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        Cluster Headache Help and Support >> Cluster Headache Specific >> Some Questions... 
        
(Message started by: Carol_Hackler on Dec 28^th, 2005, 8:47pm)

Title: Some Questions...
Post by Carol_Hackler on Dec 28^th, 2005, 8:47pm

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by jon019 on Dec 28^th, 2005, 9:20pm

Hi Carol,

Get your ass kicked with indescribable pain and not feel drained, hung over, empty, desperate and you are a better person than me.

Going back to sleep? Damned if I'm gonna let CH take everything. Providing I can subdue the beast (O2, imitrex, zomig, or whatever) I go back to sleep knowing I get one more hour, not ONLY one more, but I GET one more. Mind game. If you get pissed or adrenalized you won't get even that. Easier said than done but has saved my sanity.

Regards

Jon

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by MJ on Dec 28^th, 2005, 9:27pm

Carol.

After a CH attck its hard not to feel hung over considering the battle just fought.

Many myself included are woken many times during sleep. We get up, do our cluster thing whatever that may be untill the attack is over then go back to sleep in an hour or so. Then do it again 10 minutes later and again and again and again and again and agai..............

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by gobby on Dec 28^th, 2005, 10:22pm

I understand your pain and the hung-over feeling. Taking advise from many people on this site, I started taking melatonin before going to bed initially. Many say it helps them sleep through the night and many others, myself included say that it really hasn't done much in the way of stopping the hits from comming, but it is sooooooo much easier to fall back to sleep.(until the next one hits), but a few extra minutes of sleep here and there add up. :-/

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by E-Double on Dec 28^th, 2005, 11:26pm

on 12/28/05 at 20:47:49, Carol_Hackler wrote:

I have noticed a couple of things about my headaches and I am wondering if others have the same experiences as I.

1) After a headache I feel extremely hung-over. I know that it's not from medication because currently I am not taking anything. Is that something you experience?

Have experienced it with and without meds.
You're body takes such an ass whipping.

2) Every time I have this type of headache I wake up from it, usually around 2 or 3 in the morning. I thought I saw something on this site about that and I have to check that out. What do you do to get back to sleep when that happens?

How about trying to prevent them.........read on.....

Since you do have the "typical" wake you up in the middle of the night horrors then.... Melatonin might be very helpful
Many of us (myself included) have found that taking 6-9mg (some take more) about a 1/2 hour to 45minutes prior to bed have Knocked out the night visits and can finally get sleep.

With the exception of 10-12 times.....I have slept through the night since August '04 (went chronic in March 05).....Still get hit during the day but my overall quality of life is better because I am not as exhausted all the time.

Some people report that it seems to make them worse....The fact is that we are all different and respond differently to everything therefore it may or may not...

The one thing I will tell you as far as my experience was that I had to stick with it...The first night I took melatonin, I was awoken with a doozy only I was too groggy to find my O2 .....It got a lot better for me....I then slept through the night but would get slammed about 1/2 hour after waking up....kinda like knocking the beast off schedule.....then again I was peaking and this cycle has been all over the place with no real pattern.
I stayed with melatonin and have had decent sleep overall.

It may help and it is natural with not too many sideeffects....also ask your doctor b/c if there are any side effects or contraindications...I think they have to do with mild depression.....

Thanks in advance for your answers!

My pleasure

BTW, someone here (I forgot the name) has one of my favorite cd's as their avatar, London Calling. Very cool! 8)

That's me 8)

Best to you,

Eric

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by zwibbs/Scott on Jan 2^nd, 2006, 1:37am

After several nights of very little sleep, I am so bad that I walk into furniture. After I get over a very bad attack I have looked at myself in the mirror--and it isn't pretty ! I believe that everyone who gets these damn things goes through the same stages.

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Guiseppi on Jan 2^nd, 2006, 1:53am

I'm wide awake at 11:00 pm cuz I got hit about 2 hours ago. I use 02 and cafergot with the down side being I have a caffeine buzz for 4-6 hours and can't sleep. My wife loves it cuz I clean house with all my nervous energy! A long way of saying I don't sleep after an attack! And I get the hang over thing too, it's not exactly the left over pain or the meds it's more like my body saying "damn what the heck just happened again! Still hoping for a change with the new year!

