This is one of many reasons it's so critical to get a handle on HOW you treat your CH. Once you have a decent prevent med, an abortive you can have faith in, then you can concentrate on life again, and stop the constant worry about WHEN beasty is gonna wap you again.

It's a dangerous, and suprisingly easy trap, to fall into. Always worrying until the worry itself becomes a bigger issue then the CH. Hoping you can get the upper hand on beasty soon.

Joe

Urge you to make contact with your excellent support group:    Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

Medical literature suggests that migraine is more strongly affected by one's stress levels, emotional states, etc. than with Cluster. Would be wise to check on this linkage and direct attention to both medical treatment of you headaches as well as how you are coping with the emotional side effects.

When my cycles reach their peak, I can go days with only a couple of hours of sleep. This usually happens when I get hit by like 5 or 6 of them back to back. I always sweat like a dancing mule and know when they are about to ease up because I get really really cold. I am always extremely exhausted after I get hit and if I'm lucky, I'll pass out for a couple hours before the next one comes. It seems the ones that come during the day aren't so intense and don't last as long either.

It seems when the CH eases up with orgasmic levels I pass out involuntarly. Feeling the CH leaves your head, the good feeling is as hard to describe as the pain is. As rough as each hit is for me, I feel that its equally difficult for my supporters to have to witness. I agree that we need to accept our conditions and allow them to control our lives as little as possible. Its hard to stay in good spirits when you are having an exceptionally long or tough cycle. I feel that support communities such as this really help to drive away the negativity that we endure. My last cycle was the longest and most painful to date. I am so glad to have found you guys and gals.

I slept in a recliner, not fully reclined. It isn't something I got used to but rather was something I turned to as a last resort. I was so tired I fell asleep on my own. Melatonin helps, and is safer than the narcotics you mention. Since I almost always got hit at REM sleep anything that would delay my becoming alert to the pain was a bad thing. Slept when I could, as I could, and got what rest I could. And worked and lived in between hits. Sucks, but it's doable. blessings. lance

@Lance, thank you for the input. What you describe makes sense. I started 10mg of melatonin again; this helps to get to sleep early, but I still struggle with sleeping excessively. I need 12 hours for some reason, alarm clocks fail to wake me up, yikes.

@butthurt, I am somewhat familiar with inadequate sleep process and the effects it has on his--primarily from basic research and experience. I find excessive sleep as much a problem as to little or erratic patterns. I struggle to appropriate this and am considering a sleep center to get this mess straightened out.  I suspect its all the medications I am on, the doses I am on are powerful and come with issues.