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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Stress and CH
        
(Message started by: 1968eric on Oct 6^th, 2007, 11:56pm)

Title: Stress and CH
Post by 1968eric on Oct 6^th, 2007, 11:56pm

Has there ever been any study or discussion on the correlation between stress and CH? Anyone heard of attacks being more likely to come on when the sufferer is under stress?

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Ray on Oct 7^th, 2007, 2:46am

Hello:

This has come up before. For some, stress is a trigger, for some, release from stress is a trigger. The latter is a trigger for me sometimes.

With regards,

Ray

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 10:03am

on 10/06/07 at 23:56:23, 1968eric wrote:

Has there ever been any study or discussion on the correlation between stress and CH? Anyone heard of attacks being more likely to come on when the sufferer is under stress?

While I would not ever consider stress as a cause of this affliction itself, I find from experience, and reading some mentioning of others, that this statement from a recently posted link can have validity for me involving frequency of occurring hits during prolonged very stressful times, with the referred to "it" below being an occurance of a hit while already having CH. Sleeping noticably applies too. I'd not be the one to attest for all mentioned though but can think they apply too within the company here as well as barometer changes being a mentioned aggravater.

Quote:

It may be triggered by stress, relaxation, extreme temperatures, glare, allergic rhinitis, and sexual activity.

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Sean_C on Oct 7^th, 2007, 11:30am

Kev, I love ya bud, but that link where that quote came from was trash IMHO, the article holds no weight with me. :) It was researched poorly, or it was a very old hypothesis.

Cheers,

Sean................................

edit to add: I'm not denying that those aren't triggers, its some of the other bs that was chosen to be published in the same. ;)

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 11:39am

Agree Sean, I simply grabbed a sentence from it that pertained to this thread and was preworded so I didn't have to attempt trying to post without very numerous edits. ;;D

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Sean_C on Oct 7^th, 2007, 11:43am

I hear ya ;;D ;;D

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by George_J on Oct 7^th, 2007, 11:49am

Perhaps I give a disproportionate weight to the things reported here, rather than second-hand interpretations by researchers. (Obviously I'm not including the results of double-blind clinical trials.)

After all--this is where the clusterheads are, and the people who report their experiences are the ones living them. So I tend to take things like common physical traits with a grain of salt (haven't seen much evidence that there are many, if any at all)--and claims that stress triggers these seem to me to be of the same murky ilk.

It's been variously reported here that stress is a trigger, that the relief of stress is a trigger, and that stress seems to have little or nothing to do with it. (That's where I fit in.) All I can really add to the discussion is that I've never seen a relationship between stress or the lack of it to the pattern of my attacks. They come and they go--if there is a correlation to anything, it's the seasons more than anything else.

Best,

George

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 12:02pm

George,

I would have perhaps commented similarly over a month ago but lately have been under prolonged high stress and its as if I've no preventative at all. A coming to terms with matters has settled down things better but was certainly surprised at the intense circumstances coinciding with activity like I remember from before using a preventative.
Personal effect maybe but certainly a real deal.

:)

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Sean_C on Oct 7^th, 2007, 12:09pm

When stress is used as a trigger for me, its not used as pressure from work, or physical stress, its more of a stressful event, and it does make a difference in "my" clusters definately.

George when I was Chronic I was in the same boat, nothing was actually relavent to a trigger, however alcohol did play a role in intensity.

Sean.....................................

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 12:32pm

on 10/07/07 at 12:09:32, Sean_C wrote:

its more of a stressful event, and it does make a difference in "my" clusters definately.

As so also, Sean. Not bothered by work-related or physical, but this unusual prolonged stressful event seemed an untimely, yet surprising trigger for more frequent occurances. :)

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Lotus on Oct 7^th, 2007, 12:33pm

Stress is something as asbtract and as personal as happiness.

How can one quantify stress in a way that it can be measured universally for all? I dont think we can.

