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Title: Alcohol and CH Post by Penobscott on Jan 14th, 2008, 11:40am Good God, I love beer! And not just any beer, I love those dark bitter imports and micro-brews that are just chock full of live yeast and high in alcohol. Damn near drank beer every night of my life. But alas, I have had to quit cold turkey since this last cycle started to ramp up. (1st in 8 years) Now I can't say for sure if it's the lack of alcohol or the Verapamil, but I've just come through 3 PFDs with nothing more than a couple of phantoms and a cramp in my colon. If there's one piece of advice I can give, it's LAY OFF THE LIQUOR! Doesn't matter if it's beer, wine or booze, you have to stop completely. For me this is quite difficult. I think about it alot. I guess you could say I am one of those "functioning" alcoholics. Those people who go through their lives without all the serious reprecussions of alcoholism. Nevertheless, I drank way too much and couldn't stop if I tried. Not until the CHs started up again. I doubt it's a blessing in disguise, and I'm sure I'll start right back where I left off as soon as this cycle is over, but I'd really like to hear from those out there that can relate to what I'm saying. And I'd really like to hear from those who haven't given up on alcohol to see how they are coping. If folks can back me up on the abstainance route, maybe we can help a few others. If I can take a break from drinking, anyone can. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by LeLimey on Jan 14th, 2008, 11:45am Alcohol can be a big trigger for a lot of clusterheads. Generally episodic sufferer's are triggered more by it than Chronic's but that's by no means a rule. The good news is once your cycle is over you should be able to go back to chugging Duff Homer! ;) It's best to leave it 3-4 weeks minimum after your last attack before trying a drink though - just to be on the safe side! Hope it helps and also that your cycle is short. Helen |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Bob_Johnson on Jan 14th, 2008, 11:59am Many years ago I found a single report out of Europe which said: any distilled spirit was a killer; red wine bad when in cycle; white wine o.k. all the time. If you want to do your own trials..... ================================= And a wee benefit of having CH? I suspect the protective factor is that we quickly learn when to stop using. Cephalalgia. 2006 May;26(5):623-7. Predictors of hazardous alcohol consumption among patients with cluster headache. Schürks M, Kurth T, Knorn P, Pageler L, Diener HC. Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany, and Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. schuerks@hotmail.com The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of hazardous alcohol consumption in patients with cluster headache (CH). We investigated 246 German CH patients with the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). The average daily alcohol consumption was 6.5 g. Predictors for hazardous drinking (AUDIT>or=5 points; 21.5% of patients) were male gender [odds ratio (OR) 4.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.35, 12.71], episodic as opposed to chronic CH (OR 4.8, 95% CI 1.38, 16.67) and a low demanding job as opposed to a high demanding job (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.15, 4.51). OUR DATA INDICATE THAT CH PATIENTS DRINK LESS ALCOHOL COMPARED WITH THE GERMAN POPULATION AND THAT CH SEEMS TO PROTECT AGAINST HAZARDOUS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. MOREOVER, PREDICTORS FOR HAZARDOUS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN CH PATIENTS ARE NOT DIFFERENT FROM THE GENERAL POPULATION. PMID: 16674774 [PubMed] |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by JB1 on Jan 14th, 2008, 6:04pm Right there with you on the dark beer! Good news is you can go back after the cycle ends, if you so desire. My doc put me on Frova and Lrica 2x a day for three days, then off for three days (you can't do the frova for much longer without rebound effects). We repeated this three times. It seems to have broken the cycle, PF for the last two weeks, and I've had one to three beers a day! Like you I'm an episodic clusterhead, usually about 5 years apart (Thank God). Anyway check with your doctor and good luck! |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by chewy on Jan 14th, 2008, 8:41pm Quote:
