Ok please, Im looking for as much info on this as I can find becuase it will help me answer some questions and narrow to you unless you know episodic people and can answer the down some stuff.... PLEASE be as specific as possible dont worry about being long

Obviously if you are chronic this post kind of doesnt apply to the following

from what you know about alcohol as a trigger... 1) is it only as such when in cycle, for most people, and then the rest of the time they can drink or is it the kind of thing for episodic people where you cannot drink ever or very must drink very litte always

2) when in cycle if you drink do is it an immediate or almost immediate trigger, if not how much time passes between the ch and the ingestion of alcohol

3) has anyone ever broken a cycle but then drank within 10-12 days of breaking it and then had it come back

4) has anyone ever had just one random one outside a cycle due to alcohol consumption but not had the cycle return, just experiencing the one?

thanks guys

i am a heavy  drinker and alcohol is one of my smaller triggers, when im out of cycle i drink far more than most. when on vacation i will drink as soon as i get up and then the rest of the day and no headaches, well maybe a hangover but the difference is pretty obvious. i have something quite strange happen with alcohol many times when im on a cycle to the point where ive used it to my advantage. if i start drinking i usually start to feel  the pressure in my neck and my head 10 or 15 mins after i feel a slight buzz start, if i stop then many times it will stay there as long as i stay calm make sure i dont crack my neck and relax it will subside ( guessing 80% of the time).that usually take 45 mins or so after it starts for the pressure to fully subside then most of the time i can start drinking like normal with no ch the rest of the night after that. bad part is when i start drinking the second time if a ch comes on it will be bad and need an imitrex. ive used this to "prime" myself at home in a controlled environment for bdays before with some success. ps dont use imitrex as a way to drink while having a ch, tried it on my bday first shot lasted 2 hours and second shot was ineffective so i got to leave my party in pain with tears rolling out of my righteye, so much for i dont care how many shot of imitrx i gotta do im having fun with my friends on my bday.

Sorry guys, but I have to say it...if you want to drink, then drink. If it's a trigger for you, it will trigger an attack. We know hangovers don't usually prevent people from returning to their favorite alcoholic beverage, so perhaps the pain of a CH won't either. It does for me. So I haven't indulged while in cycle. It isn't worth it. For me. If it's more important to you to imbibe, knowing there are implications for the meds you may be taking, and that it may/will trigger an attack, you decide. Again, I'll say that for me, it isn't worth it. lance

As with many CH issues, individual variation is common re. alcohol. You will develop your own "rules" by learning what your body has to teach you.

In general, alcohol which in cycle is a broadly based trigger BUT research from Europe suggests that distilled spirits is a universal trigger, red wine also a potent trigger, but not (for many) white wine. (This hints that the issue may be some chemical[s] in spirits and red wine which is the trigger, perhaps more than the alcohol???? This line of thought is reinforced by the fact that some are triggered by solvents of various kinds--cleaners, etc.)

So, you'll have to run your own trials to detemine your personal pattern of response.

understood, but I still would like to here other people's experiences as specific as possible as for me knowledge makes me feel better.

so keep em coming.

Hi, im kind of episodic and chronic at the moment as i think i am tranforming from one to the other.

as for alcohol, if im not in cluster then i can drink as much as i like with no threat of an attack.
But while in cluster i am guarenteed a hit approximately 20mins after the first sip of alcohol.

similar to a comment above, if i then wait to handle that particular attack before continuing drinking then i seem to be able to continue all night without the fear of a further drink bringing a further hit ..

but then i woul;;d still be awoken in the night for my regular 2am and 4am hits  :o

Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:16pm:

1) is it only as such when in cycle, for most people, and then the rest of the time they can drink or is it the kind of thing for episodic people where you cannot drink ever or very must drink very litte always

When I'm not in cycle, I can drink as much as I want when I want.  The only headaches I get are the next morning when I'm hung over.

Quote:

2) when in cycle if you drink do is it an immediate or almost immediate trigger, if not how much time passes between the ch and the ingestion of alcohol

If I drink while in cycle, I will get a hit within about 15 minutes of the first sip.  By the time I'm close to the bottom of the glass, I'm at KIP-10 and want to die.  It wasn't until I got my diagnosis that I realized the correlation between drinking and cluster hits, so I was putting myself in a bad spot.

Quote:

3) has anyone ever broken a cycle but then drank within 10-12 days of breaking it and then had it come back

Can't say that's happened.  If I'm 10 days pf, I'm done with the cycle and back to life as ususal.

Quote:

4) has anyone ever had just one random one outside a cycle due to alcohol consumption but not had the cycle return, just experiencing the one?

Again, hasn't happened yet.  At least I know now that if I have a drink and find myself in a lot of pain, the cycle has returned and it's time to put the booze down.

Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:16pm:

1) is it only as such when in cycle, for most people, and then the rest of the time they can drink or is it the kind of thing for episodic people where you cannot drink ever or very must drink very litte always

I can drink as much as I want out of cycle and have no ill effects (CH's that  is! ;))


Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:16pm:

2) when in cycle if you drink do is it an immediate or almost immediate trigger, if not how much time passes between the ch and the ingestion of alcohol

The final drink for me this past cycle triggered a CH within 5 minutes. Stayed away from all alcohol from then on until I was certain the cycle was over.


Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:16pm:

3) has anyone ever broken a cycle but then drank within 10-12 days of breaking it and then had it come back

Not had that experience. But this last cycle seemed to linger on beyond the end of the 'regular recipe' clusters with zips, zaps, and strange flashes that I'd not experienced, so I kept on the wagon until ALL was in the clear.


Joshl924 wrote on Apr 10^th, 2011 at 9:16pm:

4) has anyone ever had just one random one outside a cycle due to alcohol consumption but not had the cycle return, just experiencing the one?

No, I've not had a random one outside of my cycle.

thanks guys..... keep em coming or anything else you would like to say

As a College student I drink heavily out of cycle and haven't had a hit because of it yet, nor have I started a cycle start.

The one time i did drink in cycle it took 10 min after a glass of wine (that mom ignorantly told me would be a non factor) to erupt into a kip 9.

I wait until i'm at least 2 weeks hit free until i consider myself out of cycle. This means i dont' drink, i keep my odd sleep habits, and generally carry on like i'm about to get one until I am proven clear.

Better safe than dancing is my logic