Clusterheadaches.com Message Board


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

        New Message Board Archives >> Jul-Sep 2003 >> Nightmares
        
(Message started by: Wendy the Brit on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 7:13pm)

Title: Nightmares
Post by Wendy the Brit on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 7:13pm

Dear All

As I am very new to this (first cycle diagnosed as CH by neuro last November) and I can't remember truly everything that happened last time so I am not sure, but I think I am going back into a cluster cycle. It is hard to tell because a top level migraine for me is about as painful as a low level CH and I get both.

I have had two attacks with a night clear in between. Both started about 1.5 hours after falling asleep (this follows last year's pattern) I have had a backgound head, I suppose thinking about it, probably shadows for the last 4 days.
I have just used Imigran (Imitrex to you I think) spray for the first time and it seems pretty damn wonderful as I am almost pain free less than 30 minutes later. Hoorah! But the taste made me retch!

My questions are:

When the cycle is starting is it normal not to get one every day??

Do other people get a vivid and nasty nightmare in the REM sleep prior to be being blasted awake?

is it normal for your hands to shake a bit after Imigran

Here's still faintly hoping they were just migraines 'cos that means they won't get worse, and they'll go away quickly. If it isn't, I'm in the shit.

Love as always

W the B with everything crossed (poor husband)

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by jonny on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 7:20pm

I have this one.

When men were oysters they fought for their meals back like the days when they fought tigers for the meat in the jungle.

Scary!!

.............................jonny ;D

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by BlackDog on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 7:28pm

Quote:

When the cycle is starting is it normal not to get one every day??

When my cycle started (I am only in my second ever cycle) I got one or two a day, (low kips) for 3 days. Then nothing for two days. Then BOOM, four or five K-7 - K10's a day for several days, then two days PF, then another 8-10 days of HA's...seems this just repeats until end of cycle.

Quote:

Do other people get a vivid and nasty nightmare in the REM sleep prior to be being blasted awake?

I have never had a nightmare before the beast arrived. I always just remember waking up with major head pain that gets a wee-bit better as soon as I get vertical.

Quote:

is it normal for your hands to shake a bit after Imigran

I believe Imigran is the same as imitrex here in the states (someone tell me if I am wrong). I only ever took 5 doses over 3 days, and my entire body was shaking after the very first dose. Second one was a lot better. By 3rd dose in 2 days, shaking/nervousness was gone. I am sure others have more experience to share with you though.

Quote:

Here's still faintly hoping they were just migraines 'cos that means they won't get worse, and they'll go away quickly.

Faintly? I will say some MAJOR prayers for you. Sounds like you are good people and not deserving of this...not now. I hope this is just a fluke.
Praying you stay PF,
Darren :)

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by OneEyeBlind on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 8:24pm

Wendy, I save my Imitrex for the nasty nasty wake up calls. If your headache is severe enough, for some reason I notice no sides, if I do the Imitrex with a lower grade headache I notice I feel a little "funny" .. not sure I would say I have the shakes or anything, but I can definelty tell I have taken "something". Usualy at the beginning and ending of a cycle the headaches are more sporadic ...... then they set in like clockwork. I use the Imitrex injections, as well as O2. What I always did was if the headache didn't wake me up out of a dead sleep shooting me out of bed ... I used the O2 and that usually worked. If I came flying out of bed ....... shot time.

Good luck sweetie ........... I'll be thinking of you and sending good vibes your way. Give the O2 a shot, especially if you are getting "shadow type headaches".

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Charlie on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 9:33pm

I don't think I've gotten nighmares from CH. Since my seizure meds were changed, I just get weird dreams, not interesting just bizarre.

It's been 12 years though and I have no brain :o

Charlie 8)

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by kim on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 10:07pm

Hey Wendy,

When I enter a cycle the attacks are stuccato......sporadic and gain in momentum as cycle progresses. Get hit one night and then quiet the next, then get hit next night, and then it just goes haywire every day/nite for months.......and then starts breakin up again.

I do not recall any nightmares in connection with my clusters.

Sumatriptans cause constriction of vessels throughout the entire body. My hands did not shake from it but i can certainly see that happening - especially when you are first using it and not used to it. And - yes, when taken orally or through the nose they all taste awful and gagging can happen until ya get used to it....

