My husband was in remission for about 6 years and they are back.  the sleepless nights, i feel so bad, especially when I am about to go to bed and sleep like a baby.  He never wakes me up during "the dance" (i love that one).  Does any one think that alcohol is like pulling the trigger?  How about smoking? I was just wondering about that.

Hey Bethygirl!  Welcome!
It's hard seeing your loved-one suffer with these - my poor husband has been my loving rock for years.  You do so much for your husband just by being there for him even if you feel useless!

As for the alcohol - oh, yes!  Many people find that alcohol is a huge trigger for an attack!  There is a thread on this subject going on right now on another section of the board - look around and you'll find lots of info on it.

As for smoking, for some reason, a greater percentage than to be randomly expected of people with CH are smokers.  Unknown if it is a cause or effect type of issue or if it is an underlying symptom of hypothalamic dysfunction.

I'm sure others will be responding soon with more info...

Again, welcome! 

Alchohol is definately a trigger for many (if not most) here. The smoking question comes up alot. At the recent OUCH convention what was pointed out by one of the doctors who spoke was that smoking could limit some of the treatment options, or something like that. I haven't really heard of it being a trigger though.

Welcome to the board Bethy, another awesome supporter! What has he got for prevents and abortives? Doe he have oxygen yet? When you get a chance, give us a rundown of his treatments. We've found so many people are still being prescribed 1980's treatments, we've come so far!

As to smoking. Dr. Goadsby says he encourages all of his CH patients to quit smoking. Not because of any benefit to their CH status, but because a lot of what we use to treat CH, will become unavailable to a person suffering the long term effects of smoking.

Joe

Bethygirl! That's what I call my daughter Elisabeth. So cool. Anyway, welcome, and on behalf of all clusterheads everywhere, thanks for being so supportive.

Dittos to everything said above, and would only add lots of stuff can be a trigger. Sure, alcohol and smoking are two of the usual suspects. But so can REM sleep, and exertion, heat and cold...all can trigger ch's. I would recommend a headache diary that includes things ingested as well as activities. Establish a baseline of such things and you'll come to know your husband's triggers. God bless! lance

I would definately have him avoid alcohol and if smoking is his thing, check out the electroninc cigarette, my wife and I have been using them for over a year, and it's pretty nice. 

ar4e these e-cigarettes worth it? do you save money with them aswell or is the usage more expensive?

feneq wrote on Jul 28^th, 2010 at 2:54pm:

ar4e these e-cigarettes worth it? do you save money with them aswell or is the usage more expensive?

In my particular geographical location they are very inexpensive compared to tobacco cigarettes.  Even if they weren't cheaper, they would still be worth it, as I am not ingesting the 4000 other chemicals/poisons that are in tobacco cigarettes.

Alcohol is a univeral "no-no" when you are in an active period for our members. A number of us have reported that various solvents will trigger an attack and since they can slip into our environment easily, you might suggest to your husband that he start paying attenton to any association like this.