Wrong. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Barry_T_Coles on Jan 14th, 2008, 11:00pm I’m chronic & when in high cycle alcohol of any sort is a killer; I’ll go the full cycle feeling like a tipple but know full well that if I do then it’s good night Irene. When in the low cycle I can drink Stout (home brewed), white wine & whiskey but if I have a beer then I will shadow badly like I did last night, I had the first beer I’ve tried for 2 years & within 20 minutes I was shadowing heavily KIP 3 bordering on 4, Ah well looks like beer is still out of the equation & I think I’ve lost the taste for it anyway. Cheers Barry |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mar768 on Jan 15th, 2008, 11:26am I hear you. My favorite thing in the world is to ski in the day and go out for a few beers after. I am in a cycle right now...on sunday, I was feeling ok, so I decided to chance it. I had one glass of beer and the cluster was triggered almost instantly....Its bad enough we have to suffer with these freaking things, but we can't even have a drink?! |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Turts on Jan 15th, 2008, 8:37pm im rowin in that boat too!!! regular drinker, say 2 beers a night, 3/4 nights a week, and more than likely, a few more than that on a weekend. when in cycle i have found that a drink will ease a shadow, in those first few weeks when things are just starting up. but once the actual HA starts a mouthful is enough to kick in a full blown attack from the beast. (He must be a tee-totaller), i will still drink on occasion during a cycle, just to prove that it is not in charge. but i definately pay the price. Like barry im a home brewer and id say that there a kinder to your head than commercial beer. (in or out of cycle ;) TUrts |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Crappy on Jan 16th, 2008, 2:44am This is all very interesting, because I haven't been able to make heads or tails of the alcohol-to-CH relathionship to my CH, especially since it's supposed to be such a hellish trigger. I'm chronic, but alcohol isn't really a trigger at all to me. I was a tee-totaller myself until a few years ago when I fell in love with micro brews. I never touch it during the day, but when I get my worst hits at night, 2 or 3 beers will keep it from passing the kip 5-7 mark. That seems to be the opposite of what everyone else reports, especially since alcohol is a vasodilator. Zomig, O2, etc. work great during the day, but at nights my attacks are pure terror, and nothing works. Starting at 7 or 9 PM I get back-to-back attacks every 1 or 2 hours until 2 or 3 AM, kip 7 to 9, and nothing stops them. 2 drinks and I can bear them - the pain is still there, but I can handle it, and it doesn't make me dance or cry. Then at 2 am I can head off to bed. This has never jived with CH to me, so I'm wondering if it makes sense to anyone else? I've gone beer-free for a month just to see if it would help, but all I get is more pain. Thoughts? Edit: The other thing that happens with me at night is that my blood pressure rises steadily as high as 190/110, and rises along with the attacks. Damn hypthalmus. Doc's still working on that. I think the alcohol helps calm me, which is probably why it helps. During the day it stays under control. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Akash on Jan 16th, 2008, 3:27am I am 24 years old and have been suffering from CH for 5 years now. I have gotten them every year from early december till late january. (usually 6-8 weeks) I am scared becuase this is the 5th year in a row they have come on daily 5-10 times a day for close to 60 days. Anyhow, alchohol murders me when I have a cycle. Whether its half a shot or 3 sips of a beer, I am in my room crying and headbanging for hours. marijuana makes them worse also. Usually at the time of the high my CH lowers then as the high goes away it shoots up and lasts longer than usual. I drink daily when I am not going through cycles. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by rbmb on Jan 16th, 2008, 12:56pm I am an habitual white wine drinker but can't touch it or any other form of alcohol when in cycle....believe me, I've experimented and any kind of alcohol, no matter how little, just kills me. Within 5 minutes I'm pacing the floor, holding my eye and cursing myself for doing something so stupid. So, when in cycle, I just give it up. I miss my wine alot at first but after a couple of weeks I don't really think about it much. Once the cycle is over, however, I'm back to 2-3 glasses in the evenings. I suppose this makes me a borderline functioning alcoholic, although I don't drink until I'm slurring my words or having trouble walking....just to a warm buzz. I am sure my liver enjoys the break when I go into cycle and take a break from the wine for awhile. I'm in a long headache free period right now.....wonder how long it will last? Rich |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Akash on Jan 16th, 2008, 9:38pm has anyone heard of CH going away permanently? and why is there not more info on them? why do my doctors not know anything about them? When was the first documentation of this? Is it a new syndrome? I have been getting CH every year for 2 months in the same 2 months. Dec-Jan. Will this last me the rest of my life? Hell hath no wrath like CH |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by brewcrew on Jan 16th, 2008, 10:58pm on 01/16/08 at 21:38:23, Akash wrote:
