While it's interesting sometimes to try and determine what triggers a cycle, it'll only drive you to distraction...or worse to crazy! I've tried to monitor every concievable facet of my life, sleep, drink, food, sex, weather, in 33 years of the beast I still haven't figured what changes, and causes a cycle to start, except the time of year. As I've gotten older my remissions have gotten longer, as long as 2 years, but my cycles have also gotten longer, up to 8 months. Again, no rhyme or reason and nothing in my life I can point to that's changed.

Definitely continue to monitor triggers while you're on cycle, for me those are alcohol, sleep cycle disruptions, sustained stress and allowing myself to get really hungry. Keeping track of those can at least reduce the number of times you're likely to get hit.

Wishing both of you peace and some pain free time.

Joe

I don't care what anybody says, sneezles and CH are related. Dunno which causes which, or perhaps they have the same source, but there's a link for sure and fair dinkum.

Can't say I've noticed any association with pollen or allergies.  I don't have any allergies that I know of.

I'm episodic, and the cycles have always had a strong seasonal association, but I've suspected it's due to photoperiod more than anything.

That being said, there sure is a lot of pine pollen around right now.  My poor sister-in-law has developed a violent reaction to it, and may have to move out of her apartment that's situated on a very pine-y lot.

Best,

George

Sort of like what George said, I think what starts a cycle is something like daylight changes or a level of some hormone in our body or that we were mean in a past life or who knows what else, but while "in cluster" we can get triggered by just about anything under the sun depending on who you are.  I dream of the day we can find that X that starts the cycle and come up with a one-time injection for it and these cluster-fudges will go the way of small pox. <fingers crossed>