Posted by Roo on March 01, 1999 at 15:55:07:
In Reply to: Whole new problem for CH patients ? posted by gary g on March 01, 1999 at 15:28:43:
I started looking up CH triggers. Alcohol can trigger them, and can also provide relief. Caffiene can trigger them, as can lack of caffiene, and caffiene can sometimes bring relief. I've seen both too much sleep and sleep deprivation, and the list of foods that you can eat and not eat that will either trigger a cluster or bring relief are longer than I care to remember.
Some people get them on the left side, some people get them on the right side. Some people got them after head trauma, some people found that head trauma cleared them up. Some people only respond to oxygen therapy, others to ergotamine, and still others to inhalation of lidocaine and a quick nap. The list is of treatments is easily as long as the list of triggers.
How about causes? Some attribute CH to pinched nerves in the neck, others to allergies, and still others point to the sinuses as the culprit. No one seems to know for sure.
The only thing that seems to remain constant is the main symptom: blinding, searing pain, pain so bad that you have to move around (my neurologist tells me that the movement is the quick-and-dirty way to tell a CH patient from a migraine patient--migrain paitents want sensory deprivation, CH patients pace around and beat their heads against the wall).
How can you call this a specific disease?
-AF