You should start a new thread with this question on the CH Specific board. Hardly anybody will see it here. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by brewcrew on Jan 16th, 2008, 11:04pm Ya know, I just quit drinking altogether about two years ago - not because I felt I had a problem with alcohol, but because all aspects of my life seemed to be simpler without it. I don't miss it, and it doesn't complicate my CH anymore. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by LarryM on Jan 17th, 2008, 11:35pm Once replied to a MD who was trying half heartedly to help ( as in reading about CH for the first time while he examined me) if I was drinking alcoholic beverages. I told him at the present I would rather drink urine, he didn't appreciate my sarcasm. He felt a total lack of proper respect on my part.Secrets revealed, I don't like doctors as a rule though some are excellent. Ever check the alcohol content of mouthwash, during the worst of the worst it could be a trigger for me. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 6th, 2008, 12:39pm I'm not so sure about the link between ch and alcohol, not for me anyway. I was chronic for about 20 years and I'm now periodic for about 10 years. I went teetotal for maybe 15 years, spanning both types of ch, and I can't remember, or see any difference at all. I think it has something to do with relaxation for me, and alcohol helps me relax. Most evenings now, I'm in a periodic cluster, I will get a ch whether I drink red wine at home with my evening meal or not. If I go out to a bar and drink with friends, I don't get ch. I think the difference is that going out keeps me more alert and active by standing and talking and moving from bar to bar. At home I sit down and relax - and the ch appears. I've talked about this with my wife, who says I drink too much anyway ::) and she agrees. My worst time was when I was teetotal. Dave |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by kevmd on Mar 6th, 2008, 1:44pm shhhhhh!!!!!! stop the beer talk as I miss it so much. I am targeting St. Patty's day. Mmmmmmmmm beer!! Haven't had a beer since the end of January. I really really miss beer. And my Southern Comfort. Drooling all over my keyboard thinking about it |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by washed-out on Mar 7th, 2008, 5:25pm I am chronic (if it are CH, I am not diagnosed in 100%) and even small glass of beer can start attack for me... (or even usually starts). I remember that I had one of the worst attacks ever after drinking ~0.3 litre of pretty weak beer. one day i drank small wine-glass of red wine - the same... (btw i am still looking for some 'food triggers'. i realised that i got attacks after eating pizza... though i don't remember any after mushrooms, cheese, bacon, tomato separately) |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by purpleydog on Mar 8th, 2008, 1:24am When I was episodic, alcohol would trigger me. After I became chronic, I can drink anything except tequila, that gives me bad shadows, and it's not worth it. I don't drink much, I'll have a drink once in a great while, or if I do spend the night having a few, I have no problems whatsoever. One of the benefits of being chronic, I guess. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 9th, 2008, 6:19pm I generally drink between one large glass of red wine, sometimes two ( nearly half a bottle ) or a couple of cans of Guinness most nights with my evening meal. It's not often I have a day without a drink, but I sometimes do and it doesn't bother me. On a Friday night my wife and I go out for a curry at our usual place and I drink a whole bottle of red wine over about 3 hours. ( I would drink less, but by the glass it's expensive ) If that's a drink problem then that's another story, I do have an addictive nature so 'we' keep an eye on my intake. It's been worse. But I also spent about 10 years teetotal believing that the chronic ch was made worse by alcohol. This Thursday I was brought home from work in bits with ch in the morning. I had another Thursday night, without any alcohol prior. I had ch Friday morning, ( three 7's in a row ) but felt ok in the evening so we went for a curry, and a whole bottle of wine - no ch. Saturday evening I had a regular glass of red, the size you'd get in a pub, and about 2 hours later I had a Kip3. Tonight I had two big glasses, and nothing so far. I'm not doubting that some people are triggered by alcohol, but I'm sure that it has more to do with the extent of my tiredness / relaxation than any particular external trigger. On Thursday and Friday morning I was very tired from a bad nights sleep ( I have aponea and night terrors ) I think this is more likely my trigger. Perhaps this might be another thing to explore for other people? |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Trooper on Mar 15th, 2008, 2:09am Alcohol will always trigger a headache for me and I also have found it harder to abort the ha if I have been drinking. Last year I was in cycle right before My husband and I got married. We were having a big engagement party at a bar and I was really bummed that I was not going to be able to drink. I read a post on here from someone talking about taking imitrex before drinking to keep from getting hit. I would not do this all the time as it seems a bit reckless and dangerous but this was a special event for me. I took an Imitrex pill before we went out and it worked. No headach or hangover. