Woke up this morning at 4:45 am with a strong shadow... I knew it was coming... I have been drinking so much water that I get up at least 3 times a night to take a leak.  Every time I got up last night it was there, waiting to climax I suppose.  Then at 4:45 it really started to kick in. So i grabbed my running shoes and out the freaking door I went.  Wondering "is this really working"  "how far do I have to go?"  "should i focus on intensity rather than duration?"  Anyway, ran about 3 miles and it wasn't 100% gone, but it never intensified.  So I came home, downed a glass of water and enjoyed a hot cup of Joe.  Now, 15 minutes after the run, the headache is gone.  Something about this exercise thing is definitely working.  Because the other morning I decided I was too tired to run and that I needed to "power through" the headache here at the house.  That one hit a K8-9 and lasted for 3 whole hours.  With my 2 1/2 year old saying "whats wrong daddy?"  Sorry for the long random post.  I just want to say that I really believe exercise is helping abort the headaches.  Not incredibly fast for me but nevertheless much better than 3 hours of it.  And, I just don't like the idea of lots of meds and I can't afford it anyway.  Self employed, high deductible insurance plan, with baby #3 on the way.  So for now... I guess my biggest expense will be running shoes and melatonin.   As a side note, I feel like if I forced myself to inhale and exhale through my mouth only (not my nose at all) it helped things subside faster.  Not sure about this, but I did notice a difference once I stopped breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth (the  typical way you are supposed to breathe when running).  I love this website and this message board.  I seriously think I would be in huge trouble without it!  (depression etc.)  Thank you all!

Josh

I wish that worked for me. I actually have the opposite relationship with exercise. Prolonged exercise is trigger for me. As a hardcore runner it makes the cluster cycle that much more challenging for me, as running is a big part of my life - and then it suddenly becomes this potential threat.

Oxygen is a great option for you to consider as your approach can, over time, wear you down physically and mentally. With O2 you wake up in the middle of the night, go to where you keep your O2, huff the O2 for about 10 minutes or so (sometimes less) and go back to bed.

A good plan B maybe?

jmac, I hear you loud and clear about running and cardio.  I know it doesn't work for all, but I truely think it reduces my number of hits during cycle.  The one good thing I get out of my cycles is my health.  I exercise more, I cut off all alcohol, I eat better etc....
Keep up the running because it will benefit you in more ways than one.

Josh, over the years a number of folks have commented on the abortive value of exercise. Some 35 or more years ago, the internist who Dx me, suggested hard walking to abort an attack (in the old days when we had nothing!)

At some point, it all fits into the use of oxygen (left buttons).

yep. I belive its the extra hard breathing we do that helps. I have found in the past that walking a very fast pace in the house, or sometimes even running in place has shortend my attacks. Tho, once full blown outa my mind(I guess I need to read that klip scale) all that jarring around of the head seems to make it worse, or not help anyways.

Chad wrote on Jun 3^rd, 2010 at 7:49am:

jmac, I hear you loud and clear about running and cardio.  I know it doesn't work for all, but I truely think it reduces my number of hits during cycle.  The one good thing I get out of my cycles is my health.  I exercise more, I cut off all alcohol, I eat better etc.... Keep up the running because it will benefit you in more ways than one.

I am the same way. Any over-exertion while I am in a cluster will give me a hit 100% of the time

I never went out and ran or anything but again, the first time I used O2 to kill one off I decided to move the torch to the back of the house.  That torch is HEAVY and it took a bit to get it to where I wanted it.  Usually we use the loader to haul it around so we dont kill ourselves in the process of movin it, but that night I rememerd reading about how exercise helps in many cases.  So I moved it by hand, needless to say I was huffin, puffin and sweatin by the time i was done.  now, ive always noticed that if I keep active during the day, more often than not I dont get them. 

what I read was most of our pain comes from a vessel pressing up against the hypothalimus.  CO2 being BAD for us and O2 being a Vasoconstrictor, hence helpfull, it all boils down to a relationship of gettin the CO2 out and MORE O2 in its place...   as a smoker, like I am, ive damaged my lungs enough that doing exercise might not help me as much..  Crank up my heart rate and generate more CO2 than I can take in.   Cant get the O2 in fast enough to displace the CO2 being generated, I would imagine that those that DONT smoke, this system should work great.  Those that do smoke, I personnaly believe that tryin to be ask still as possable while suckin down as much O2 as possable would be better...  reducing the ammount of CO2 being generated. 

Just my thoughts from what Ive read so far.  Glad this works for you man

I am trying the exercise also because I too am self-employed with high deductable insurance and no money right now. I also have sleep apnea which makes me wonder about me being starved for 02. I wonder if CPAPS the treatment for SA would help prevent CH? Jeremy

Yeah Josh I think since exercise is working for you, you could be a very likely candidate for successful O2 use.

Personally I find the ultra vigorous sprint full out til you drop type exercise to be the most likely to abort a CH hit.

Josh I can also abort some attacks by jumping on a cross trainer and exercising for 10 mins vigorously and I mean vigorously. Do a little reading about welders oxygen as a cheaper alternative to medical, same results though, headache aborted... ;)



Lefty

I remember one poster from long ago who simply hyperventillated.  No exercise needed!