Guiseppi

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by BarbaraD on Jan 2^nd, 2006, 7:11am

Hung over, exhaustion -- Normal. The pain takes everything out of you.

I'm with the others on the melatonin. I take 9-12mgs before bed and usually get some sleep (till about 4 in the morning). Then I'm UP for the day. I've not ever been able to go back to sleep after a hit. I don't know if it's just being afraid or if I just can't put my head down, but after a night hit, I'm just up till the next night. If I try to go back to sleep, I'm gonna get hit with a dilly, so I've just learned to be a morning person.

I've been on melatonin for quite a while, and one thing I've found - I wake up at a lower level (about a 4 instead of a 9). I hit the floor immediately and get the coffee and O2 and usually abort the morning HA. Before the melatonin, It was 9-10 wake up call a couple of hours after going to sleep, so it's really helped me.

Of course (disclaimer here) it doesn't work for everyone. But it might be worth a try (give it a couple of weeks to get in your system).

But the more rest you can get in between hits the better you can handle the hits. I'm chronic so trust me on this one.

Hugs BD

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Sandy_C on Jan 2^nd, 2006, 3:59pm

Hung over - absolutely! Feels like I've been on a drinking binge, but I don't drink at all while in cycle.

Melatonin helps somewhat in allowing me to fall asleep, and sometimes sleep for a long time. But, if I'm awakened with a hit, there is no going back to bed after it's over - key word here is BED. I will sit upright in a comfy chair and put my head back, and will fall asleep for a while, but I cannot lie down in bed. At least, I do get some more sleep, along with a stiff neck, but it's still sleep.

Sandy

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by burnt-toast on Jan 3^rd, 2006, 4:40am

on 12/28/05 at 20:47:49, Carol_Hackler wrote:

I do see where you are on this one. Not sure I'd call it hung over - more like a complete mental and physical exhaustion. Might as well be hung over - at least that would mean we had some fun getting there.

Sometimes after an attack subsides I just crash until the next one. Other times returning sleep doesn't happen so easily - don't know, maybe it's fear of the next one. Melatonin has also helped me sleep better but I understand that it doesn't work for everyone.

Tom

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Ghost on Jan 3^rd, 2006, 12:33pm

on 12/28/05 at 20:47:49, Carol_Hackler wrote:

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Jan 3^rd, 2006, 7:57pm

You've gotten some great advice, Carol.

There's no avoiding that drained and exhausted feeling, but I've found, like others, that 9mg of Melatonin about 30 minutes before bed can help me avoid those night hits all together.

Hugs,

Kris

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Jonny on Jan 3^rd, 2006, 8:04pm

1) As soon as the HA is done I do a happy dance with a big ass smile.

2) As soon as the HA is gone I go back to sleep with no problem.

It must be all the practice ive had ;;D

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by TonyG1 on Jan 3^rd, 2006, 8:49pm

I always get night time hits when I'm in cycle, rare for me to have much more than a strong shadow during the the day --

1. As others have so aptly put it, the wiped out feeling is normal after the beating of a CH.

2. If I can subdue with meds or my other CH rituals and the CH passes ... can't help but go back to sleep; however, I used to fear the CH would come back and sometimes it does but you just deal with it ... :(

BTW - when I'm in cycle the CHs are a nightly battle usually around the same time every night; however, preventative meds (verapamil) seem to help with that after they have time to ramp up in your system.

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by teajay5779 on Jan 4^th, 2006, 3:11pm

I'm spaced out after my clusters, I guess you could call it a hangover. I feel a little dizzy, off balance, and wiped out. I can usally go right back to sleep b\c I soo wiped from the CH

Title: Re: Some Questions...
Post by Carol_Hackler on Jan 5^th, 2006, 7:00pm

Hey all - thanks for the advice.

Melatonin eh? I took Melatonin for a while when I had a nasty case of insomnia and the stuff gave me the weirdest dreams. I should try it again, dreams or not, it would be worth it.

Thanks! ;;D