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by George_J on Mar 15th, 2008, 2:13am I don't mind a beer or two in normal circumstances, but when I'm in cycle, I'd rather flatten my big toe with a three-pound hammer. Ain't happening when I'm in cycle. No how, no way. Best, George |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Trooper on Mar 16th, 2008, 12:40am Here is a link that may shed a little light on this subject. alcalc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/2/155.pdf |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Guido on Mar 16th, 2008, 1:15am brewcrew has the answer. It is quite simple, no alcohol no problem. If you can't stay way from alcohol then you most probably do have another problem. There is NOTHING functional about that. Sorry to sound like a hard ass, but I spent 33 years singing similar songs. Quit foolin yourself. Guido. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Crappy on Mar 18th, 2008, 6:40am Trooper: Your link doesn't shed much light to anyone, since nobody can view the article (or even an abstract) without a special account. Maybe you could summarize the article and explain what light it sheds. I appreciate the posts by mudplugga and purpleydog. My main concern back in January was that my neuro had missed some primary diagnosis, since reasonable amounts of alcohol do not act as a trigger for me, and in fact seemed to help at times. Since only one in ten CHers are chronic, it's sometimes difficult to distinguish the differences, but there most definitely are some. My worst hits are every evening and night, but especially the two k9s I get at 11pm and 1 am. When I couldn't handle them anymore, and before my diagnosis, I gave in and drank a few nights a week (always after midnight). These night time hits come along with hypertensive "crisis," meaning my BP raises above 180 (as high as 200). I've been thinking that alcohol reduces my hits only because it relaxes and reduces the hypertensive crisis, which seems to be the true trigger (or related to it). Vasodilation is body-wide, reducing overall blood pressure as I've measured it. This seems to make the worst nights liveable. Still, I force myself to go through the hell of 2 kip 7s and then 2 kip 9s each week a few nights in a row just to make sure alcohol doesn't make things worse. I had never allowed my wife to see my go through anything worse than a kip 7. My sister-in-law saw some CH videos on YouTube and told her about them, so she secretly stayed up one night and watched me go through my nightly hell. After witnessing that, on the nights when I refused to drink SHE started telling me to have a few, although I know enough about dependance and rebound headaches to limit it. Any other chronics out there with similar experience? |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 20th, 2008, 8:04am For the last week or so I have drunk very little, which I think is down to the Kudzu that I'm trying ( interesting drug ) which I think could work well for anyone with a drink problem. I enjoy a drink, but extremely rarely get falling over drunk, it was about 15 years ago when I was last that smashed. But I drink most days and have a reasonable tolerance to alcohol. I can drink a 13% bottle of red wine over a 2 to 3 hour period with a meal and still behave myself. ;) But the kudzu seems to have the effect of making me lose the desire to drink, it's taken away that expectation of the pleasure that I had before. And although I have an addictive personality ( smoked for over 30 years, have various OCD problems and sex addiction ) I, and my wife, realise this and make sure alcohol doesn't become another addiction, but the kudzu still seems to have had an effect on the desire to drink. Has it had an effect on the ch? I really don't know. CH is such a variable beast and I find it impossible to quantify what works and what doesn't. Which is the reason I have stayed off prescription drugs for the last 2 cluster periods, I really couldn't tell what worked, what didn't or what actually made it worse. Which to a degree is the same with alcohol, but last night I had a glass of red wine and experienced nothing more than a very mild shadow about 3 hours later, which according to my diary is the same as the last few days when I didn't drink. Having lived in this body for the last 54 years I am however convinced that it plays tricks on me. For as long as I can remember I have had sneezing fits for no apparent reason, other than it might be hereditary because my old man does the same. I can start sneezing anywhere, anytime without any trigger that I can identify. Deserts, frozen wasteland, air conditioned planes and rooms, in the shower