What is considered extremely stressful for a person may be a walk in the park to the next. CH seems to affect people all differently as well.

Stress comes in different types. There are physical stress, emotional stress, biological stress, mental stress and so on .... From what I have gathered here through the last year, it seems that physical and biological stress can actually help curbing CH. Running like crazy around the block or shock the body with ice cold or steamingly hot water can be considered stressful to the body yet both seem to help aborting a hit.

However, mental and emotional stress from such things as loss of job, loss of a loved one, loss of self esteem, fear of the unknown etc when extending beyond a persons coping capacity may intensify CH by an increase in the intensity of the attack or even an increase in the number of attacks. This would make sense as prolonged mental/emotional stress affect brain areas such as the hippocampus and the frontal lobe, as well as having an indirect influence on ones ( stress ) hormones such as cortisone which will have a feedback effect on the hypothalamus.

Still, some of us are more sensitive to stress and others are not. Individual environment also plays an important role here. Its impossible in my opinion to derive a formula that will work for all.

The bottom line is, we learn to deal with our own condition the best we can, and only you know what your body responses to. Having said that, prolonged stress is like heavy smoking, its best avoided if at all possible ;) 8)

My 2 cents

Annette

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by CostaRicaKris on Oct 7^th, 2007, 1:07pm

My Neuro thinks this episode was triggered by stress because I just got a promotion at work and my husband just started a new job. But before this, I was in remission for several years and during that time I bought a house (very stressful) Who knows.

~ Kris

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by 1968eric on Oct 7^th, 2007, 2:09pm

Thanks for all the replies. My best guess for myself is its more a relief from stress type thing. One reason I asked is I am part of pain rehab program which is all well and good, but I honestly don't think they understand what CH is. For example, the doc there said CH is just another name for migraine.

One explanation they gave me is that when the nervous system gets strained too much, that brings on a CH. It just doesn't sound right to me.

My triggers are falling asleep for about an hour, and another sure trigger is excercise - about 45 minutes after I finish any type of exercise or exertion, bang. Even a full meal or being on my feet too long or exposed to heat or stuffy rooms has done it.

But stress itself, not really sure. Thanks again for your insights all.

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 3:13pm

on 10/07/07 at 14:09:38, 1968eric wrote:

Thanks for all the replies. My best guess for myself is its more a relief from stress type thing.

Oh yes. CH loves those times, after falling asleep is it's perfect setting to let itself be prominently known and requiring definite acknowledgment.
You have put together your own pieces well rather than what it appears you've been told. Certain stress can keep it away when it could otherwise appear. Relaxation time, or a nap for instance, has been many times mentioned here as an opening for it.
CH knowledge of doctors has been discussed a few times and can be a disappointing subject.

Glad you're questioning here. :)

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by CostaRicaKris on Oct 7^th, 2007, 3:27pm

on 10/07/07 at 14:09:38, 1968eric wrote:

My triggers are falling asleep for about an hour, and another sure trigger is excercise - about 45 minutes after I finish any type of exercise or exertion, bang.

Yes, as far as when the night attacks hit, after I fall asleep and after a long run does it for me. But as far as what sets off the episode... some are seasonal but some seem random.

~Kris

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Bob_Johnson on Oct 7^th, 2007, 3:53pm

Yes, but.... Don't read too much into this report, that is, "normal" anxiety/stress is not going to trigger a range of physical disorders. However--chronic anxiety has become increasingly associated with physical ills.
-------------------
Anxiety Disorders Linked to Physical Conditions"

