I am trying to understand something.
During ch occurs vascular dilatation/low blood pressure in our bodies.
coffee,energy drinks smoke a cigarrette(correct me for smoking if i am wrong)as well as imigran,dhe etc acts as vascular constriction trying to abort the crisis.
  Moreover in the right order during hot weather/summer,vessels dilate and in cold weather vessels constrict for higher blood pressure to maintain or increase if necessary human temperature.
  As always when weather is hot i am fine and when a change is about to happen or happening(drop of temperature and north cold wind as some of the latest days.but not too much just slight changes)then shadows and mild ch occur(but that's isn't when vessels constrict??)and the paradox is that in these circumstanses icepacks help.
Hot showers,hot towels etc don't work for me anymore (changed few months ago from hot to cold) and have no idea why this helped me in the past.
I know we are all different and that some us suffer during summer/heat and others during winter/cold but doesnt make sense.
any thoughts? :D

This is a messy piece if you don't know the history of how the hypothalamus became identified as the major player in CH but--that is what it's saying. The dilation of blood vessels as the source of CH is now out; Goadsby (and others) have shown that we have a neurological disorder. So, while heat/body temperature is a variable for some people, it's not the causal issue.
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Interesting to note that he is saying that the primary mode of action is NOT as a vasoconstrictor but on its effect on the central nervous system. Doesn't change our appreciation of this class of meds but suggests we need to change how we think about the nature of CH.
==============================
Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2007;(177):129-43.   


Serotonin receptor ligands: treatments of acute migraine and cluster headache.

Goadsby PJ.

Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. peterg@ion.ucl.ac.uk

Fuelled by the development of the serotonin 5-HT(1B/1D) receptor agonists, the triptans, the last 15 years has seen an explosion of interest in the treatment of acute migraine and cluster headache. Sumatriptan was the first of these agonists, and it launched a wave of therapeutic advances. These medicines are effective and safe. Triptans were developed as cranial vasoconstrictors to mimic the desirable effects of serotonin, while avoiding its side-effects. It has subsequently been shown that the triptans' major action is neuronal, with both peripheral and central trigeminal inhibitory effects, as well as actions in the thalamus and at central modulatory sites, such as the periaqueductal grey matter. Further refinements may be possible as the 5-HT(1D) and 5-HT(1F) receptor agonists are explored. Serotonin receptor pharmacology has contributed much to the better management of patients with primary headache disorders.

PMID: 17087122 [PubMed]

Bob forgive me if i didn't understand well
but you mean that weather and the whole body adjustment process which relates to itas in the mammals,isn't really the issue here and ch is a neurological disorder with a completely different nature.right?

sorry it seems i am having a difficulty trying to understand all these :-[

black wrote on Aug 17^th, 2009 at 8:33am:

I am trying to understand something. During ch occurs vascular dilatation/low blood pressure in our bodies.

Blood pressure can be one factor, but is not the central one. The vasodilation is generally local (around trigeminal nerve, and in brain) and cluster headaches can be associated with high blood pressure. 

Some medicines that treat clusters can increase blood pressure (triptans) while others are known for lowering it (verapamil, magnesium).

Bob gave you good info.  Read more where that came from.  It can be a little complicated at first.

From personal experience, there is absolutely nothing that will trigger a cluster for me (or my family) unless we are in our cycle to begin with.  However...if we are in a cycle, then changing from heat/cold does become an issue, as well as many other things!  Good luck!

black wrote on Aug 19^th, 2009 at 8:36am:

sorry it seems i am having a difficulty trying to understand all these.

Not understanding these?  JOIN the crowd!

There are people out there with a hell of a lot more education and have done a lot more research than you and I, and even they don't fully understand it!

Quote:

Not understanding these?  JOIN the crowd! There are people out there with a hell of a lot more education and have done a lot more research than you and I, and even they don't fully understand it!

well that is quite obvious and unecessary to point out

[quote author=3B35383A32590 link=1250512386/2#2 date=1250685410]Bob forgive me if i didn't understand well
but you mean that weather and the whole body adjustment process which relates to itas in the mammals,isn't really the issue here and ch is a neurological disorder with a completely different nature.right?

:-[/quote]

Yes and no.
The hypothalamus is thought to be the generator of chemical release and response.
One train of thought is that the brain center reacts too fast or too slow in compensating for body internal and external conditions. The hypothalamus is also thought to regulate our internal clocks wich helps to explain the regularity of CH.
It is thought that the process goes out of wack and over or under compensates with certain brain and body chemicals.
Serotonin is one of the bodies primary neurological chemicals and its levels are in constant flux in both the body and brain
The serotonin receptors or gateways in the brain, (and there are many of varying types and pathways), can with modern theoretical science be manipulated and be blocked or opened to signal the differing neuro reactions, pain is one of those reactions on the neurological pathways.
CH and other neurological pains are along those pathways and each manifests differently through different doorways or receptors via differing stimuli.

I should note that the added symptoms we can get like BP, tinnitis, neck and shoulder pains, tearing, vascular dilations, depression, etc... are all in the serotonin and other chemical balance and flight and fight responses.
Quite often we treat the symptoms only, wich can magnify the chemical fight response happening in our brains and actually increase our pains or cause the side effects many get from medications or trip the frequency responses of CH due to certain delaying medications causing our brains to try to correct again or over compensate chemically for the added medications.
On the other hand when found certain chemicals can balance out or fill the needed gaps in our body/mind Chemical makeups. They can also throw things off in the wrong directions when too much is added.

Its really about balance. The problem is that no one seems to know the balance point.

Thanks MJ and everybody for your time

black wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2009 at 5:31am:

Quote: ClusterChuck: Not understanding these?  JOIN the crowd! There are people out there with a hell of a lot more education and have done a lot more research than you and I, and even they don't fully understand it! Black: well that is quite obvious and unecessary to point out

Quote:

Ginger S.<<<<<  Snickers at Chuck.   [smiley=bag.gif]

Chuck was just stating the facts, and meant no harm.
He does have a great sense of humor!

I just wanted to say the above and that this was an interesting topic you raised Black!

Thanks!

Quote:

Chuck was just stating the facts, and meant no harm. He does have a great sense of humor!

well that is quite obvious too and unecessary to point out ;D

He is right and i have to say that i am too much of simple minded(gentle expression) the way i approached the subject.Bear me for some seconds.
At the back of my mind I had that IF weather is a trigger and vascular constriction/high blood pressure seems to help with ch then
what if we could play (figure of speech)with some rules that are all over internet about people with hypertension.
For example there are rules like
1.wear warm clothes in the cold(maybe some lighter clothes could help us with ch even if we get colder?)
2.Eat warm food(is it better for us to eat it directly from the fridge?)etc. etc.
But yet again weather follows a different pattern for me(better in the summer heat,much worser during winter cold).
Of course all these thoughts of mine prove to be bulls@^%t as i read Bob Johnson,Monty and MJ.
so sorry for this long useless post. :-[

p.s.1    i warned you to bear me.Didn't i? :-X
p.s 2    i ve already put on sheets in the mirrors of my house :D

The problem is for each person finding a happy medium with heat and cold (air pressure we can't really fix).  For me at least if I get too hot or too cold I will get a CH hit. 

Covering mirrors ???  I haven't heard of this to prevent a CH hit.  Does it really work ??   :-? ;D