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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Just a thought 
        
(Message started by: Pellsey on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:08am)

Title: Just a thought
Post by Pellsey on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:08am

G'day,

I've been doing a fair bit of reading recently about the CH's and how it's all got something to do with the hypothalamus which is the home to our "internal biologic clock" which regulates our sleep and wake cycles on a 24-hour schedule blah blah blah.

It got me thinking that if that's the case then maybe I could be wholly and solely responsible for my cluster headaches.

My whole life i've been a night person. As a young fella I was always getting out of bed and watch tv after my parents went to sleep or sneak out and ever since i'm usually awake well after midnight. In fact I probably can't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight? I've pulled heaps of all nighters throughout my life where i've never gone to sleep and never caught up on it. I probably average about 4 - 5 hours of sleep a night.

What i'm getting at is that if the CH's are connected to our biological clock which controls our sleep patterns on a 24 hour basis then maybe because i've always been a bit of an insomniac maybe i've thrown it all out of whack and that's why it goes all crazy every now and then and puts me through the pain that it does.

could there be a connection? Do you all sleep eight to ten hours every night and can throw my theory out the window or are you all like me and have always been a late night person? Maybe i've found the cause? Maybe i'm full of shit? Just a thought.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by georgej on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:17am

on 01/25/07 at 09:08:50, Pellsey wrote:

My whole life i've been a night person. As a young fella I was always getting out of bed after my parent went to sleep and watching tv or sneaking out and ever since i'm usually awake well after midnight. In fact I probably can't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight? I've pulled heaps of all nighters throughout my life where i've never gone to sleep and never caught up on it. I probably average about 4 - 5 hours of sleep a night.

could there be a connection? Do you all sleep eight to ten hours every night and can throw my theory out the window or are you all like me and have always been a late night person? Maybe i've found the cause? Maybe i'm full of shit? Just a thought.

Pretty much the same, and very familiar. Not sure whether it's a cause or an effect, if either--could my sleeping pattern be due to a screwed-up hypothalamus and not the other way around?

Best,

George

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by brewcrew on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:24am

Out of necessity, I've been a morning person for the last 20 years. Up at 5:30, in bed by 10:30.

Kind of shoots a hole in your theory. Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by chewy on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:26am

Quote:

Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl

Its OK Brew.

You float well.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by Pellsey on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:29am

on 01/25/07 at 09:24:17, brewcrew wrote:

Sorry to be the turd in the punchbowl.

No wuckas, like I said, just a thought.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by seasonalboomer on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:37am

disclaimer: the following comment is not meant to be morose, cynical, or indicate any opinion other than the question it clearly asks.

Pells,

If that were true and we've screwed the works up in the mechanism, then what would we do about it now?

Take O2, Imitrex and Verapimil?.... and then regret all the good times I had after midnight? ;) Nope, I'd prefer to think it is God's revenge for all that premarital bliss I experienced. More fun that way.

Scott

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by starlight on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:41am

Very interesting thought.
I have always tended to be a nightperson, like my brain likes to stay awake till midnight and beyond. Sleep hygiene is very important for these headaches. I now try to go to bed as early as I can--11 pm if I can and take melatonin every night and then get up early.
I started a thread a while back asking about a potential role of history of mononucleosis in cluster. One angle I looked at was whether the mono, which causes people to sleep for very long periods of time each day, could contribute to throwing off the hypothalamus. I developed cluster headaches in close promximity to having mono during which I could easily sleep 14 hours straight.
I am not convinced mono did not play a role for me combined with the crazy sleeping pattern it brought on. BUT I think we are all born with crappy hypothalmuses. But I also am open to any theory.
Star

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by Pellsey on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:48am

on 01/25/07 at 09:37:07, seasonalboomer wrote:

If that were true and we've screwed the works up in the mechanism, then what would we do about it now?

Scott

I did actually think that also. "i've spent my whole life not sleeping properly. I now have these headaches. How can I fix it?" That was my thought.

