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Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies >> Smoking???
(Message started by: Druidmaster on Dec 8th, 2005, 10:41am)

Title: Smoking???
Post by Druidmaster on Dec 8th, 2005, 10:41am
I have a buddy that gets bad CH.  He insists that smoking has helped him.  I don't know.  Sometimes I wonder what is worse.  Another attack, or dieing of cancer!  Is there truth to what my buddy said?

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Melissa on Dec 8th, 2005, 10:47am
In my case, yes, smoking has helped me.  I can't smoke in the midst of an attack, but if I feel one starting, I would reach for a cig, and then suck as much down as possible before the pain gets to be too much, then after the attack is over, I have one again.

That was last cycle.

I quit smoking last January, and am now in cycle again, but going through it smoke free.  It's sorta managable without the cigs, so if you don't smoke now, DON'T START!!!  Try other alternatives.

take care,
mel

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Beastfodder on Dec 8th, 2005, 11:08am
As a group we do seem to smoke an awful lot from what I've seen and I'm still good for about 10 per day .

For me I won't have a cigarette when I'm being hit, but sometimes a more recreational smoke helps change the relentless grind and tone of an attack.

But since I found O2 - attacks have tended to be a whole lot healthier and shorter.  

It's wise to keep the two as mutually exclusive as possible !


Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by MJ on Dec 8th, 2005, 11:09am


I dont think it really helps nor triggers the CH but it definately seems to calm the mind and nerves between hits. For the moment I will risk the cancer.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Barry_T_Coles on Dec 13th, 2005, 3:36am

on 12/08/05 at 10:41:35, Druidmaster wrote:
 Sometimes I wonder what is worse.  Another attack, or dieing of cancer!  Is there truth to what my buddy said?


It beats gettin run over by a Mack truck ;;D

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by JenLynFin on Jan 14th, 2006, 2:55am
It actually helps me to have one during an attack.  Could just be the calming down factor.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by burnt-toast on Jan 14th, 2006, 4:25am
I smoke like a fiend when experiencing attacks but  smoking itself doesn't improve or worsen the attacks.  Just gives me something else to do while I get the Sh!t kicked out of me.

Tom    

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Mr. Happy on Jan 14th, 2006, 4:26am
As state after state decrees smoking illegal in all places......public and private, it's good to know there's at least one safe haven for a bunch of brown lungers.

Smoke `em if you got `em.
RJ


on 01/14/06 at 04:25:12, burnt-toast wrote:
I smoke like a fiend when experiencing attacks

Read up on the oxygen thing. (http://www.maplefallswebdesign.com/misc/oxygen/oxygen.htm)

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Wlt2424 on Jan 14th, 2006, 11:55pm
Woke up 5a.m. Friday with what I would call a level 8. Started my O2 (my life saver) immediately upon being awaken by the beast. After 12-15 minutes I realized it wasn't going to work. Ice pack to the head did no good. Finally I smoked a cigarette, this caused the pain to ease after a couple of minutes. This didn't stop the headache just slowed it up a bit. After about five more minutes I tried O2 again, within minutes the beast was completely gone. This is not first time I've had tried this exact method. By no means do I smoke during the onset of CH, this is just something that I've had luck with before. After 15 years of dealing with these things, tried a little bit of everything. I think this helps pain some because smoking constricts your blood vessels and therefore reduces amount of pain getting to your head. Maybe this makes sense, maybe not, but a lot of things I've tried over the years don't make sense.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by gobby on Jan 15th, 2006, 1:04am
For my first two cycles(on my third now) smoking was a trigger, but now on this one it seems to have no effect at all.

And for all the kids out there, Never Smoke.........Period!  But more importantly, never smoke near your O2..........BOOM!

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by FramCire on Jan 16th, 2006, 3:23am
Am I the only adult Cher that doesn't smoke or drink.  My Dr told me he thought I was a rarity.  He said that was one thing most Chers had in common was that they either smoked or drank (I assume he meant in adults only).

Anyway, I was going to post this question in a thread by itself but this one seems like a good enough place.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by youngmichael on Jan 16th, 2006, 2:36pm
I don't smoke, and I have a few drinks maybe once every 5 or six months. You're not alone FramCire.

Maybe drinking and smoking make CH worse, maybe not. I'm not going to start to find out, though.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by seasonalboomer on Jan 16th, 2006, 2:55pm

on 01/16/06 at 03:23:51, FramCire wrote:
Am I the only adult Cher that doesn't smoke or drink.  My Dr told me he thought I was a rarity.  He said that was one thing most Chers had in common was that they either smoked or drank (I assume he meant in adults only).

Anyway, I was going to post this question in a thread by itself but this one seems like a good enough place.


There's documentation that seems to concur with what your doc said. But, it doesn't seem that much of the literature can fill in the gap between the fact that there seems to be a lot of smokers and drinkers and it being some kind of cause of CH. Particularly since there are many like you that do not live in that slice of the population. While alcohol is VERY often a trigger for many when in cycle, a person's use of alcohol in the past doesn't create a cluster head from what I've read.

