Hi fellow CH sufferers, this is just a quick note I wanna lay on you regarding waking up with cluster headaches. It may sound strange to some but it makes sense to me. I got my first cluster headache back in 1990 but really didn't think anything was wrong with me until around 1994. I first thought I was just going through normal headache periods, be it migraine or sinus or whatever. I thought everyone probably went through and experienced these headaches, that's why there's so many aspirins and pain killers on the market. By 1994, I knew something was wrong, and none of my friends or family ever talked about going through episodes like I was with my headaches and definitely not for long periods of time like me. Over the years, I thought of and noted different things I would do to calm or stop my headaches and one thing I noticed about the CH that comes when I was asleep was the fact that when I laid down horizontally my headaches would feel worst and when I sat up my head felt better. Whenever I felt a headache creeping up, I would sit up immediately and when I felt that I would probably get a headache that night, I would either sleep on my lounge chair or prop myself up on my bed with pillows against my headboard, but never lay flat horizontally. It seems like this method would work and my headaches would not come as often when I slept, but then again that's just me. I notice that people have different ways of dealing with their clusters, and what works for some may not work for others. I just wanted to throw my sleep theory out there, so take care and good luck with your next Cluster Headache.

Hi Terrence & Welcome

The practice of sitting up or sleeping with your upper body in an elevated position is used by myself & others here; you are probably aware that the CH pain is generated from the blood vessels on the effected side expanding & the simplicity of it is that by elevating your upper body you reduce the blood flow to the head.

If you have ever had a broken foot, ankle etc your doctor would have advised to keep the foot/leg elevated to reduce the pain! Same principle!

Cheers
Barry

Sleeping upright helps, but it doesnt prevent.  It also seems as if just by sleeping upright, you can jolt yourself up faster, which will help to get to your tank or whatever youre using for relief faster.

We all develop our own patterns during CH. (as weird as they may be)

I have been having CH's at night. Not 1 or 2, I'm talking 5-7 a night. They all hit 10 and I would be miserable the next day. I saw this thread after my second attack last night and figured I would give it a try. And I slept through the night.
One thing I am realizing about these monsters is different things work for different people. What may work for one doesn't work for another.
I am convinced we all have different triggers. When I told my neurologist that my neck muscles tighten up when I get a CH he said the neck shouldn't hurt and he almost wondered if what I was having were even clusters or not. TRUST ME, They are clusters.
Unfortunately I am convinced of that.
I say everyone should try everything to try to control these things, no matter how strange they sound.
After all, who would of thought something as simple as O2 could help