Hi, i suffer from cluster headaches and have done so for the last 6 years. The attacks come mainly in spring and autumn, however i have noticed that my last 2 attacks started after having been in a sauna.
I have also been told by a friend who works in alternative medecine that people with a constitution such as mine (quite skinny, tall and fast metabolism) are worsened by dry heat and that after my gym sessions i should go in to a steam room instead of a sauna. I did this for my last few sessions in the gym and I have noticed no worsening of the headaches as i would have if I had gone in the sauna.
I am wondering if anyone has noticed a worsening of their cluster headaches after going in to a sauna or if anyone has experienced an attack starting after a sauna session?

Heat is my main trigger. I worked in an unairconditioned pole-barn last summer. We had lots of very hot and humid days. It triggered a long strange cycle that has lasted since then. The thought of even walking by a sauna makes me grit my teeth. My neuro and I both think I should be working in AC. Luckily, it's been a cold winter here. Hasn't stopped the cycle, but it sure has made the hits more bearable. I'm not sure how many CH'ers have heat as a trigger, but I know I'm not the only one. My advice would be to avoid the sauna. Of course, YMMV.

And my manners are sometimes lacking: Welcome to the group, thierry. Make sure you check out the Batch regimen, if you haven't already. Also check out the "oxygen info" link on the left.

Peace and pain free nights and days, thierry.

Hi Jeffire, thank you for your warm welcome. I have checked a thread on here regarding food supplements such as Vit d3, calcium and fish oil. It sounds so interesting that i will take these supplements A.S.A.P. I am in Ireland (west coast) and the prices here for these products are very high. I can get them shipped from U.S.A from a site called Iherb for half the price or less LOL, so i'll start taking them when the postman drops them in to my letterbox. :)
I have been given oxygen when in hospital during a very severe attack but it didn't seem to effect the CH in any positive way  :(
I am so glad that i have found this website and the forum pages  ;D  ;D  ;D

Welcome to the web club...all the way from Ireland! My daughter spent a summer there.......accross the street from the Guinness factory no less, a few years back. She LOVED it!

Do get on that D-3 Refimen right away, it's kept me pain free coming up on 3 years, here's the easiest link to read through to make sure you get it correct:

START PRINTPAGEMultimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or END PRINTPAGE

As to oxygen, you need to have a portable unit at home with you. It works best when started at the earliest stages, to abort the attack before it gets entrenched. A delay of a few minutes substantially increases my abort time. If I wait until the headache is entrenched.....which it would be by the time I drove to a medical facility, it won't work for me.

So glad you found us, you'll never be alone with beasty again.

Joe

Hi Joe, thank you for your warm welcome and encouraging words.
When you say that you have been pain free for 3 years thanks to the D3 regimen, do you mean that you are on the regimen all the time for the last 3 years or that you went on the regimen for some time and then stopped?
Also do you also take the fish oils and calcium citrate as well or just the D3?
Thank you :)

Hi Thierry. Welcome to the board.
Heat is a trigger for alot of people, but one common trigger is rest and relaxation. I always thought the hot-tub and sauna were a trigger, because they help you to relax. But I am guessing the heat does something as well.
Definitely get the D3 regimen going. It has kept my latest cycle very, very low; and my cycles always try to outdo the last one!

Sorry you have to be here, but glad you found us.

Carl D

Hey Carl, thank you for your welcome. I have stayed away from the sauna for the last week and have instead gone in to the steam room when i go to the gym -nearly every day-. the steam room has not started or aggravated attacks so i'll keep things that way. Indeed rest and relaxation are a killer, i am just after waking up from a day time snooze (had horrendous night with CH attack) and i'm well into another attack now (6/10). My attacks also sometimes (often) start while sitting on the couch watching a film or just relaxing. grrrrrr
All the best  ;)

Hey T, welcome to Clusterville.. sorry you're here, but glad you found us.

Melatonin for night hits have worked for a LOT of us. I've been on it for years and years and my neuro swears by it. I take 10 mg before bedtime and very seldom have night hits. It's over the counter in the vitamin isle also. You might try that. (But it takes a little while to start working so don't quit if it doesn't work immediately).