Jury's out on the real link here on this issue but there is no definitive as there is for cirrhosis or lung cancer.

scott



Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by kcopelin on Jan 16th, 2006, 6:47pm
You know, I've smoked for a long time.  :P Nicotine, as well as caffeine, are vasoconstrictors...which means they make your blood vessels constrict, which is what ergotamine and few other abortives do.  The side effects for smoking, however, are pretty significant.  I intend to quit after this cycle.  Not because of the headaches, but because its time to give my lungs a break.  When my CH started back in 1881, I mean 1981, I was a heavy drinker.  Alcohol did trigger CH when in cycle.  It was how I could tell whether my cycle was over, drink a glass of wine.  If I got hit, well, cycle not over.  I stopped drinking in September of 1998, and have had several cycles since. So that didn't cause the CH.  I have also quit smoking during cycle to see if that helped.  It didn't.  Pregnancy, on the other hand, did seem to stop the headaches.  However, in this season of my life, a 49 yr old post-menopausal woman, I don't think its a possible preventative. ::)  Thank goodness [smiley=laugh.gif]  
PFDAN y'all
kathy

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by E-Double on Jan 16th, 2006, 7:20pm
Still got Clusters even when I did not smoke.

Smoking alleviates some level of anxiety associated with the bad hits for me

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by marlinsfan on Jan 17th, 2006, 10:14am
I quit smoking cigarettes 9 years ago, and I had CH way before I quit and after I quit.

I started smoking cigars about 5 years ago when I ALMOST picked up cigarettes again. I used cigars to killt he urge. Heck, I'll get mouth cancer but not lung cancer! I'll smoke one or 2 a month, and it does not trigger headaches, nor gets rid of them. That is my experience.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by mynm156 on Jan 18th, 2006, 1:56pm
I dont know I dont smoke but I do know that when Iam stuck around a Smokey area or on a long trip with my wife (WHO SMOKES and Her husband is a Respiratory Therapist)  I get hit!

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by thebbz on Jan 18th, 2006, 9:04pm
;;D Keep up the good work Mel! I smoked for 30 years and quit about 6 months ago...and I am still married. [smiley=laugh.gif] No effect on the CH that I can tell. I quit due to the potential use of Imitrex when I am 50 ish. I can say that when in an episode I cant stand the smell of them or me for that matter [smiley=eek.gif], even when I smoked. Good for the nerves though. I was a big A$$ before I quit, and then the withdrawl hit. My wife is so cool putting up with my crap. ;) I am getting over it though, hope the same for all of you quitting as well. For those that smoke....enjoy
jb [smiley=smokin.gif] [smiley=nono.gif]

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by maffumatt on Jan 18th, 2006, 9:12pm
I chainsmoke when I have an attack.

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Aoife on Apr 6th, 2006, 8:49am
;;D It really is such a relief to hear I am not the only one. I wish I had found this place sooner. I have smoked for years and have quit on and off. I have always said that I didn't see huge improvements when I quit, I only smelled better. I have noticed that a smoke just prior to the worst pain seems to help, but then again maybe it is just the distraction. At any rate, I have attempted quitting once again. It has been 3 weeks. I guess we'll see what happens. Wish me luck! :-/

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by Guiseppi on Apr 6th, 2006, 10:11am
I have never smoked but I drinks a bit. I like my dark beers, single barrel malts and blended canadians, although when on cycle the grain alcohols are a big no no!!!

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by NotH20 on Apr 6th, 2006, 12:12pm
Started w/ ch in 1980 - quit smoking in 1989....been smoke-free since   ;;D  Cigs had no affect on the ch - before, during or after.  Don't drink either - that has proven to bring on a ch in my case.

Mia

Title: Re: Smoking???
Post by midnight_madness on Apr 6th, 2006, 11:20pm
First met the beast in 1970 at the ripe old age of 10. I neither drank nor smoked at the time. Didn't seem to matter then. Started smoking around 16, drinking around 20. Never seemed to matter anywhere along the line (except while in cycle of course when drinking is right out). Somewhere in there I forgot to start drinking again after a cycle ... too bad we can't take ginkgo or maybe I could remember to do important things like that ... LOL.

I haven't played much with smoking before or during headaches lately. For the past several years, the beast usually comes 45 minutes after I go to sleep and I almost always start at level 7 progressing to somewhere between 8 and 10 in the next 2-3 minutes. Thus, I find myself in something of a rush to get to either an O2 tank or a hot shower and haven't found time to fuss with smoking on the way.

However, in the past, when the beast came to surprise me throughout the day or just upon regular awakening, I would say smoking would trigger them while coffee MIGHT prevent them ... but only during that very narrow 2-3 minute window when you feel it coming on ... once it starts, forget about it. Other than that, no effect in my experience.



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