Hi Sleepy. Man 7-8 hours. In the height of my cycles.....I can only wish to get that in a week. I understand that you have a physically demanding occupation. I get that "hungover" feeling throughout my entire cycle. Sometimes its not too bad, but somedays when I get to work in the morning, I must show up an hour early to give myself time to recover so I can drag myself out of the car.

As tough as it may be to swallow, I live with those very hangovers during my cycle. I know no other life when in my cycles. I am happy that you get that much sleep a night. I can only wish.

Hey Sleepy,
I know the feeling. I also have the hangover feeling after my attacks. My head feels foggy and it's hard for me to concentrate for hours afterward. I also have a bruised feeling,,, kinda like I've been hit in the right side of the head with a bat or kicked by a horse.
I started getting these CH's in August of 1997 and had them 3 to 4 times a week up until May of 2009. For the first 7 or 8 years no Doctor could figure out the cause of my pain. I even went to the M.I.N.D. Institute in Farmington Hills Michigan where they told me it was a hole in my Maxillary Sinus that was the problem. Turns out it wasn't the problem at all. I was finally diagnosed with CH"s by a young DR. in Mount Pleasant Michigan in 2007 or 8. I can't remember for sure. He gave me Imitrex pills for the onset, and put me on high amounts of Prednisone and it seemed to ease the pain and control the frequency of the attacks. Suddenly the headaches stopped abruptly in March of 09. They were gone until a month ago when they made a grand appearance again. So I found this site and am trying to find a fix before they make me loose my mind. As per Bob and Joe here at CH I'm taking 10,000 IU daily of D3 and 3000 mg of Omega 3 Fish oil daily and have not had another attack since I started a week ago. I'm also taking 1 3mg Metatonin before bed. So far, so good. Just a suggestion and I hope it works for you,,, and me. Good luck man.

I get similar after higher level hits. Lasts 4 to 24 hrs depending on how bad the hit. I've leaned to keep most of the big ones away, by using what I've read here. I had to teach my Dr.

I think the best way to prevent the hangovers, is to prevent or quickly abort all CH attacks. O2 is my best tool for this. Not just any O2, the best I could get. Most Doctors don't have a clue about O2 for CH.

My CH started when I was 33, now 57. Now I still have CH but I'm ugly too.

Don

Thanks you guys for all of the comments!  I upped my dosage of D3 to 5000iu and began 2000mg of Fish Oil in conjunction with Mag.  Thanks Brydawg.  I'd read Batch's post a while ago and hope it works like everyone says it does.  I realize my dosages are smaller, but I'm not much on medication... if this doesn't work, I'll amp up the dosage.  I've had the thought that CH could be more in line with seizures as opposed to traditional headaches as well, Lance.   I find when I start a cycle, its really hard to remember much at all about previous ones... or just the previous headache from the day before, much like postictal phase of seizure patients.   I also find that post CH my mood is effected greatly.  I am generally a happy person, but post headache, I sometimes get heavy feelings of depression or sadness or something.  Not typical at all of me.  Im glad someone else has thought this too.  One other personal observation.... my pulse and BP are high since I've been in cycle.  Maybe they always are during the cycle, but this is the first one I've actually kept tabs.  Normally, I am high 50's/low 60's for pulse and avg range 130/80 for BP.  As of mid Dec to present day I'm ranging high 70's/low 80's pulse and a BP more in the range of 150/90.  These measurements are taken during headache free periods, usually mid morning and again before bed without much variance noted.  Would anyone consider this normal?  I'm wondering if the Mag-Cal could possibly raise my BP... or if high BP is a result/cause of the headaches... or anxiety waiting on the next one.. etc. ?  Thanks again for all of the replies and advice!  I wish I had more to offer.  Although I've had these off and on for 17ish years, it's only in the past few years that I've actually tried to be on the offensive and learn about them.  Thanks again!

sugarplum wrote on Jan 10^th, 2013 at 1:51pm:


You need to be careful with using pain killers too often as anything more than 2-3 times a week is likely to give you medication rebound headaches. And since you're using co-codemol, these contain codeine, a narcotic, which will not help either.

Its relieving to know that I am not the only one that goes through this. Its really a terrible feeling.

The question is how do you manage to keep working with the flare ups and hung over feeling? I had to leave my last job because the job did not help my headaches at all. And I've been good for the last two to three months until now.

The "hangover" I get from a hit is felt more in the body than in the head.   
 
After an attack, my limbs are awash with a sense of warm numbness/fatigue.  It's a lot like the way I feel after I spend a day on the beach swimming in heavy surf.   I always figured it was because I involuntarily clench every muscle in my body during a hit and tap my feet at inhuman speeds.
 
Does anyone else experience this sort of a hangover effect?

I swear I can feel every follicle on the right side of my head and in the right side of my nose.  I am so tired, my body hurts, and I think it's worse than a hangover.  NO sleep + tons of pain = feeling like crap the next day.  JMO

Thanks so much for the warm welcome.  I will post my info in the getting to know ya thread.

Mike NZ wrote on Jan 10^th, 2013 at 6:18pm:


I know. I'm told this alot!

I live in a small town in the UK, it took 5 years to even see a neurologist, after referral i waited 5 months for an appointment as the guy serves 2 hospitals!! the GPs here just don't know what CH is, it was a NURSE who referred me to neurology!!  Once he diagnosed me I was sent back to my GP
With a letter to say prescribe triptans. I was advised to take these only when I feel unable to cope as i can only take 1 a day, this was after he looked through pages of his drug advise book and to manage shadows as best I could. That is the only help I've been given. They'll basically give me a job lot of pain killers when i run out and am pushed out the door. I get very frustrated as I know this isn't right, but what can I do??

Sorry for the rant, it's obviously not personal or aimed at you but the NHS is not all its cracked up to be and I'm basically learning from forums and fighting for everything. Very frustrated to say the least!!

oh yes U.K here too.. treatment is truly truly awful!!
tried for a private neuro yesterday... £200 for 40 minuets!!
yeah right so have to wait see how long an nhs one takes i spose

The headache you experience the next day is the result of dehydration. Alcohol makes the kidneys release extra fluid. It is highly recommended to drink enough water before and after consuming alcohol to cure hangover.