or whatever, 'something' in my body tells me to sneeze violently and do it for minutes at a time. Is a similar mechanism at work with my ch? I think it's possible for a purely internal trigger to kick in and have an effect on our body. In nearly 35 years of ch I have tried cutting out every suspected trigger with no effect at all. I've seen doctors, neurologists, chiropractors and every quack who promised salvation without any success at all in preventing or lessening the frequency of attacks. The only relief I have found is O2, I drink Red Bull but it might just be the cold drink that helps, it's that randomness of ch again. I'm not disputing that some people do identify triggers, I wish I could. I just think that maybe some of us could be spending too much time and stressful effort on looking for something that might remain illusive. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by debOUCH on Mar 20th, 2008, 6:48pm [. I But the kudzu seems to have the effect of making me lose the desire to drink, it's taken away that expectation of the pleasure that I had before. Medicine Studies have shown that kudzu can reduce both hangovers and alcohol cravings.[4][5][6] A person who takes kudzu, will still drink alcohol; however, they will consume less than if they had not taken kudzu.[7] The mechanism for this is not yet established, but it may have to do with both alcohol metabolism and the reward circuits in the brain. The Harvard Medical School is studying kudzu as a possible way to treat alcoholic cravings, by turning an extracted compound from the herb into a medical drug.[8] deb |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by superhawk2300 on Mar 20th, 2008, 11:57pm Alcohol has never, ever triggered a CH in me that I can remember. I used to be quite a drinker and no matter how much I pounded it never was an issue (regarding my CH, that is, other things not so much) My friend has one beer over an entire evening and the beast kicks his balls worse than ever he says. Maybe he's just a wuss. I've have to point that out to him later......... |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 21st, 2008, 8:00pm Well it's now 4 hours since I had a hot lamb Jalfreizi curry and a few bottles of Cobra lager, and so far all I feel is GOOD! ;;D Maybe I'm tempting fate, who knows? Perhaps I'll be on the floor in a heap before the night is finished? But what are the chances of that happening to me anyway? Pretty high at the moment, so it's a risk that I'm willing to take based on the utter randomness of my ch and over 30 years of fruitlessly searching for triggers. The kudzu is interesting, it certainly has changed my desire to drink, and I definitely drank less than usual. But I still enjoyed the beers and they tasted fine. It certainly doesn't work by making alcohol nasty. I can imagine that a great many people with alcohol problems would benefit greatly from kudzu, a friend of mine who is struggling to stay sober will be getting a free sample from me for a start. I have no idea at all if it's actually helping the ch though, but reading about the way it works on the brain, in the same area as LSD and shrooms, I tend to think it is probably doing something. I certainly hope so because it's easy, relatively cheap and I'm having no side effects from it, and I have a shedload of allergies. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by LeLimey on Mar 21st, 2008, 8:06pm Now you do realise if you'd said Lamb rogan I'd have had to kill you don't you? You had a lucky escape! I'm very pleased to hear the kudzu is working well for you, long may it continue! I am chronic and have never been triggered by alcohol although red wine WILL give me a "normal" headache pretty quickly. I rarely drink it anymore for fear of anything worse which is a shame but it's an easy sacrifice. I can't explain it but I "know" when I can or can't drink. If I fancy a drink I'll have one but when my head is bad I find alcohol absolutely repellant so I don't know if it WOULD trigger a hit for me then or not. I'm not about to find out either! |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 22nd, 2008, 12:14pm I had a 6 in the early hours of the morning that lasted maybe 2 hours, but for the last week or so that's become normal. And it was about 8 hours after drinking a couple of bottles of beer. I think by that time I would barely register on a breathalyser, and if alcohol was going to have an adverse effect then it would happen sooner than that. I'd be interested to hear how rapidly a ch comes on for those that are alcohol triggered. