Just throwing this out there.

could bad sleep patterns be a cause of CH ??   

It's just a thought , being as the hypothalamus, if I've got this right , is widely reckoned to be ,er, involved in CH ,if a person had bad sleeping patterns could this upset the body's internal clock in such a way as to cause CH ?

Reason i ask ,and this could go on abit , is that I've had realu bad sleeping habits for the last ten years (and I don't mean farting and snoring etc ,although my wife would probably beg to differ). Ten years ago we were blessed with a son , I wasn't very good at getting up in the middle of the night to do my share of the feeds etc so I opted to stay up till 1 in the morning and then goto bed and from then on it was my wife's turn.

It worked well for us but even after that stage was over I still found my self staying up till 1 every night . 5 years on from that my daughter came along and she was hard work , I couldn't get her to goto sleep after her midnight feed . Not wanting to wake my wife I would stay up till she finally drifted off , usually about 3-4 in the morning .

The thing is now I still stay up till 3-4 in the morning and I can't seem to get out of the habit of doing it , so I seem to survive on 3-4 hours sleep ,although it is some times more than that when I fall asleep on the sofa watching TV.

Any way this has got me wandering if all this could be at least a contributing factor to my CH.

any thoughts , or am I trying to over think this ?

Nigel

Thanks Joe , hmmm chicken and egg ??

having had CH for not even a year yet ....quite (not looking forward to the anniversary) I have to say I don't think me sleeping is any worse than it was before , although I do feel tired more during the day, but maybe I'm just getting old and the lack of sleep is finally catching up with me . That said the constant shadows get me down and I'm probably drinking too much red bull too.

just looked at the clock and it's midnight already and I've still got loads to do , I keep trying to get to bed earlier but there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

Mind you I shouldn't mone having just been reading here about a fellow UK person and his night attacks , not been there yet thank the Lord.

Nigel

Just a thought, but you might be someone who would really benefit from some melatonin - helping to 'reset' your nocturnal clock as it were...

As for did it cause your CH?  Uncertain, but doubtful - although one has to wonder if there is a strong association as Joe mentions - i.e. if there is a unifying underlying issue with the hypothalamus...

I actually sleep better than I ever have, since I've been diagnosed and treated for severe sleep apnea. The nighttime hits are a thing of the past, and with my CPAP I get 6-7 hours of mostly uninterrupted, quality sleep every night.

Lettucehead wrote on Jul 7^th, 2010 at 8:59pm:

All things considered, I guess I'd rather not have sleep apnea.

That makes two of us, sister.

Except the size 6 part - I don't know how that translates to guy sizes.

I've not tried melatonin as of yet or much els come to that matter , I tried verapamil which even at 40mg per day was making me feel like you do when your about to faint 24/7 although my blood pressure was fine . by the time I got to see a neuro (long story let-alone the wait ) I was out of cycle and for the 5 minuets max that I was in there he didn't listen to a word I said and mumbled something about sunct and said he'd wright a letter to my GP recommending that I try gabapentin if it gets worse again.

so I'm living of red bull to stop the constant shadows I've been having since my cycle stopped...may be that should be high / low cycle

Its not that I cant sleep when I go to bed i just don't seem to be able to get to bed at a reasonable time , I mean here I am writing on this board and it's 1;30 am and I've still got lunch and stuff to do ready for work the morning

Nigel

Just throwing in my 2c 

I have never been a good sleeper.  Well actually I'm fine once I'm asleep but getting to bed is the hard part... I'll stay up til well after 1am most nights (just gone midnight here in Oz) because I feel like I'll miss out on something if I go to bed.  Always been this way, remember as a kid sitting up in bed reading with my lamp under the covers so I wouldn't get found out 

Kate

Gabapentin did nothing to help my CH or my sleep patterns. I tried it very early in this cycle, back in Jan. 2009. All it did was affect my ability to function, slurred speech, unsteadiness, etc. Not good for me! Melatonin definitely helps me sleep better and no adverse side affects.

Donna Mae

Thanks all

I posted about gabapentin a few months a go and the general response was " some have had success with it but it just made me stupid / feel drunk "

so I'm a little apprehensive about trying it but I will obviously give it a go .

just to clarify I wasn't moaning about not being able to sleep I was just wondering if my bad sleep patterns may have been a contributing factor in causing my CH , although I guess I all ready new the answer . just wanted to put it out there.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you who can't sleep through fear of and getting hit by the beast.

wishing you pain free days and nights and all other times as well

Nigel