HI

Can someone please explain what EXACTLY the affect smoking does to CH. I understand that the brain is deprived of some O2 from smoking & I am under the impression that it also causes the blood vessels to dialate. True??????
If U stopped smoking, would it effect your CH? Stop it??
Have any of u guys stopped smoking and got positive results???

Thanks- Deb

Some have stopped smoking and haven't noticed any difference in their cycles. Some have seen positive improvements in severity and duration.

Jeannie and I have never smoked and still get slammed. Go and figure! Like everything else, cause and effect is a real pain with these things. On the other hand, all evidence is pretty strong that you'll only help yourself if you stop smoking.

Joe

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, so in this respect smoking would help.

On oxygen supply is has no effect either way.

But, as is well known, smoking is a nasty habit, with lots of ill effects on the health. Therefore, smoking is also responsible for CH (some health gurus maintain).    


                 

I have never seen any medical/technical information explaining why smoking is belived to be harmful.

My guess is that there is an assumption that the toxic effects of smoking increases sensitivity to the mechanisms of CH.

Bob Johnson wrote on Feb 16^th, 2009 at 8:37am:


Yes, I think so, and it could do that in multiple ways.  In another thread, I was discussing serotonin and kynurenine with Gonzalo.  There are switches that can be turned on by lung inflammation, and these route tryptophan away from serotonin and melatonin, and into the kynurenine pathway. Serotonin can drop 20-50% with such chronic inflammation, and levels of some kynurenine compounds can go up to 500x what is normal. Some of the kynurenine products are similar to glutamate or NMDA - they increase nerve firing, pain sensation, and could play a role in clusters.

Not enough research now to say for sure that this particular mechanism has a big effect, but it could be that. Or some other set of switches that get flipped - perhaps the aromatic hydrocarbon receptors, or a disruption to acetylcholine receptors.  

Nicotine crosses the blood brain barrier and has profound effects on various neurotransmitters from serotonin to adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine and acetyl choline. All of these neurotransmitters play a role in the mechanism of CH. It also affects the sleep mechanism and can in turn affect the circadian rhythm. Any and all of these can have an effect on CH.

Unfortunately, there is not enough research done and therefore clear understanding of how exactly nicotine affects CH is not known. The fact that most CHers smoke is relevant but whether this is a side effect of the disease or a causative factor is unclear.

There have been extensive discussions and heated arguments on Ch.com about CH and smoking. Many people reported experiencing positive result when stopped smoking, others did not find any difference. As CH is influenced by many things, change in only one aspect of it may or may not bring any visible or lasting result.

The other difficulty is that nicotine is extremely addictive. It has been described as the hardest addiction to break, even harder than hard core drugs like cocaine. Since it is so hard to stop smoking, smokers tend to get either defensive or denial when talking about their habit.

The fact that we all know how smoking can lead to cancer, lung disease, heart disease, stroke ... and other deadly conditions, is not enough to deter people from smoking, then I dont think a weak link between cigarette and CH will make much different, even if its proven.

Still, for overall health, its always recommended that one stops smoking.

The only thing that changed in my life when I stopped smoking 26 years ago was that I then developed cluster headaches. I have no idea if there is any cause and effect relationship.  I still puff on a cigar occasionally, and that seems to actually help ease the cluster headaches.  It's all very strange.

i remember many years ago, 13 plus, when i had stopped smoking and drinking for over a year and the mighty devil came back as strong as ever. i remember sitting alone and saying, " i am doing everything right, why is this still happening". i did start to smoke again a couple years later, cloves not cigs, and did not notice much of a change. i have just stopped smoking again, not sure why. i will let you know if i have noticed a difference.