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by superhawk2300 on Mar 22nd, 2008, 1:09pm My friend who alcohol is a trigger for, can drink one beer, with dinner, and later that night at the ususal time (2 -3 AM) get the biggest hit of his life. He's tried it enough times, "semi-scientificly" to be sure of the effect for him. It doesn't appear to be a situation that the hits come on becasue the booze is still in you, but that it triggered the conditon that will be a CH later, much earier. Same holds true for me and my triggers. I don't get a CH any sooner when I play with my triggers, it just makes sure that I do get one when it is due, and it will be bigger than it would have been. I hate to put it this way, and I don't know you, BUT It seems to me that either you have an alcohol problem or your CH hits must be the most tolerable ones on the planet and you're mis judging the kip scale. Ask most people and they would rather smash a finger with a hammer than take a full CH hit. I know of know one who simply loves the taste of beer (or ANYTHING - lets leave out the booze part for now) so much they would endure CH hits to eat that item. Like-wise, the toll the abortives take on the body and pocket book along make those the most expensive beers you'll ever drink. I do not beleive it is a "taste" thing. I can't think of any of my favorite things I'd insit on having if they cuased my hits. I live to play NFL rules tackle football. Exersize is a trigger for me. I am just coming out of cycle. No football for me in the fall this year. Do you have a year round committment to beer stronger than my committment to train and play football. I woud doubt it. You may want to check out that river in Egypt. Good luck to you buddy. I hope things work out for you. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 22nd, 2008, 2:52pm Superhawk, I'm not offended by your comments at all, I'm thinking out loud and hoping to provoke some discussion. My kip 10's have seen me dragged from the kitchen to the living room so I do less injury to my head. There's carpet in the living room and hard tiles in the kitchen. During the 25 years of chronic ch I tried everything imaginable, and denied myself all manner of things, systematically, in the effort to find a trigger. I found nothing. I have diaries and charts, I drove my doctor mad, and nearly drove my wife out of the door. Friends and workmates have taken me to A&E because of their concern. And looking at the few available video's on Utube I believe my use of the Kip scale is pretty much in line with other peoples. Since I went episodic about 6 or 7 years ago I have experienced very few screamers though, the majority are 5-6 and under, which are ( for me anyway ) much more tolerable. I just get more of them daily than when I was chronic. Am I in denial about my drinking? I don't think so. There's a few alcoholics in our family, my father for one, and I come into contact with many others in my role as a counsellor to sexual abuse survivors. Like I said earlier, I keep an eye on it. At the moment it's a pleasure. So, why am I banging on about it? Mainly because I believe there is a possibility that people can get hung up on looking for something, a trigger maybe, that might not be there. I went teetotal for over ten years and according to my diaries it made no difference. I've given up smoking, no difference. All manner of foods and drinks, no difference. I have severe allergies to bee stings, nuts, feverfew and penicillin, so I know my body is capable of being triggered. I don't deny the effect of triggers or the fact that many ch sufferers have identifiable triggers. I've tried to identify mine and can't, so I'm left with a choice of accepting that either any external triggers are extremely rare or illusive ( or I'm too dumb to find them ;) ) or my triggers are internal, similar to the sneezing fit triggers I mentioned earlier. The other driver of my thinking and behaviour is that I refuse to roll over and be beaten. I spent way too long arranging my life, our lives, around my ch. ( and other issues I won't bore you with ::) ) I refuse to do that now, if I'm between individual attacks in my ch periods then I will live my life to the full. Of course that entails making a balance between prevention ( kudzu ) dealing with it ( o2 ) and the level of pain / frequency that I'm willing to put up with, and where I am now is pretty close to that. I have had terrible side effects from prescribed, misprescribed drugs, herbal and alternative remedies. I nearly had my right arm paralysed by a chiropractor who assured me that he could cure my headaches by pulling my head off! That kind of stuff is now past the balance point for me, I want a decent quality of life in the good periods, and I'll put up with a bit more in the bad. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by purpleydog on Mar 23rd, 2008, 12:28am When I was episodic, I had two triggers I could identify. One was alcohol in any form, beer, wine, or liquor. The other was cigarette smoke. When I was in cycle, and I had a drink, I would get hit almost immediately. When I realized alcohol was setting me off, I stopped drinking while in cycle. Cigarette smoke would do the same, so I stayed away from smokers as much as possible. As I mentioned before, after becoming chronic, neither triggered me. I've smoked on and off for the last 35 years, mostly off, but now I'm on again, no problems. I have no idea what triggers me now, except sometimes when I'm under a lot of stress. And I had an unknown sinus infection put me into a major "mini" cycle last year, with shadows in the 7 to 8 range, and hits in the 9 to 10 range, back to back, for 4 days straight, until I could contact my neuro (I was out of state) and get a pred taper called in to stop it. After I got home, about a week later it happened again. I finally got the sinus infection cleared up, after another pred taper, the trex and O2 weren't working. Since then, I've been back to my normal twice a day, or more, hits. Who knows what sets those off. