My boyfriend has been having the Attacks for about two weeks now and is extremely depressed. He tries to keep up appearances and still goes to work every day, but, is so depressed.  The pain he's had is terrible as you all know, is depression part of Cluster Headaches?  He is currently taking Maxalt and Dexamethosone.  This breaks my heart to see him in so much pain both emotionally and physically.

Sleep deprivation in general will cause depression.  Now toss in some extreme pain.  It is hard when you are in a cycle to carry on a normal life.  I personally don't have one when I'm in cycle.  Because I absolutely can't function without sleep.  I'm not depressed, I'm just plain evil.  But it is depressing to even think that you can't even lie down for 2 hours and get some sleep, because you are scared of the pain that is coming.  Think about it, most people take sleep for granted - we don't.  But he will get through this.  Just watch over him and make sure he has what he needs.

I think that a certain situational depression isn't uncommon. When we hurt, it's depressing.

If he's REALLY depressed, you may want to tell his dr. Personality changes are often a side effect of dexamethasone.

Thanks for being a good supporter. 

What they all said with one addition. Monitor him and encourage him to seek professional help if he really spirals down. These damned things hurt, they wear us out, deprive us of sleep and make us feel like freaks. Heck, we'd be abnormal if that didn't depress us. As someone close to him you'll recognize first if he really needs help. We men can be stubborn asses about this stuff so you may have to nudge him a bit. Thank you for being a supporter. I don't know how I'd have made it without my wife. 28 years of putting up with these and she still hangs with me. You guys are saints.

Guiseppi

Please make him come here and read.  I know depression within a cycle comes straight from not sleeping.  People that don't sleep go crazy ya know!

I have often wondered if people that are depressed are more likely to get CH or is it that CHer's  get depressed?  Is it possible that whatever is messed up in our brains that causes CH would also cause depression.  I don't know much about it all but I do know that both have something to do with seretonin.  What do you all think?

Jeannie

Sorry my post was confusing............... My brain is scrambled so my thoughts are as well.............

Jeannie wrote on May 29^th, 2008 at 3:40pm:



I was discussing this with a headache specialist at a conference once.  He said that CH is the only headache disorder that is not comorbid with a psych disorder, namely depression.  At first, I didn't understand because I know so many people with CH who have also suffered from depression.  But then I thought about it more - the truth is that for many with CH, depression seems to come as a result of the situation of having Cluster Headaches.  I can now see what he was saying - that CH doesn't have a comorbid depression.  It's not that CH'ers don't get depressed - because they do, but they have not found that depression and CH are linked in that those with depression are more likely to have CH.  (Now, this was a couple of years ago - for all I know, the information could be different now.)  People with depression are definitely more likely to suffer from migraine, and vice versa, and there is a very clear chemical connection between those 2 diseases.  However, with CH it often seems the depression is more situational for the majority of sufferers.

All that being said, Boxseller - your boyfriend is very lucky to have you.  It's definitely good to note that the steroids could be contributing to his mood, but it's also great if you can sit and talk with him about his feelings a bit - as Linda said.  Maybe together you can gauge whether his depression is at the point where he could benefit from treatment in some form.  It's absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.

Hang in there!

Hugz,
Carrie

DEPRESSION IN CLUSTER HEADACHE

Is depression commonly experienced with CH? An often asked question and one which cannot be answered easily because the word--“depression”—has been so muddled that using it, without careful definition, is very misleading.

I’m blue, down, sad, in a funk, and so on. In daily speech, we describe these feelings as “depression.”

I’m in deep grief over the death of a loved one; or, my house has been destroyed along with all my priced possessions by a tornado. I’m “depressed”.

These are wide-ranging emotions but we use the same word to describe them. At what point do we move from a “normal” emotional state to “clinical depression” which might benefit from some professional assistance? As we usually use the word, “depression” does not give any help in making this judgment.

The issue is more complex even when we have a chronic pain disorder or chronic disease of some kind. People with such problems are not automatically depressed but they might be depressed! A play on the word: If I have chronic CH, I may experience a bad day but it doesn’t last for weeks OR the emotion might not pass.  This factor: duration of the emotion, is one of the key factors to separate normal (ND) from clinical depression (CD).

I’m having a series of CH attacks and that puts me “down” but when I’m not in pain I can enjoy my family or a supper with friends, etc. The ability to have a positive response which would be expected to pleasant activities: Another marker separating ND from CD.

I’m normally a health person for someone my age but, for reasons which don’t make sense to me or my physician, I’m always feeling fatigue, pains, gut distress, or any variety of physical complaints. This pattern is suggestive of CD. We might include insomnia which is not explained by a nighttime CH attack.

Space limitations on our site apply! Issue of depression can be explored at: Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or or any of a number of health sites.

What about the suggestiion the a hypothalemus disorder at the time of a cluster attack? Given this is a controling factor in the regulating of the person's body clock and release of seratonin, can anyone offer medical facts surrounding this link?

Cheers, nice to receive a piss-taking remark following my first post on the site. I obviously didn't intent the photo of myself to be so large, more thumbnail size. I'm not a 'gay man' either (though irrelevant). And looking at your own photo I'd advise you keep your sarcastic comments to yourself. Arsehole.

C'mon guys, is this really necessary???

Quote:



Oh my lord, Jonny, I just wet my pants while laughing my face off! That was such a random remark, can't stop laughing..... keep up that sense of humour!!!!

Greg, I am very sure Jonny did not mean any harm. It was just meant to be funny (and damn it was)...... seems like Jonny has a peculiar way of expressing himself, and I cheer for that.

Anyway, Greg, wanna wish you welcome to this eccentric little family from around the globe.
Painfree wishes from the Netherlands to the UK!

Pascal.