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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
        
(Message started by: Erebus on Nov 4^th, 2006, 11:13am)

Title: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Erebus on Nov 4^th, 2006, 11:13am

Have you ever been sick with something like the flu, strepthroat, or just a plain old cold and then end up with a cluster episode starting during or shortly there after?

I've been keeping track of all my episodes on a spreadsheet for the last several years and I've discovered that whenever I'm sick, especially when excessive coughing was involved, that I've ended up getting a small cluster. I wonder if the act of coughing if some how triggering these?

I've been sick for the last several days now with excessive coughing and today I've had some pretty persistant shadows since about 2am. Anyone else notice this when they get sick?

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by mcf69 on Nov 4^th, 2006, 11:39am

I had a nasty cold back in late August early September, and had a short cycle after I recovered from it, not sure if it was the coughing, or the fever that accompanied it that caused it....

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Guiseppi on Nov 4^th, 2006, 1:13pm

Being sick has never initiated a cycle for me. But if I get really sick during a cycle, my preventatives either stop getting absorbed or they lose their efectiveness and I tend to get slammed.

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by BB on Nov 4^th, 2006, 6:46pm

on 11/04/06 at 11:13:04, Erebus wrote:

I've been keeping track of all my episodes on a spreadsheet for the last several years and I've discovered that whenever I'm sick, especially when excessive coughing was involved, that I've ended up getting a small cluster. I wonder if the act of coughing if some how triggering these?

I've been sick for the last several days now with excessive coughing and today I've had some pretty persistant shadows since about 2am. Anyone else notice this when they get sick?

Excessive coughing can temporarily increase pressure in the skull ( intracranial pressure ) so it may affect your cluster.

However, headaches caused by coughing can also be symptoms of something else more dangerous so best you check with your doctor. Have you had a head scan like an MRI lately ?

Also would be a good idea to check your blood pressure too.

Good luck and painfree wishes.

Annette

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by maffumatt on Nov 4^th, 2006, 7:43pm

yes

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by yikes-another-one on Nov 4^th, 2006, 8:52pm

i think myfall attack comes when we turn the heater on...
my nose gets stuffy from dust allergies...and once stuffy,
that is when I hit a three week dose of headaches...
but it seems to also happen when we change the clocks...
for I can get attacks more frequently from "flashing" lights
and just driving an hour differnt makes the shadows
across the road flash...as the sun dances in the tree trunks...
it flashes "faster" and within ten minutes of driving
I will get one....

(many say there are no such triggers andit could be
coincidence...but I also noticed I would get one
from the office copier...If I waited in line behind someone
who didn't put the lid all the way down....)

it's rough, too many factors to track,
and without my good memory and energy...
I cannot seem to really pin-down legit triggers....
other than alcohol and what not.....

just wish you pain free days and nights1
Tam

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Erebus on Nov 4^th, 2006, 9:37pm

on 11/04/06 at 18:46:17, BB wrote:

Haven't had an MRI lately. My doctor thinks the headaches are unrelated to the clusters when I asked him this weekend when I went in for the sickness. He thinks they are probably just plain headaches though I'll agree to disagree with that assumption. I have another appointment next week if the caughing continues (though he did put me on hydrocodine for the coughing and that has help be it from the coughing stopping or just the codine).

Might be time to schedule a head scan though considering lately they've been coming back more in general.

Thanks all for the responses.

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by georgej on Nov 4^th, 2006, 9:37pm

It's probably just a coincidence, but I can't recall a single time when a cycle has occurred at the same time that I have had a cold or the flu.

Then again, I don't get colds or the flu very often, for whatever reason. Maybe one cold a year, or perhaps two--haven't had influenza for years.

I don't imagine it's a very nice combination, though.

Best,

George

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Karla on Nov 4^th, 2006, 10:47pm

I just know that my ch is more frequent and severe around cold and flu time.

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by unsolved1 on Nov 5^th, 2006, 9:09am

Since being chronic, I've been sick a few times. I just recently ~~got over~~ survived Pneumonia while having clusters. I did have to stay in the hospital for awhile to get meds for it and I lost about 10+ pounds.

UNsolved

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Erebus on Nov 5^th, 2006, 9:47am

on 11/05/06 at 09:09:40, unsolved1 wrote:

Well surviving is definately a good thing. I really feel for you being chronic. I was chronic for the first year or so when I was diagnosed. I spent a lot of time in hospitals, and the only good thing with that was I lost a lot of weight (I was a chuby kid at the time).

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by thomas on Nov 6^th, 2006, 2:25pm

Yes, because I am a fall/winter cycler, so I usually end up with the flu or a cold right before my cycle starts.

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by TonyYZF on Nov 6^th, 2006, 4:25pm

Seems like my first cycle started after being really sick with a stiff neck.

I also have some sensitivity to light patterns that are repetitive, like driving through a tunnel.

Also tend to get shadows with temperature changes, like coming out of the air conditioning into the heat.

Of course I get shadows every day, so maybe they are there already and just intensify.

Just got a flu shot today. Will let you know if I notice anything.

Be good. PF2U
Tony

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by GuitarBill on Nov 7^th, 2006, 2:23am

Yes...It's wierd, but when I get a cold every year, the CH's seem to infiltrate quickly. I believe it may have to do with increased histamine? Or so I've been told...

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by StressFree on Nov 8^th, 2006, 2:51pm

Yes. My last cycle started at the end of a severe head cold. Had the whole coughing and pounding headache while coughing thing going on, then cluster attacks and full blown cycle began as the cold went away. I believe my cycles are triggered in part by stress physical and mental. Along with time changes and allergies or allergy season. Some spring and fall seasons I have very bad allergies - runny nose, itchy watery eyes, constant sneazing. Usually no cluster attack then, but if using allergy meds to suppress it or when no symptoms during allergy season, then cluster cycle starts. I try to head off full blown cycle with Alleve, Maxalt, and a TENS machine. Seems to work fairly well - average of 3 years between cycles. Prayers for all here, Rich

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by rickyshot on Nov 9^th, 2006, 8:47am

I think y'all are missing it. You think it is a flu, cold, allergies or sinus. Most episodics always start off this way. The above are not colds ect. It is the start of a cycle and the swelling causes all the crazy symptoms. How many times have ch been treated as sinus infection, toothache, flu etc and it is really the CH alone with it's cycle. The head rules the body. During my episodes I am always feeling very malaised everyday. It is awful..I always used to think I was getting a cold or allergies or sinus and it was not. The "cold" lasted 8-12 weeks.

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by _UNsolved on Nov 9^th, 2006, 9:34am

on 11/09/06 at 08:47:58, rickyshot wrote:

You mean that I didn't really have Pneumonia and all the doctors and x-rays were wrong ?? That's weird, because all the antibiotics sure did help. I'm glad you're not my doc ;)

UNsolved

Title: Re: Ever get sick and then have a cluster start?
Post by Erebus on Nov 9^th, 2006, 10:13pm

on 11/09/06 at 08:47:58, rickyshot wrote:

Possibly on some, but mine, statistically, are when excessive coughing was involved and generally a fever. Still could be only a coincidence though, I get them more and more frequently over the last couple years.