Please take this survey if you commonly wake up with CH's
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I've been wondering about how my sleep position might be a factor in my CH's. We just had a baby and my sleep is shot. I can hardly form sentences I'm so deprived. lol. Also, I've been waking up with CH's almost daily.

I've also been reading up on baby sleep positions, since our girl loves sleeping on her belly. Yet its not recommended since it can be a factor in SIDS. I read in something related, that sleeping on your stomach restricts blood flow to the brain, due to the twist in your neck, which made me wonder if theres a connection. I always sleep on my stomach and I get neck pain at times. When I have a CH I find doing neck/head semi-circle stretches help (along with O2).

If there is a number of dedicated back sleepers with CH's then I'd assume there is little connection.

I am a night timer and for me is doesn't matter where,how or which way I sleep. When in cycle for me 1-2 hours after falling asleep,well until I started using Melitonin,PF 16 days.

Interesting theory. I am a stomach sleeper as well..................

Thank GOD for melatonin is all I can say

I sleep on my side, knees slightly bent, CPAP firmly in place, with 6mg of melatonin in my belly.

I've had one nighttime hit in the last 5 months.

I move all over.  Position doesn't matter for me.

Haven't slept more than two hours at a time since 1967. My wife said I sleep like a fart in a whirlwind.

            Potter

Try this, Right as your laying down and about to drift somberly into sleep, try to remember the postion your in, Then when you 1st awake try to catch the postion your in  then. I bet there not the same.

I fall asleep on my side, But most always wake up on my back?

Coach Bill :-?

I sleep on Right side and wake on same side most of time.
Also side hot poker enters head and wreaks havoc.   

Also get hit with Ch 1.5 -2 hr after hitting hay.

Having better sleep now drinking a 5 Hour Energy right before
bed.  Seems to keep me out of rem and I have slept for hrs
straight, first time in months... ;)

Sleep or rest...it don't matter...I can't put pressure on my right occipital lobe-my affected side-or it will kick off a CH. lance

stomach/side

rarely on the back.I must feel really comfortable on the head,not even a slight shadow to be able to fall asleep on this position.

I am a stomach or right side sleeper (used to be left side too until the beast hit) can't lay on left side (ch side) of head without feeling the twinge.

CH - Right Sided, attempting to sleep on my right side results in rapid on-set of night attacks.

Sleeping on my left side isn't perfect but night attack frequency is cut by over 1/2 - If I can stay on my left side.

Unfortunately as has been pointed out, staying on the same side during sleep doesn't necessarily happen.  As much as I try to stay on my left side I often wake to find that I had rolled over to my right and invited the beast. 

Not sure what to make of this because I also frequently experience attacks wide awake, sitting straight up on the couch attempting to relax and take in a TV show at the end of a day. 

Maybe never relaxing or sleeping is the most effective preventative available?   :-/

burnt-toast
(Tom)         

Yeah, I'm not sure sleep position preference is the issue but rather what happens when we put pressure on our affected side. This seems more to the point, and why occipital nerve blocks can help at least for awhile-they address the affected portion of the skull/scalp and the underlying nerve bundles. lance

My hits always come on the right side of my head. When I lay down, if I lay on my left side, it's automatic that I will have a hit in no time. If I lay on my right side, I at least get to sleep before the beast shows up. And yes, I toss and turn all night. Not much of a back sleeper because of a back condition, nor do I ever sleep on my stomach.

Also, I tried someting similar to Bo the other night. Right before bed, I slammed a Mt. Dew. I figured, what the heck, I'm going to be doing one in a little while anyway when I get hit. It really did seem to act as a preventative. I actually slept for several hours. I know the massive caffeine in it should have kept me up, but I guess when you're this sleep deprived, it really doesn't matter. The beast causes more insomnia than the caffiene!

Good luck,

Red

why i can't display the current results?
it asks to vote again :(
playdoh can you maybe show them somehow?

by the way i am thinking that it would be also interesting another  survey on which side you wake up in pain and not fall asleep since we change positions during sleep anyway?
of course as much as the awareness from sound sleep to wide awake in pain permits to remember anything..

I prefer to sleep on my stomach with my head turned to the left.  Since I have started getting nighttime hits I have to sleep on my left side, with my head slightly elevated.  I don't think it really cuts down on the hits though. 

Jeannie

I sleep on either side and usually wake up on my back. I don't think that has anything to do with it though. Unusual dreams, mostly involving some stressful situation, probably cause rapid eye movement which in turn irritates the area where the beast lives causing me to wake up in pain. Or maybe my mother in law put a curse on me. ;D

What sleep position do you use most often.             

1  Stomach      4      22%

2  Side            5      28%

3  Back           1         6%

4  Stomach / Side      6      33%

5  Side / Back             3      17%

6  Stomach / Back      0      0%

7  Stomach / Side / Back      3      17%
     
Mainly from the success of O2, I more suspect blood flow restriction then 'pressure' on nerves. Also one doesn't have to be laying down, or remain in the same position for a long time to restrict blood flow through the neck.

Stress and tension effects the muscles in your neck drastically, and I'd could imagine tense neck muscles 'kinking' a blood vessel/vein ever so slightly.

Whether by lack of O2, abundance of CO2, or combination of both, or a complex string of conditions that create a CH, yet all stem from a slight reduction of blood flow.

Its all theory, obviously, but again, O2 therapy is leading me to suspect a vascular cause, however implicit.

I've been trying to fall asleep on my back lately, and retrain myself to sleep. I try putting a pillow under one of my knees to stop me from turning, but I get sick of it after a while. lol.

Thanks for the replies and surveys.

My attacks occur on the left side. I have found that if I sleep on my left side, which is my fave position when not in a cluster, I wake up with the beast.  I just started Verapamil 2 nights ago.  I have found that if I sleep sitting up this helps me.  Right before the beast arrives I get pressure in my head.  Keeping my head elevated seems to steer it away.  Good luck to you all and hoping you find peace and rest.

     My affected side is on the right. Always sleep on my side or stomach. Can’t seem to sleep on my back, When I do I can feel myself starting to snore so I turn, or my wife gives me a nudge. When I wake up with an attack my affected right side is always on the pillow no matter where I start. Can’t seem to get comfortable in any position, I’m always moving. Maybe it’s time for a new bed. Also if I fall asleep on my back watching TV in an easy chair during the day the beast will attack. He takes advantage of us when we are vulnerable, picks on the unprepared. But when you fight back with an abortive he runs away with his tail between his legs. He truly is a coward.

Bud