to bed. Around an hour later I wake up again, the beast is back and its again a kip 7(A bit stronger than the hour before but still not a kip 8, probably because of the exhaustion of the last visit). Same procedure as last time. Living room and pace for another 30 - 40 minutes. Allright, back to bed where I get a whooping 3 or so hours of sleep before I'm greated by another lower kip 7. 30 minutes and back to bed, its now around 9am and I feel more tired than when I went to bed.

Those have been my days sofar - saturday, sunday and monday.

So you can understand that right now I feeled wrecked. But I also must say that these attack are abnormal from my "normal" days. Meaning, that while I do occasionally get hit at night, it's a kip 6-7 and only once each time. So, that leaves me with the question... why? Why have my patterns changed?

One of the obvious answers is the medicine I've been taking for my allergies. I've used something called Nasonex which contains steroids. I seem to recall it being said that some of the steroids being used to treat CH but has the sideeffect of increasing the strength of the attacks and length.
The fact that I recently stopped using it adds to this, as it didn't do a thing to help me with my allergies.

Also, there is the heat (Too damn hot here in Denmark!) which is another thing that could be contributing, draining the body of fluids faster and stressing it.

Last but not least. I noticed UNsolved posted the many names of CH in another thread. Which I have taken a piece out of

Synonyms: Bing-Horton Syndrome, Histaminic Cephalalgia, Cluster-Migraine, Paroxysmal Nocturnal Cephalgia, Red Migraine, Erythromelalgia of the Head, Sphenopalatine Neuralgia, Migrainous Neuralgia

If you look at the one in italic, Histaminic Cephalalgia.

The first part of the name caught my eye because Histamin is, as far as I know, the main culprit in me having my wonderful relationship with grass.

I was just wondering if anyone know what the fuzz was with that name? if the words Histaminic and histamin are indeed connected, so that I can say that my allergies and CH could work together and actually make it worse.

Title: Re: CH and allergies?
Post by floridian on Jul 18^th, 2006, 6:54pm

Histamine is part of it. Some people with clusters benefit from antihistamines, others from histamine desensitization. But the old idea (too much histamine = cluster) doesn't explain everything, and is not used much any more. But worth considering antihistamine options, especially if you have allergies that are also adding to your misery.

Title: Re: CH and allergies?
Post by Thomas_Martin on Jul 20^th, 2006, 3:08am

well after using the nasal spray with steroids for 2 days, my nightly attacks have finally ceased. What worries me is that when the highseason for grass is over and I stop using the nasal spray, Will the bouts return?