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by beachmusic on Mar 23rd, 2008, 5:20am Alcohol is a trigger for me, and if I am in cycle it is going to bring on a cluster and one to two sips is enough and I get hit within 5 minutes. More often than not if I am not in cycle and I drink I will still get mild to moderate h/a which I am often willing to tolerate. It will usually go away on its own. That may be a thing of the past though, who knows. My drinking days may be over :( :( :( I used to wonder if I was just allergice to something in there, LOL. Aleve cold and sinus worked wonders, along with a nice margarita ;;D |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by PaulBorneo on Mar 24th, 2008, 3:35pm I find that, when I am in in a cluster cycle, alcohol is not a problem. But when a cycle is approaching it can bring it on fast, and when in a cycle, any amount, even breathing the vapors of rubbing alcohol, will start a series of headaches that are quite a bit worse than if alcohol wasn't involved. So I never, ever drink during a cycle. I've found that going out and not drinking is a whole different experience. It's still easier to get to know people when they're drinking, even if I am not. I've also had the same experience with msg as well as free glutamic acid, such as is found in sharp cheddar cheese. I avoid all foods with glutamic acid. Once a cycle started the day of a visit to a Chinese buffet. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Rosebuddy on Mar 25th, 2008, 1:50pm Like all of you, or anyway most of you, I'm a big alcohol fan (unfortunately my fav is red wine). However, Larry M even if your doctor didn't appreciate your sarcasm re: rather drinking urine during a cycle I loved it! I don't even know if I believe in triggers - when I've had a cycle, I get headaches once/twice per day for about 3-4 weeks, then they taper off to every other day and quit entirely for at least a year. It doesn't seem to matter what I do or don't do. This seems quite mild compared to many of you, so I may quit being such a big baby about it! Anyway, I am terrified of alcohol during a cycle, as much as I miss it. I'm heading into the end of week 4 now, and had p/f days on Saturday and Monday, so am filled with optimism. I have the flu, but it's really hard to care when you compare that to a CH! ps. in response to permanent relief - I had no CH's for 19 YEARS after 10 years of annual episodes. Thought I was done for good. But this year has changed everything. I am thinking about adding semiannual trips to Amsterdam into my budget. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Mar 26th, 2008, 7:51pm Rosebuddy, try the kudzu. It takes away the interest in alcohol, how I don't know but it does. I've hardly drunk anything for about 2 weeks, well a whole lot less than usual anyway. ::) Does it have a beneficial effect on the ch? I still don't know, we're dealing with a random complaint here. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by MR_JESTER on Mar 26th, 2008, 11:18pm Hi, I have never been much of a drinker, but if I'm in cycle, I am not telling tales when I say that the smell of alcohol will trigger a hit. At my daughters birthday last year, my wife made a rum cake and I had a single piece, and I was in agony for hours afterward. Being in cycle now, I'm very careful about triggers. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by AtomicTwinStix on Mar 27th, 2008, 1:05pm What really blows is that I just ended a cycle last (Thursday/Friday?) and have not seen the beast since then. I had a few drinks this weekend and nothing happened. I thought I had kicked the beast in the balls....(until next time)... Then last night, I grab a sixer of my favorite microbrew on the way home to enjoy TWO with dinner and that BASTARD came back for an encore. I can usually tell when my cycles are ending...I come off "headache schedules" gradually and just feel a tick or twinge behind my eye during the time i normally experience pain. Gradually that tapers off until the next cycle starts. (This was my first cycle in over 5 years). However, I was quite bothered by the fact that the beast returned last night after only 2 freaking beers. What the hell did i do to him? And what really struck me as odd is that this CH was harder to shake than any in this most recent cycle. I've read most of the posts in this thread, and I think, based on reading everyone's