CHICAGO, IL -- October 24, 2006 -- Anxiety disorders appear to be independently associated with several physical conditions, including thyroid disease, respiratory disease, arthritis and migraine headaches, according to a report in the October 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This co-occurrence of disorders may significantly increase the risk of disability and negatively affect quality of life. Although depression has long been linked to physical illness, evidence supporting an association between anxiety disorders and physical health problems is more recent, according to background information in the article. Anxiety disorders include panic disorder, agoraphobia (fear of being in a situation where panic or anxiety may occur and escape from the situation might be difficult), social phobia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Studies have found that those with phobic (fearful) anxiety may be more likely to experience sudden cardiac death, and rates of anxiety disorders are higher than expected in patients with thyroid disease, cancer, hypertension and several other conditions. Jitender Sareen, BSc, MD, FRCPC, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada, and colleagues further explored the association between anxiety disorders and physical conditions in 4,181 adults who were part of the German Health Survey (GHS), conducted between 1997 and 1999. The survey assessed whether participants had any physical illnesses through a questionnaire asking about 44 particular conditions, a medical interview conducted by a primary care physician, blood pressure measurements and blood and urine samples. Psychiatric interviews were conducted by a psychologist or physician, who used criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) to detect anxiety disorders. A quality of life survey—which measured factors such as physical functioning, pain and general health—was also administered, and to determine disability levels participants reported how many days of the past 30 they were unable to perform their usual daily activities. Among the 1,913 men and 2,268 women in the study, 429 (8.4%) had an anxiety disorder within the past month and 2,610 (60.8%) had a physical condition within the past month. Having an anxiety disorder was associated with having any type of physical condition, and specifically with respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal diseases, arthritis, allergies, thyroid diseases and migraine headaches. Most individuals with both an anxiety disorder and physical illness developed the anxiety disorder first, and tended to have a poorer quality of life than those with anxiety disorders or physical conditions alone. Those who had both types of disorders also were more likely to have one or more days of disability than those with physical illnesses alone. "The mechanisms of association between anxiety disorders and physical conditions remain unknown, although several possibilities should be considered," the authors write. For example, the presence of an illness may cause worry and anxiety that eventually becomes serious enough to qualify as an anxiety disorder, the presence of an anxiety disorders could trigger biological processes that contribute to illness or a third condition, such as a substance abuse disorder, could be linked to both. "These findings extend previous work in clinical and community samples that noted an association between anxiety disorders and physical illnesses but also demonstrate the unique association of this comorbidity with poor quality of life and disability," the authors write. "Although there have been increased efforts to recognize and treat depression in the medically ill, our findings underscore the need to create similar programs to recognize and treat anxiety disorders in the medically ill." The GHS was supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Research, Education and Science. Preparation of this article was supported by a Manitoba Health Research Council Award, by a U.S. National Institutes of Health grant and a Canada Research Chair award. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:2109-2116. SOURCE: American Medical Association

[Dr. Guide....]

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by Kevin_M on Oct 7^th, 2007, 4:33pm

Thanks Bob, once again.

on 10/07/07 at 15:53:06, Bob_Johnson wrote:

Studies have found that those with phobic (fearful) anxiety may be more likely to experience sudden cardiac death,...

I had a fear of heights I eventually got over but the sensation was very extremely a shock that accelerated the heart practically uncontrollably. Even seeing a scene on TV that might show a view down from the edge of a building would bring it on.
Believe it or not continual amusement park rides, roller coasters, and attempting more daring rides many times at higher heights got me over it.

Quote:

"The mechanisms of association between anxiety disorders and physical conditions remain unknown, although several possibilities should be considered," the authors write. For example, the presence of an illness may cause worry and anxiety that eventually becomes serious enough to qualify as an anxiety disorder, the presence of an anxiety disorders could trigger biological processes that contribute to illness or a third condition, such as a substance abuse disorder, could be linked to both.

I can understand that occurring.

Title: Re: Stress and CH
Post by seasonalboomer on Oct 8^th, 2007, 6:47am

I used to be more of a "cessation of stress" trigger person. If there was a big project at work that was going on for months, I'd generally get through it and when it was finished - bam! there's your cycle! Now, whether I m just generally stressed all the time, or whether my CH is just doing what CH does, I find that the anxiety connection can move the cycle around on my calendar.

Scott

(BTW - Annette that was a really good post!)