And READ read read things on this board that have worked for others. And stay out of the sauna. We all have our own triggers and it sounds like that's one of yours.

Keep us informed about how you're doing and remember we're here for you. And we UNDERSTAND .. we've all been where you are..  :-*

Hi Barbara, thanks to you too for the warm welcome. I am glad I have found ye all.
I am soon going to start Batch' s regimen of vit d3, fish oils, calcium citrate, zinc, vit k2, magnesium, boron and other supplements on his list. I have an appointment with my doc tomorrow to see what she thinks and if i can get some of them free on what we call here the "medical card" (it provides free doctor and drugs to unemployed people). I am lucky that she is very understanding of my pains from CH and will probably be interested in seeing how i do on the regimen. I also have constant access to my neurologist if i need it, he gave me the number for his private secretary and his own cell number. I currently use a zolmitriptan called Zomig, it works for me. When in a cycle, i take it before i get to sleep at night and that allows me to have a pain free night and a good sleep (I forgot to take it last night and woke up with a 6/10 that went up to a 9/10). These are not to be used for more than 1 week (risk of heart attack in very rare cases) without a break and my doctor is alarmed when i tell her that i take it every day during a cycle of attacks, but it is something i have to do and she still prescribes them to me by batches of 30 as she has seen me in the middle of an attack - she was frightened by what i was going through and said that she has never seen anything like it in her 20 years + of practicing. I am glad to be getting them for free as they cost 14 euro + ($20) per tablet here in Ireland. I am also taking a preventative called Epilim Chrono given to me by the neurologist. It is a drug that is given to people who suffer from Epilepsy. This is helping, it has reduced the amount of time between cycles and has also reduced the length of them from 3 months + to usually 3 weeks. I am now in my 2nd week of a cycle.
So, like i said, i will soon start Batch's regimen, it seems to work for 80% of people who are on it. If this doesn't work your suggestion of Melatonin is the next thing I will try.
Thank you for your concern and care.
Thierry  :)

OMG its good to have found this site and all of ye guys!

Hello Thierry,

You mention that your doing steam room and sauna after exercise??

Well, if your just lifting a few weights, stretching etc. then that's no problem. But, If you are doing cardio vascular work; running, swimming, cycling, etc. and your breaking sweat and holding it for a considerable amount of time, the THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD DO IS JUMP IN A HOT BOX WHEN YOU"RE DONE!!!

Doesn't matter whether it's dry or humidified air (it's easier to breath in the steam room because the humidified air is more readily consumed). When you do something like that you are increasing you core body temperature, which in turn increases vasodilation (BIG CH TRIGGER) in an attempt to cool the body down.

OF course in the worst case senarios of heat exhaustion - heat stroke the body begins to protect it'self in other ways, if you get that far along you can end up dizzy, confused, and dead.

Really, people have been known to just fall over while taking a hot show after an intense work session. PLease use caution, and think about the relationship between our CH's and vasoconstricion/dilation.


Peace Of Mind

Hi Chuh, thank you for your reply. I used to go in to the sauna after exercise, i now go in to the steam room as i have noticed that it seem to not trigger or aggravate an attack like the sauna did (though i could be wrong and the current cycle of CH I am in could maybe be of less intensity or even disapear all together if I stop the steam room too).
When i go to the gym, i usually do 30 to 40 minutes on the cross trainer and i do indeed break into a sweat. Following this I do about 1 hour on the machines to work different muscle groups (Pecs, abs, legs, arms, shoulders). I try to work the whole body, during this i do work up a sweat but not as much as when i do the cross trainer. I usually follow this exercise by a 20 minutes swim. It is after the swim that i go in to the steam room for about 10 minutes followed by a cold shower (no hot water at all), i do this twice.
In times when I am not in a CH cycle, it is usually fine and i can go in to the sauna or steam room without any effects. I usually get a CH cycle starting around this time of year, i guess this is the time to avoid going in to hot rooms. The current cycle seem to have started after being in the sauna just once. I now stay out if the sauna and will not be returning.
I understand what you are saying about the blood vessels dilating to counteract the heat and cool down the body. I will now avoid the steam room as well and see if this current cycle improves.
Thank you for passing on your knowledge and your advice.
All the best   ;)
Thierry