I wonder if any of u people know of things we do that is certain to trigger the beast?

In my periods i know for certain that just 1 beer result in a huuuge attack, so no alcohol for me.

Ive sometimes wondered if too much TV, videogames og sitting by the computer can trigger the beast. Or maybe stress, concerns, depressions etc.

Im willing to quit most things in life if that results in not getting CH ever again!


Chris

I'm sure ther could be plenty, so keep a journal of what you do so you know what triggers them for you. Everyone is different. But normal triggers would be definately alcohol, scents, any kind of smoke. Chocolate and foods containing sulfites, llike eggs and lunchmeat could maybe be triggers, too. Not for me, but maybe for some. Other things I found that might trigger one for me are anything that  could bring a rush of blood to your head. I got one after singing a song already because of the blood rush from holding the notes. Good luck finding out what you need to avoid.

In season a 1/2 beer will priduce  hard shadow, and a whole beer with bring on a hard CH. I don't seem to have anyother triggers..

Doing with out beer I still get hit, but then there is no trigger I can ID.

Back when I first getting hit by CH, I thought that if I drank a few beers that I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night......BIG MISTAKE! I learned that alcohol of any kind would serve me a butt kicking from the beast at about 1am.

These days, the only trigger that I can actually put my finger on is irritation.

I can go from PF into a shadow in no time if I get irritated enough(which is why I originally thought that I had TH until my doc diagnosed them as CH). >:(

I once thought that sleep was a trigger since i usually get em at night in my sleep. So i tried to stay awake the whole night, BAD idea! Got a huge attack at 3:05 am (as usual), lasted 3 hours and was the hardest one ive ever had.

I dont know about u people, but i get very stressed out and scared by waiting for the next attack during a period. I dont know if this may help the beast to trigger, but i dont think there are anything i can do about it.  :-[ 

weather. is a b@^#h. >:(

pf wishes

Oh there have been so many nights when I've sat up, exhausted - bone tired but terrified to sleep. I know that feeling well.

My worst triggers are smells. I haven't found any food or drink triggers. The smell of petrol when filling my car, the smell of strong (or even mild perfumes) nail varnish remover, paint - all can make my head throb within seconds. Interestingly too, I have a very weak sense of smell from having had multiple head fractures. A lot of the time I can't smell anything at all so it's kind of odd.

A good topic to bring up again. Alcohol is a very common trigger...stress is a funny one, for some like me, extended stress will bring an attack, for others, as soon as they get a release from stress, they get hit. My other triggers are getting really hungry and screwing up my sleep cycles. If you're not already keeping a headache journal, you should start. It's a good way to track triggers.

But a warning......avoiding 100% of your triggers...will sadly only reduce, not eliminate your hits. ;)

Joe

During the early years of this site's life, we used to chat a good deal about triggers. Over time, our experience and medical research moved to the belief that this is more an issue for migraine folks whereas, with CH, about the only real "universals" are alcohol (when in an active cycle) and solvents of one kind and another.

There are unusual exceptions to this statement but, overall, don't think this is a big deal for us.

Major temperature swings (say about 20 or 30 degrees in the space of a day), can bring on mucho CH for me.

I'm agreein' with Bob on this one.

These are my known triggers:

1) alcohol (this will trigger a crushing blaster)
2) sleep (including naps)
3) meditation (for the same reason as sleep I suppose)

The only thing I've ever found that seems to trigger me is the barometer. When it starts rising - I get hit.

When I was episodic - alcohol did the trick, but I LEARNED not to drink and that worked out well... I still got hit, but I saved a lot on booze.

But in answer to your question... there hasn't been anything, except maybe alcohol (for most) that's been PROVEN to be a trigger for us. We just get hit no matter what the devil we do or don't do.

:-*

Alcohol is a definite for me - intresting that some say temperature change as well, will keep an eye out for that one.

The thought of washing up, housework, odd jobs and shopping can also bring one on too ;D ;D ;D

Lol Diezel, sure sure!

For me alcohols a definate, even if its just cooked into things.  Naps and strong smells do it for me too sometimes but not everytime.

You mentioned computer screens which don't trigger me but oddly, when I was having CH I couldn't stand to look at a screen for long.  Nothing physical but... Very odd considering I usually live on my computer. :p

Bob Johnson wrote on Dec 5^th, 2009 at 12:59pm:

During the early years of this site's life, we used to chat a good deal about triggers. Over time, our experience and medical research moved to the belief that this is more an issue for migraine folks whereas, with CH, about the only real "universals" are alcohol (when in an active cycle) and solvents of one kind and another. There are unusual exceptions to this statement but, overall, don't think this is a big deal for us.

Being here all that time, I agree with your comments Bob. We often hear about triggers from folks with Migraines or the very unlucky that suffer from both.

From general reading here, it would also seem that women more often report a list of food based triggers than men do.

Again, there are of course exceptions and always will be.

Marc

Alcohol – a few mouth full’s of beer will generate a real barn burner.