Thinking of you and hoping you feel betta soon!****

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Ree on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 10:24pm

I hope I am not repeating what someone else said... I didnt have time to read all of the responses... When I was on amytriptaline I got horrible horrible realistic dreams... maybe its some med that you are on... feel better Wendy thinkin of ya love Ree

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by eyes_afire on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 10:34pm

Hi Wendy. Kim nailed it right on, they are sporadic at first and build up. I usually get into a bit of denial also... like refusing to believe that it is starting up again even though I know better.

As for nightmares... I get horrible nightmares often. In cycle or out of cycle I have lots of crazy dreams and nightmares. Perhaps you are associating the nightmares with the CH because CH often strikes during REM sleep... and dreams are most likely remembered when you are awakened directly from REM sleep. Most normal people cycle in and out of REM sleep several times a night but don't remember their dreams simply because they did not reach a heightened enough state of wakefulness (that is the ideal scenario and is quite normal). Something else that is also noteworthy: many people claim to wake up with a CH 1.5 hours after going to sleep... not surprising when you consider that for the average adult, the first REM cycle occurs about 1.5 hours after falling asleep.

Anyway, ya got us to lean on.

--- Steve, one of many...

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Ted on Jul 3^rd, 2003, 11:00pm

Nightmares every night. I sleep in front of the TV every night to not remember nightmares everynight.

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by cootie on Jul 4^th, 2003, 1:20am

Hope your not goin into nuther cycle Wendy.......am wishin ya to stay PF dam it.......hope it's a fluke like people say it can be. Good luck to ya...Pam the kookie flukey

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by iJun G4 on Jul 4^th, 2003, 3:15am

Quote:

When the cycle is starting is it normal not to get one every day??

Totally. The frequency and intensity are weak. This will go on for about a week until I get a "real" attack that I know for sure is CH. There's always that false optimism that "maybe it's not...".

Quote:

Do other people get a vivid and nasty nightmare in the REM sleep prior to be being blasted awake?

Luckily, I almost never get CH in sleep. But when I do, I get the exact same thing as you. I know in my dreams that the beast is gearing up rapidly; I toss and turn too long before actually waking up, and then, the attack has progressed quite a bit when I finally do wake up.

Quote:

is it normal for your hands to shake a bit after Imigran

I'm very sensitive to Imigran/Imitrex, but once in a while, my hand shakes. There have been a couple of times when I could have sworn I had a minor heart attack; my whole body goes numb and shaky, very dizzy/nauseous. It feels TERRIBLE, much worse than just the CH alone. But these are always when the Imitrex misfires and does not put out the CH. So I can't tell for sure whether it's a really bad CH trip or an Imitrex side-effect. I don't normally have full-blown CH attacks if I can ever help it, so it's hard to tell.

As for the nasty taste, you'll develop the proper technique eventually where most of it stays in your nose and not end up in your mouth. Inhale the vapor/mist right during the initial spray, but don't inhale too strongly after that; you'll just be sucking the liquid down to your throat. It really helps using nasal spray when you can avoid that nasty vile taste.

Best of luck to you.

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by jminmilwaukee on Jul 4^th, 2003, 5:28am

Yeah, ditto to the above. They always come on sporatic for me at first. Of course, even after 15 years, I always go into immidiate denial. "This is a fluke and will pass". "Just a sinus thing I'm sure". My only advice as I do not take meds, keep an O2 tank next to the bed. An Ice Cold wet cloth on the forhead along with a serious blast of 02 can sometimes knock those nasty night calls out for me. Just remember to use the O2 in such a way that the mask will fall off should you fall back asleep. Happened to me a few times and you DON't want to fall asleep with the mask on. Very bad....Mkay?

Hang in there, this too will pass.

Jmin

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Wendy the Brit on Jul 4^th, 2003, 7:35am

Thanks everyone. I am actually quite cheerful at the moment because I haven't had any Kip 10's (yes, I know, just wait!) and the the Imigran was superb. 10 minutes to quite bearable, 20 to pain free! I have also felt very well today, whereas after Zomig (for migraine) I can often feel quite groggy.

I am now joining the pissed off with the doctors club again because when I opened the Imigran box, I was stunned to find only 2 sprays. What a joke.
So it's Friday, off to the docs to persuade them that one spray probably won't even get me past the weekend!!!

