Hey all, dsw here, was a tough winter for the hubby but things under control. Don't know if it was the nerve blocks or getting him back on Indomethicin but all has been mellow for a month +.
Bob is going to be starting a new job Sunday and it is PM hours. My first thought was will the change in his sleep pattern trigger the headaches? We know the importance of sleep and will make sure to get room darkening curtains, have plenty of melatonin (he is currently taking 5mg) Any experience or thoughts w/ this situation of "forced" change in sleep patterns due to work triggering? Any info appreciated. PFDAN and peace to all.
diane

We used to think that change in sleep patterns affected Joe, but I think as long as he GETS his sleep he's ok. When he worked PM's I had new drapes put up that have the hotel style backing. Plus took 1" think stryophome sheets and made cut outs to put in the windows. Blocks noise and light and he slept well.

My husband doesn't sleep much, so he sleeps when he can.  It seemed that when I worked 1st shift he was up all night, so I switched to 3rd shift and then he was up all day...go figure, LOL.

Most nights he sleeps for about 2 hours before he gets hammered.  If he can kill it right away most times he can get back to sleep, but if it's lingering he'll be up the rest of the night.

I firmly believe that if he could get a solid 6 - 8 hours at a time he would feel better and I don't think it would make any difference what time of the day he got his sleep.

I was kind of babbling so I hope that this helps  :)

Jen, has Phil tried melatonin?

Yup he has.  He was taking 12mg and it didn't help him.  The problem was it made him sleepy, but it didn't help him actually sleep.  It almost made him feel worse because he was so tired and couldn't sleep.  Does that make sense?  I hate it when I know what I'm trying to say, but I can't find the words  :D

He does take Ambien now, but most nights he still wakes up in that 2 - 3 hour window.

Now I still don't know much about CH's but what I have noticed about Tom is that no matter what time of day he sleeps he gets hit. He works rotating shifts. But most every attack comes on when he is asleep. So most of the time it is too late to do anything except drug himself up praying that the pain goes away. Alot of ppl are different this i do know and like they said as long as he gets sleep he should be fine. Hope all works out. Keep us posted.

I have worked all shifts during cycles and cannot say any shift change triggered a cycle. I get hit more during sleep times and the beast just adjusted to what shift I worked.

Good Luck, Don

Lisa Kaiser wrote on Apr 8^th, 2011 at 11:00pm:

Now I still don't know much about CH's but what I have noticed about Tom is that no matter what time of day he sleeps he gets hit. He works rotating shifts. But most every attack comes on when he is asleep. So most of the time it is too late to do anything except drug himself up praying that the pain goes away. Alot of ppl are different this i do know and like they said as long as he gets sleep he should be fine. Hope all works out. Keep us posted.

He may want to look into some of the longer acting triptans that come in pill form: naratriptan (Amerge) or frovatriptan (Frova). Taken right at bed time they can get him anywhere from 4-8 hours of sleep.

Hey Brew thanks for the advice I will sure look into that for him. They just wake him up for a dead sleep and they are already too bad off for pain meds.

Well, we're into his 2nd week of working nights and no huge change w/ his CH has occurred. So far so good but working nights s*%ks for him and the rest of the household...but hey, it's work, night work is better than no work at all! Stay tuned, will keep all posted.

Glad to hear that no huge change has occured.

Yup it sucks to be on the night shift, but you're right...night work is better than no work.