past experiences, that the alcohol consumption shouldn't resume so quickly. The last thing I want to do is start up another cycle.... |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by j-rome on Apr 1st, 2008, 9:09am I 100% agree with no alchoal during clusters. I have been cluster free for a year and a half. And wouldn't you know, the cluster fairy paid me a visit last week. Bastard!!! But anyway, i was camping this last week. So it was BBQ and my favorite pale ale. Let me tell you, big mistake. Every night I was up with a 7-8 CH for a good 40 minutes. But I still ignored the headaches and did the same thing the next day. Then last night I went to a BBQ and had a Heniken and had no problems then had a Firestone Pale Ale and shazam!! My wife looked at me and said oh no! are you getting one? So I sat through a good hour long 7-8. Lesson learned!! :-X |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by debOUCH on Apr 1st, 2008, 12:07pm my first cyle .....60 days ....last hit was almost 2 wks ago,alcohol a big trigger......... fri nite i had a sloooooooooooooooow glass of wine, kinda scared, but did it, and no hits, sat another sllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww glass, nothing....................i think i done ....................for now @ least.........................i am going to try to not run my life thinking when/if will be back............................. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Superdave on Apr 1st, 2008, 12:43pm :)!!!Yeah Deb!!! :) |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Apr 1st, 2008, 6:51pm Well, I'm now 100% convinced that alcohol does not trigger me. I'm NOT disputing that for many people it is a trigger, but I can't register any cause = effect from alcohol at all. This cluster I've been more vigilant than ever in recording what I do, drink, eat and anything that could be a trigger. The end result ( 9 weeks and I think I'm on the wind down :-* ) is that I can't identify anything as a trigger, although I acknowledge that there must be some kind of trigger. I can barely say the attacks have been regularly timed, and there's no pattern of severity either. It's random. Yesterday lunch time I was with a party of family and friends in a pub for lunch with an ice cold pint of Guinness in front of me when that 'feeling' arrived. I went out to the car where my secret stash of Red Bull was and downed one fast, then said to myself "to hell with it, I'm here to enjoy myself" So I went back in drank the Guinness, ate my meal and had a second pint. All I had was a slight shadow. Was I lucky? probably. But I don't say that in respect of getting away with being triggered by the alcohol. I firmly believe that I was just lucky it was never going to be anything more than a shadow. After all, the alcohol would have negated the effect of the Red Bull. As I've said before, I'm not recommending alcohol while in a cluster. All I'm pointing out is that for me, and maybe some others, the trigger(s) aren't external. They are within our bodies, some kind of chemical trigger that seems be random. It's the only thing I can think of that triggers my ch, I've had some alcohol nearly every day during this cycle, and it's been no better or worse than previous cycles when I've avoided it. Perhaps, for some of us, we need to extend our search? I don't know how, I'm an engineer not a physician, Maybe we need to record more detail, things such as mood, stress, the more intangible things. I certainly will if I have another cycle in the future, because after over 30 years of looking for external triggers I haven't identified one solitary thing. |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by Rosebuddy on Apr 2nd, 2008, 12:03pm I just wanted to comment on the microbrews. Although I find many of them VERY tasty, even when I'm not in cycle I can get a migraine from them. Safest beers for me are, for some reason, Dos Equus (which I can even drink during a cycle) and usually Miller Genuine Draft. Not that I've tested every single beer, but those two are good for me. Last choice ever would be a Leinie's, even though I like it; it's positively a migraine-producer for me in the best of times, and even if it didn't cause a CH, I wouldn't want to add a standard migraine to my already full dance card! |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by seasonalboomer on Apr 2nd, 2008, 12:58pm on 04/02/08 at 12:03:52, Rosebuddy wrote:
;;D Good to see someone out there doing the "hard" research. That's some kind of dedication to finding the answer that can work for you. Scott ;) |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by thebbz on Apr 2nd, 2008, 1:52pm Quote:
You have more of a problem than CH. Good luck with that thebb |
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Title: Re: Alcohol and CH Post by mudplugga on Apr 2nd, 2008, 5:19pm on 04/02/08 at 13:52:56, thebbz wrote:
It's no problem at all, I enjoy it immensely. ;) |
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