I know you've all been there, but you only realise the enormity of it when faced with it yourself! Poxy doctors, you'd think it was their bloody money

Talk to you all later

Quite a buoyant Wendy the Brit

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by catlind on Jul 4^th, 2003, 8:06am

on 07/03/03 at 22:34:38, eyes_afire wrote:

Hi Wendy. Kim nailed it right on, they are sporadic at first and build up. I usually get into a bit of denial also... like refusing to believe that it is starting up again even though I know better.

Steve that was also right on the money. I start off sporadically and in denial. Wanting desperately to believe it's just migraines and not CH. In that phase right now. I just don't want to believe they are coming back, and am trying everything I can think of to stop them. "If I just go to sleep earlier" "If I just stay active during the day" "If If IF..."

Wendy I sincerely hope it's a fluke, but if not, you are amongst family who will help you through.

Cat

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Opus on Jul 4^th, 2003, 12:53pm

Wendy,
Try my test, I sometimes get Migraines that don't pound so to figure out how to treat I lie down flat, if they get worse it's a shadow if it gets better it's a Migraine, and while your down there try uncrossing, it might help LOL

My cycles start with sparatic shadows until the first 10 then I get hit steady.

Opus/Paul

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Danielle on Jul 4^th, 2003, 1:19pm

In regards to nightmares:

I don't realy get them but what I have noticed is that often, when waking up with a CH, I have been having a very stressfuldream...not realy a nightmare but something that makes me feel very anxious. When I awake, I am always very tense and I have wondered whether it is the anxiety of the dream that brings on the cluster or the cluster that brings on the dream? Just to add, I guess I'm so paranoid even in my subconscious, I wake up at the slightest hint of a cluster unlike in the beginning where they would be almost fullblown before I was fully conscious.

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by don on Jul 4^th, 2003, 3:58pm

Wendy,

Most Ch attacks will come when a sufferer is in a state of REM sleep. It is a short period of sleep when brain activity is hightened.

What is REM sleep?
In 1953 neuroscientists discovered a physiological state which occurs periodically during sleep (every 90 minutes). There is a heightened brain activation during this time including a burst of rapid eye movement (REM), increased breathing and heart rate, genital engorgement, and paralysis of bodily movement (the person is highly aroused yet fast asleep).

Are dreams and REM sleep synonymous?
Of people awakened during REM sleep, as many as 70-95% of them report dreams in contrast to 5-10% of awakenings during non-REM sleep. This led neuroscientists (particularly Hobson and McCarley) to assume that REM and dreaming are synonymous and that dreams are meaningless conscious images triggered by signals sent by the brain stem.

As for nightmares. Mine begins the moment I am awake and aware of the attack.

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Wendy the Brit on Jul 4^th, 2003, 7:53pm

Thanks everyone for the info. Thanks to the old timers, but also, it is SO great to see newbies piling in as well. Good to hear from you! Thank you all. I have found the board upsetting recently (no names here, you know who I mean) but this is what the board is for. That great feeling that I can ask naive questions and still get lovely answers (but then - I listen to them!)

I have tried to support others here, hoping that I was going to be the one who would only ever have the one attack (didn't believe it really of course and neuro stifled a laugh when I asked if this was possible!)

Thanks for the offers of support too. I'm doing really, really fine at the moment :D but am now sure this is a cluster cycle- praying now for a managable one, which is possible since it is only my second ever. Bloody Doctor only gave me 2 more Imigrans again, so I am only allowed 3 headaches this weekend. At the moment I am only shadowing again, but that's probably because I haven't made it to bed yet (2am here, but that's normal for me)

Love to you all

Wendy the Brit doing great and grateful

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by Elaine on Jul 5^th, 2003, 8:42am

I have bad dreams just before I wake up with a cluster and I think Dons post tells why. I know I hate the dreams as well as the clusters LOL! They both suck.

Title: Re: Nightmares
Post by sueellen83 on Jul 5^th, 2003, 1:50pm

Wendy

I don't remember having nightmares before I wake up with a CH just the pain, usually a 6 or 7, waking me up.

Unlike the others, when my cycle starts I don't skip days. I wake up with the ch every morning for 3 or 4 days then they increase in intensity and number as the cycle continues. Up to 5 or 6 ch a day wthout medication. If I can go for a day or 2 without a ch or shadows I know the cycle is finally over.

I also go into denial that the cycle is starting.

Glad to hear you are doing better. Heres wishing you PFD&N