Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


    
      
        Clusterheadaches.com Message Board
        (http://www.clusterheadaches.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi)
      

        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Sex - Prolactin/Melatonin - Sleep
        
(Message started by: ivanov on Oct 13^th, 2006, 12:23pm)

Title: Sex - Prolactin/Melatonin - Sleep
Post by ivanov on Oct 13^th, 2006, 12:23pm

There have been numerous threads on this site about sex either helping or causing clusters. After reading the following article I was wondering what role, if any, this might play in the complex chemical process and sleep problems involved with CH. Perhaps some brighter minds then mine can come up with some link.
Dan

Why do guys get sleepy after sex?

http://scienceline.org/2006/09/25/ask-wenner-sex/

Then there is the biochemistry of the orgasm itself. Research shows that during ejaculation, men release a cocktail of brain chemicals, including norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin, vasopressin, nitric oxide (NO), and the hormone prolactin. The release of prolactin is linked to the feeling of sexual satisfaction, and it also mediates the “recovery time” that men are well aware of—the time a guy must wait before “giving it another go.” Studies have also shown that men deficient in prolactin have faster recovery times.

Prolactin levels are naturally higher during sleep, and animals injected with the chemical become tired immediately. This suggests a strong link between prolactin and sleep, so it’s likely that the hormone’s release during orgasm causes men to feel sleepy.

(Side note: prolactin also explains why men are sleepier after intercourse than after masturbation. For unknown reasons, intercourse orgasms release four times more prolactin than masturbatory orgasms, according to a recent study.)

Oxytocin and vasopressin, two other chemicals released during orgasm, are also associated with sleep. Their release frequently accompanies that of melatonin, the primary hormone that regulates our body clocks. Oxytocin is also thought to reduce stress levels, which again could lead to relaxation and sleepiness.

Title: Re: Sex - Prolactin/Melatonin - Sleep
Post by floridian on Oct 16^th, 2006, 11:15am

Well, Prolactin is messed up in clusterheads - no doubt about that. How it fits into the big picture, I'm not sure. Here's another piece of the puzzle.

Quote:

Cephalalgia. 1987 Mar;7(1):43-54.
Prolactin in cluster headache: diurnal secretion, response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone, and relation to sex steroids and gonadotropins.

* Waldenlind E,
* Gustafsson SA.

The diurnal rhythmicity of serum prolactin (PRL) and the PRL and thyrotropin (TSH) response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) were studied in 31 cluster headache patients (4 chronic cases) and 14 healthy controls. Sixteen of the patients were studied both during clinical remission and headache periods. In males the nocturnal PRL peak was blunted during remissions as compared with that in cluster periods and that in control individuals. The 24-h mean PRL levels were lower during remission and cluster periods than in the controls. There were no significant differences in the PRL levels between female patients and controls. Headache attacks were often associated with increases of serum PRL levels. The PRL response to TRH was lower in the female patients but not in the male patients as compared with controls. The maximum testosterone levels were lower during cluster periods than during clinical remission but not when compared with controls. Serum levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, progesterone, estradiol, T3, T4, and TSH did not differ between patients and controls. The results suggest an altered regulation of PRL secretion not only during active cluster periods but also during symptom-free intervals. The possible influence of sleep, estradiol, testosterone, medication, pain, and serotoninergic and dopaminergic mechanisms are discussed.

PMID: 3107837 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]