My answer "I can't and i'm screwed for eternity" :-/

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by floridian on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:54am

My CH started when I was in grad school - lots of late nighters and all-nighters programming. When I gradjiated into the real world, my first job was very flexible, and my sleep schedule was irregular.

I switched to a regulated 9-5 schedule a few years ago, I remember clearly I started the job in-cycle (my normal summer slam). I am now going on 4+ years of remission.

Maybe its a coincidence - people do go into remission for unknown reasons. Maybe its the fact that I take more magnesium and B vitamins, and reach for the melatonin bottle when my sleep gets narky. Maybe its from better sinuses. I don't know. But I think sleep is one factor that has improved for me and it may/probably has a role.

Genetically, I think our clocks are screwed up. But shift-work, or free-running the sleep cycles can make it worse.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by starlight on Jan 25^th, 2007, 10:41am

I agree with you Foridian--sleep hygiene is incredibly important.

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by BB on Jan 25^th, 2007, 6:24pm

My husband 's sleep hygiene is the worst possible, and still is, even with CH. He just cant control himself. He sleeps at all weird hours and all nighters are very common. So maybe it contributed ....

But then on the other hand, so am I. I have always been a night person myself. Its much easier for me to stay up working all night then to get up regularly at dawn. ( The beast has fixed that now ! It wakes both of us up at 3-4 am fairly regularly :( ). I also do shift work with 36 hrs straight often ... and I dont have CH, at least not yet.

Dr Goadsby found by brain scan that CHers have an abnormal layers of cells in the hypothalamus, whereas normal people dont. So I guess CHers have a predisposed anatomical anomaly which is then "switched on " by various things, from sleep disturbances to stress to bad diet to smoking to whatever.

It doesnt seem that sleep hygiene alone is responsible for CH, but it does make things worse, thats for sure.

All the best.

Annette

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Jan 25^th, 2007, 7:03pm

I’m with Brew on this one; I’ve had a standard 6:30 start for the last 35 years & am up at 5:00 then into bed around 9:00pm & I didn’t get CH until I was 50.

But when I was a whole lot younger I did have a lot of kickass times, Ah the memories. ;)

Happy Australia Day Aussies. http://www.clusterheadaches.com/public_html/yabbimages/flag/Australia.gif

Cheers
Barry

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by taraann on Jan 25^th, 2007, 7:05pm

Nothing important to add here.....

Still gonna tell ya I am a night person myself, always have been. Mornings suck and of course my 3ish am internal alarm sucks the most :P

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by B14CK5H33P on Jan 25^th, 2007, 7:33pm

I've had insomnia since I was 10 years old. Became a CHead at 17 after being a 'wild teen' doing all kinds of partying and such, and quit everything and started going to church.

20 years later, I've been a chronic for most of 9 years (Damn, it;s been that long already?) and the insomnia gets worse with each year. I can go days without sleep, and then only get a couple of hours.

I don't think we created the monster though. I think it was always there and this is just one symptom that not every CHead suffers with.

Peace,
Carl D

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by BobG on Jan 25^th, 2007, 7:34pm

The hypothalmus controls more than your sleep habits. Body tempurature, addictions, hunger and more.
For 35+ years I worked a rotating shift. Changed shifts each week. Days, swings, days, graveyard, repeat.
One week I'd (try to) sleep 9p to 5a. The next week 3a to 10a. Next week 2p to 10pm.
97% of my attacks were one hour after falling asleep no matter if it was during daylight or dark.
I've been unemployeed for 7 months now and sleep 10p to 6a. Attacks only come during sleep, none during awake hours.
My advice........never go to sleep, ever. ;)

Title: Re: Just a thought
Post by thebbz on Jan 25^th, 2007, 9:44pm

Like Bob G said the hypo thing a majigy controls more than the circadian body clock, the brains brain regulates neuro transmission and the neuro chemical consituents that make that happen. Now add to that the seasonal and daylight changes that also seem to have an effect.oops brain just blew up. :P
Now who's going to clean this up. [smiley=laugh.gif]
jb