Posted by ChuckC (216.128.199.108) on March 28, 2001 at 11:05:27:
In Reply to: NEWBEE QUESTION posted by KATRINA on March 28, 2001 at 06:03:21:
Alcohol is a known trigger for cluster headaches for many of us. On top of being a clusterhead, I was a practicing alcoholic, and and a chronic headache sufferer. Once I got the alcohol out of my system; that is, once I began treating the alcoholism, I became an episodic sufferer IMMEDIATELY! The headaches didn't disappear, but they began to respond to treatment. My first neurologist surmised that I was probably episodic all along, but the alcohol wouldn't allow me to go into remission. Until the alcohol problem is addressed, there isn't a lot of hope. Kinda' harsh words, and maybe I'm not a qualified alcohol & drug counselor, but I am a qualified alcoholic, and we AA-types used to say..."if it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...well, then it's probably a duck". We humans tend to overlook the "big picture" and clusterheadaches, anxiety, depression, and alcohol consumption are only smaller pieces of a larger puzzle. Perhaps the clusterheadaches are enabling your husband to justify his alcohol consumption. If he can stop the headaches, he has lost his reason to drink.
Then, unless he chooses recovery, another reason will take the headaches' place.