Sleep – I get a hits during daytime hours but I call CH “This Nightmare” for a reason - way too many nights spent trying to find anything to keep me awake.

Naps – Try to catch a few zzz’s after staying up all night, nearly guaranteed hit.

Extreme cold – If it gets down into single digits and I’m out in it – one of those instances where daytime hits occur.

Strong sun – A good amount of exposure to strong sun can trigger some nasty daytime hits.

Strong solvents, pesticides, maybe strong smells?? – no consistency here but frequent and severe enough to make me aware of what I’m doing and how long I’m exposed to these.  2/3’s of the time nothing happens but the remaining 3rd can result in severe hits that sometimes push that 3 hour limit.

Missing a med. dose or being more than two hours late with one can really set of a long-term increase in frequency and severity that often takes a week or so to stabilize.  Naturally I've learned to keep this stupidity to a minimum.

burnt-toast
(Tom)   

I work in solvents and this is not a trigger for me. My sense of smell is enhanced at the times I am susceptible to CH though.

Tobacco is not any trigger for me either..

When I am in a cycle,
Alcohol
Altitude
Airplane trips
Sleep

Alcohol.  Even out of cycle if I over do it and end up having more than three beers, that's usually cause for a banger.

Barometer and season changes.  Once winter and summer are in full swing I'm usually good.  Spring and fall weather messes with my head pretty good.

Strong perfumes give shadows which lead to a cluster later on down the road.

I don't have too many triggers...the only one that seems to be consistent is time of year. I am always hit heaviest at this time of year. After the New Year it mellows out a bit.

Barometer swings cause some grief, I think. One thing I noticed was that when travelling overseas for work I never got hit when I was close to the equator. Don't know if there's anything to this, but the weather was consistent, same amount of daylight everyday, and no major barometer swings. I'm trying to convince my wife to move to Singapore but I don't think she's buying it. :)

Cluster triggers:
stress/depression combined with rapid Fall or Spring weather changes

Individual CH triggers:
trans fats (has to be a LOT but they are always k10)

being warm - maybe this is related to others' triggers regarding temperature fluctuations and even sleep - taking the blanket(s) off my bed (so I'm chilly and even shivering, but stay PF) has eliminated the ones that wake me up in the middle of the night, which are always the worst for me because I can't act soon enough

p.s. Thanks for the post and to everybody who replied, I really think this kind of thing is inconsequential to those of us trying to minimize the damage this monster does.

For me odd as it seems alcohol is not always a trigger.  A definite trigger is sudden changes in barometric pressure (up or down).  Warm stagnate air (a stuffy room) will always trigger HA.  Perfumes almost always trigger a HA.  Fatigue or really lack of normal 6 hours sleep will trigger a HA.

For me, triggers for an individual headache are alcohol and tobacco smoke, even second hand.  Also, they seem to always hit when I relax.  Not sure if it's lower blood pressure or maybe lower pulse rate.

Triggers for a cluster are lack of sleep, disruption of normal sleep patterns, and stress.

But sometimes, the sun rising in the East is a trigger, too.

Alcohol
Nitrates
MSG
strong perfume
strong petroleum fumes
bystander smoke of cigarettes/cigars/burning leaves etc..
Too much sleep

Chad wrote on Dec 16^th, 2009 at 9:45am:

Alcohol Nitrates MSG strong perfume strong petroleum fumes bystander smoke of cigarettes/cigars/burning leaves etc.. Too much sleep

Alcohol=yes
Nitrates=don't know what you mean
MSG=never use it
strong perfume=never come in contact with any
strong petroleum fumes=work in them and wash in them, no problem
bystander smoke of cigarettes/cigars/burning leaves etc.. =roll my own with no problem, build fires in the shop with no problem, and inhale smoke outside from the chimney on occasions with no problem
Too much sleep=not any problem as i often sleep in after a 3x ch night

Just posting because i wonder why much of the list has no affect on me? This is not any argument, and I have no doubt these all are a bother to you, but I just wonder why they aren't for me.

Alcohol=Nope
Nitrates=Don't know?
MSG=Nope. Can scarf down a big mac and fries and never have a shadow.
Strong perfume=Nope ( i wear beautiful about every day and never bothered me)
Strong Petroleum Fumes=Nope
Bystander smoke of cigarettes/cigars/burning leaves etc=I smoke a pack a day np..cigars i dont think so..burning leaves never been a prob but i will have to say that i have a neighbor that burns chicken feathers when he kills a few chickens and they stink to high heaven but no ch
Too much sleep=I dont think ill ever know if thats a trigger for me as i am an insomniac on a good day. with the cycle thats upon me now, i find myself waking every hr n half even without the hits and getting up after 4 hrs sleep most days because i just cant fall back asleep.

I actually posted yesterday somewhere that i really dont have any known triggers except sleep and laying down if i have shadows already

The only triggers that I identify are alcohol and heat and sometimes execise.
I am a regular smoker and cigarettes don't triggers the attaks in my case. In fact, they help me deal with them.