Posted by Mark on November 19, 1998 at 12:31:09:
In Reply to: Anyone Had This Happen? posted by Jackie on November 19, 1998 at 11:53:15:
I'm episodic as well. I get nailed every fall and sometimes late winter. Usually fall is the worst lasting about a month sometimes two and the Jan-Feb. thing is kind of inconsistent. During my fall cycle I may hurt for 6 days straight then off for a day maybe two. Last week I actually had four days off in a row then POW! back on.
Anyway sometimes in between cycles I will have shadows on and off but never get zingers. I can usually link these experiences to triggers:
A. Screwing up my sleep schedule
B. Prolonged stress event
C. Nicotine (I even try to avoid 2nd hand smoke)
D. Alcohol is a serious NO for me. I can almost always link a shadow or a cluster cycle to alcohol. I even use alcohol free mouth wash.
Prednisone- I have never taken it for clusters but was on it once for something else. I felt terrible for weeks after coming off. The doc kept putting me on slower tapers, but I felt weak, moody and my whole body ached. I also had headaches but not clusters. Just old fashioned stuff.
Hope this helps
P.S. I'm a real activist for using tylenol Pm before bed. I have NEVER had a CH during the night since I started using it,BUT I almost always get one first thing in the morning. For me it's a fair trade for sleep.
Good Luck